Camera That Does Not Require Converting?

[PointMeAtTheSky]

Hello,

I'm extremely new to Macs, and am not very adept technologically speaking, however, I am doing my best to help out a friend who recently purchased an iMac with video editing using Final Cut.
He asked me whether I could try and find out whether there existed a video camera that does not require converting.
His time is limited, and the arduous task of converting from .MOD to .DV and then from a .DV to a DVD format discourages him and takes fun away from his hobby.
Anyway. I figured that this forum may be a good place to start, since I don't really know what to look for.
So, to make a long question (relatively) short, is there a video camera on the market today that would require no file conversion in order to edit the video using Final Cut?
Thank you for your time.

 

[-DH]

Any footage, regardless of the recording format and medium, will require the data to be transferred to the Mac's hard drive for editing. And that takes time; real time in the case of tape, or faster than real time in the case of memory card or hard drive cameras. So there will always be time involved. And when your friend is finished editing, it will take time to author and burn a DVD.

Tell your friend to look through the list of Easy Setups in FCP. That will tell him what formats FCP works with natively - he'll want to choose a camera that records in one of those formats to save the most amount of time.

-DH

 

[LethalWolfe]

So, to make a long question (relatively) short, is there a video camera on the market today that would require no file conversion in order to edit the video using Final Cut?
Thank you for your time.

Any camera that records to a MiniDV sized tape (be it an Standard Def camera or a High Def camera) requires no conversion before it can be used in FCP. Any camera that records to an optical disc, a HDD, or a memory card will require conversion or format re-wrapping before it can be used in FCP. The lone exception is the new JVC GY-HM100 camera which records to flash memory in a format that FCP can work with instantly. That camera costs $4k and isn't shipping yet I don't think.

Also you shouldn't use .DV. You should use Apple's DV-NTSC codec. Although you friend sounds like the impatient type if he spends a weekend thumbing thru the manual and doing tutorials he'll have a better understanding of FCP and much more fun using it. FCP can be very powerful and very flexible but the downside to that is the program will most definitely give you more than enough rope to hang yourself if you don't know what you are doing.


Lethal

 

[stubeeef]

I am beginning to explore a camcorder to replace my Canon S2 (it has been wonderful, but with the 3 kids the last few years have been hard on it) and am really wanting an all-in-one concept. My S2 did decent with video (640x480 at 30/15fps), I had no HD needs at the time (now they aren't needs but certainly wants) but am looking for more. I want to stay with Canon because they have met my needs so well in the past. But I want HD when I video and don't want to be limited to small clips like I am now.
I was looking at this model Canon VIXIA HF100 but really don't understand the format issues.
I liked your brief description about MiniDV vs SD but really want SD. What is involved in downloading video from the SD card and getting it into iMovie/iDVD or FCP?
Are there any good HD camcorders for still pictures?
What is the terminal velocity of an unladen swallow?

In another tread I came across the Canon Vixia HFS10/100 and think I have found the hardware I want, now I have a mega crap load of unedited 320 & 640 clips in avi to clean up and then move forward. What is the process of taking in AVCHD and converting to a format for iMovie/FCP? Will the applications convert it while loading?
Anyone have a good link to a good read on all this?

Thanks in advance

 

[zhuxai]

We bought a JVC Everio(?) with 20gb hard disk and it was HK$5000.
You just plug in to the mac and copy over the files and change the
extension to vob and play with vlc or make a dvd - all quite simple
and Im sure you can vary the player etc. You are not locked into the
supplied sofftware. It also takes still photos. If you want to do long stuff
then you prob need a tape camcorder. Similarly with my panasonic
still camera just plug in and find the photos. Before that I had a Kodak
and my friend just bought a canon and both require specific software.

 

[zephyrnoid]

Jvc Gy-hm100u

The new JVC. Saves in a file format native to FCP - Quicktime! Assuming all other aspects are good to go. This one is the first camera in many to come that will avoid the need for transcoding all together!

 

[PointMeAtTheSky]

Thanks guys. You've been very helpful.
I do have anoher question however.
If he were to purchase a camera that records to MiniDV, how does he transfer that information to his Mac?

 

[bigbossbmb]

hook it up to the Mac with a firewire cable and the video captures in real-time.