Nikon D90 Video - Then What?

[Macmonter]

A current thread on the Digital Video forum about HD video, iMovie, iDVD and playback in HD on an HD TV has made me think about what I might expect if and when I buy a Nikon D90. I know it's not a video camcorder, but I may use the D90 to record short clips of scenes better appreciated with live action instead of static images. Will I be able to import the D90 videos to iMovie, burn it to disk with iDVD and playback on my HD TV and be able to appreciate the full quality of the video as recorded by the D90? Or, will I be limited to viewing the D90's maximum quality video only on my Mac?

 

[Lovesong]

A DVD has a max output of 480p. I can't think of any Macs that have BR, and iDVD certainly doesn't support it. If you have a MB or a MBP, then you might be able to output to your TV in HD.

 

[FX120]

The whole situation is a bag of hurt.

In PC land at my home I have been thoroughly enjoying my Pioneer Blu-Ray burner and playing back video on my PS3...

 

[termina3]

Roxio Toast will let you use an external Blu-Ray burner (or on the Mac Pro, maybe an internal one?). Just please check their website to make sure before you go out and drop the cash on the program.

 

[ChrisA]

A current thread on the Digital Video forum about HD video, iMovie, iDVD and playback in HD on an HD TV has made me think about what I might expect if and when I buy a Nikon D90. I know it's not a video camcorder, but I may use the D90 to record short clips of scenes better appreciated with live action instead of static images. Will I be able to import the D90 videos to iMovie, burn it to disk with iDVD and playback on my HD TV and be able to appreciate the full quality of the video as recorded by the D90? Or, will I be limited to viewing the D90's maximum quality video only on my Mac?

The people who make "Toast" claim that BluRay players will play HD content from DVD media with the limitation being that you can only fit about 20 minutes of content on a DVD. Seems reasonable to me if the player will decode content independently from the media type.

I will know if this claim is true in about a week.

Blank BluRay disk sell for $6 to $8 each so I'd prefer to use DVD media anyways as I rarely have more then 20 minutes of content after editing

 

[nando2323]

A current thread on the Digital Video forum about HD video, iMovie, iDVD and playback in HD on an HD TV has made me think about what I might expect if and when I buy a Nikon D90. I know it's not a video camcorder, but I may use the D90 to record short clips of scenes better appreciated with live action instead of static images. Will I be able to import the D90 videos to iMovie, burn it to disk with iDVD and playback on my HD TV and be able to appreciate the full quality of the video as recorded by the D90? Or, will I be limited to viewing the D90's maximum quality video only on my Mac?

If you have an AppleTV, PS3, or XBOX360 you can view these videos in HD on your TV with no problems. I have a 360 and an ATV and view my HD videos on those all the time. Physical/optical media is so 2000's this is 2009 almost, lets just drop physical/optical media all together

 

[namethisfile]

A current thread on the Digital Video forum about HD video, iMovie, iDVD and playback in HD on an HD TV has made me think about what I might expect if and when I buy a Nikon D90. I know it's not a video camcorder, but I may use the D90 to record short clips of scenes better appreciated with live action instead of static images. Will I be able to import the D90 videos to iMovie, burn it to disk with iDVD and playback on my HD TV and be able to appreciate the full quality of the video as recorded by the D90? Or, will I be limited to viewing the D90's maximum quality video only on my Mac?

short answer? no.

the reason is that iDVD can't output in HD. and a DVD is only either 480i or 480p, anyway. the good news is that idvd will convert your HD footage into SD format with the correct aspect ratio and everything. so, your footage since it was shot on HD, should look decent on SD standard.

but, there might be a work around. i know that the D90 has HDMI, so you can view your HD footage straight out of the camera to a TV with HDMI input. you will need a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable to do this.

but what if you wanna edit your footage first? even if it's a simple edit of stringing your HD footage together so you don't have to keep going back to the camera to select the next video to play? i haven't tried this, myself, but a solution would be to get a card reader so you can access the sd card. once you have that, edit the video in iMovie as usual and then convert it as a HD quicktime file. D90 video files are in AVI and i am not sure if it will be able to play the quicktime files, so you might have to get a program to convert the HD quicktime file to an AVI file that the D90 can read.

once you do that, drag the file back to the disk image and eject it. put the SD card back into the D90 and see if it plays in playback mode.

i'd be curious to know this myself.

 

[Macmonter]

The people who make "Toast" claim that BluRay players will play HD content from DVD media with the limitation being that you can only fit about 20 minutes of content on a DVD. Seems reasonable to me if the player will decode content independently from the media type.

I will know if this claim is true in about a week.

Blank BluRay disk sell for $6 to $8 each so I'd prefer to use DVD media anyways as I rarely have more then 20 minutes of content after editing

ChrisA, I (and I'm sure many others) am eagerly awaiting to hear of your experience with "Toast". Like you, I would have no problem with the 20 min limit on a DVD. In fact, the 20 min limit would be an advantage since the D90 video would be several relevant short clips edited together with little waste of unused DVD disk space.

 

[Macmonter]

Update by OP

It's nearly 2 years since I first posted my question to the forum. I now have the definitive answer: Yes, I can!

It took 10 months to make the decision to get the D90 thinking that if the video was lousy, I would still have an excellent still camera. Now, almost a year later and dozens of D90 AVI videos on my Mac, imported and edited in iMovie and some burned with iDVD and displayed on my 46" wide screen HDTV; I never regretted getting the D90 and using its video functionality. I wish I had gotten it sooner.