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Just Purchased Sony HDR-HC1

B

berkleeboy210

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 2, 2004
1,641
0
Boston, Massachusetts
Hi Gang,

First time Poster in the Digital Video Forum.

Well I just bought the Sony HDV Cam It's being Delivered Today, FedEX.

I'm familiar with the MiniDV Format, and have used several MiniDV Cams in the Past.

I'm so anxious to use the Sony, and I know it won't be outdated tomorrow,
b/c HD is the wave of the Future.

Any Accesories I should buy to make this purchase complete?

I've already Purchased the Special HDV minidv Tape.

And How does iMovie HD do in editing HD Content, I've used it for standard DV but never HD, and was thinking about upgrading to FCEHD.

Thanks in advance for your help.
 
berkleeboy210 said:
Hi Gang,

First time Poster in the Digital Video Forum.

Well I just bought the Sony HDV Cam It's being Delivered Today, FedEX.

I'm familiar with the MiniDV Format, and have used several MiniDV Cams in the Past.

I'm so anxious to use the Sony, and I know it won't be outdated tomorrow,
b/c HD is the wave of the Future.

Any Accesories I should buy to make this purchase complete?

I've already Purchased the Special HDV minidv Tape.

And How does iMovie HD do in editing HD Content, I've used it for standard DV but never HD, and was thinking about upgrading to FCEHD.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Click to expand...

Both iMovie HD and FCE HD transcode the HDV signal into the AIC format (Apple Intermediate Codec) when you capture the footage. Upon output (assuming you go back to the HDV camera) the video is transcode from AIC to HDV. How long this takes depends on how fast your Mac is.

iMovie HD will have the same functionality editing HDV as it does editing DV.

Good luck w/the new camera and you'll have to report back after you've had a chance to kick the tires.


Lethal
 
I kind of have a question about once done editing going back to tape. Is this the best way to keep the highest quality, printing timeline to tape? I always thought it was rather than rendering it and burning it to a dvd especially if the running time is over a half hour because most dvds cant hold lossless quality footage for more than a half hour.
 
Espnetboy3 said:
I kind of have a question about once done editing going back to tape. Is this the best way to keep the highest quality, printing timeline to tape? I always thought it was rather than rendering it and burning it to a dvd especially if the running time is over a half hour because most dvds cant hold lossless quality footage for more than a half hour.
Click to expand...

Going back to tape is definitely your best option.


Lethal

EDIT: Just a pet peeve, DV is a very lossy format, but not nearly as much as DVD.
 
Than what is ones best bet after the final edit when the footage was originally shot miniDV?
 
Espnetboy3 said:
Than what is ones best bet after the final edit when the footage was originally shot miniDV?
Click to expand...

Back to DV. From the moment the signal is recorded to tape it is very compressed. There is nothing "raw" or "uncompressed" about MiniDV. But as long as always keep the signal digital via Firewire then you aren't degrading the quality when you xfer between you computer and the camera.


Lethal
 
But in the end you have no way to view your footage as HD except connecting the camcorder with the tape in it to an HDTV. And even then, its not "real" HD in the sense of 1080i or whatnot.

It bothers me that companies tease us with the ability to capture high quality video but no real way to share it. ie no HD DVDs yet....
 
Anybody got any good project ideas for me, so I can fully use the features of the camera?

By the way, it is so small, considering HD, and really feels comfortable when holding in the hand, i like the grip holder on the top, really makes it steady. And you can Control the Zoom in 3 ways, The toggle at the top of the camcorder, the side of the touch screen and the actual lens itself.

What i've been finding myself doing is using the lens for telophoto then the toggle to zoom back out to wide angle.
 
Sdashiki said:
But in the end you have no way to view your footage as HD except connecting the camcorder with the tape in it to an HDTV. And even then, its not "real" HD in the sense of 1080i or whatnot.
Click to expand...

Umm, it is 1080i. HDV is a very compressed flavor of HD but it is HD.

It bothers me that companies tease us with the ability to capture high quality video but no real way to share it. ie no HD DVDs yet....
Click to expand...

It's easier to record, edit, and share home movies now than it ever has been. And until HD DVDs come out at least you can put it on DVD, or host it on your website. Not like when MiniDV's first came out and and your only option was VHS. :eek: ;)


Lethal
 
berkleeboy210 said:
I need some project ideas so I can test out the cam! anyone got any ideas?
Click to expand...

not sure where you live man but just go shoot the city. im sure u can get beautiful shots of the city, parks etc. type things

edit: i did just take more then a 5 second look at your post. Boston man, im sure u got beautiful stuff from the city and local things
 
SHoot some historical buildings at sunset in Boston. Boston has to have some amazing buildings that an HDV camera can accentuate details on. Shoot water at sunrise, sunset, dynamic times of day. Shoot leaves, trees, at the park...places with objects with fine detail and you'll figure out why you bought HDV...now if only we can burn HD projects to DVD. If that doesn't work...just shoot hot girls on campus and send the video to Lethal and I. :cool:
 
Sdashiki said:
But in the end you have no way to view your footage as HD except connecting the camcorder with the tape in it to an HDTV. And even then, its not "real" HD in the sense of 1080i or whatnot.

It bothers me that companies tease us with the ability to capture high quality video but no real way to share it. ie no HD DVDs yet....
Click to expand...
HD-DVDs created in DVD Studio Pro 4 can be viewed on G5-equipped Macs running Tiger and DVD Player 4.6 or above.

"Real" HD includes 720p, 1080i and 1080p.

Another HD distribution format is D-VHS, which has been around for a while now. D-VHS is economical (about $12 per tape) and truly HD. The VCRs cost around $700 brand new but refurbs can (sometimes) be had for $200-300 from MacMall or Vanns.

To berkleeboy210: Congratulations on the new camcorder. I second the recommendations to shoot nature. Experiment with exposure and shutter speed settings. Try shallow depth of field shots.
 
It's a great camcorder.

I got the camera 2 months ago and I love it. It has ok low light shooting but if you know how to use the manual settings you can overcome some of it. I got a new battery the NP-QM91D. I'm looking for a better microphone because the built in mic has a lot of background noise. I'm looking at the ECM-HQP1 or the ECM-HGZ1 but haven't decided yet. I wish they would make an adapter so that you could use other mics on it instead of the sony brands.

I'm using the Tamrac velocity 9 bag and it's great because I have the DSC-F828 camera so there's plenty of room and it comes in handy with all the extras.

I convert the videos to H.264 and stick them on my website. Lots of fun!

Nuc
 
Too Bad, I didn't have this when I was in Florida a Couple Weeks ago, would have taken Awesome Sunset Videos. The Sunset is sooo different down there everynight you don't know what to expect.
 
And get a decent tripod with a fluid head (Gitzo 1325, Gitzo 1422, Cartoni AP11 would be a good choice). A GlideCam with forearm brace would be good too. Oh, and a wide angle adapter. And an underwater housing. And a Tiffen Graduated ND 0.6 hard step for Cokin P. :p

B&H sells all this stuff. Definitely do some high def with the ladies.
 
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