what video management software to buy for canon hf10

[robcochranlaw]

My macs only have imovie 6, so it appears that I need to purchase some newer software to download family video footage from our new canon HF10.

Question is what to buy? I understand that imovie 08 will work, and perhaps Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro.

I do not expect to be doing much editing (takes too much time); but I do care about (i) user friendliness; (ii) ease of management of video assets; and (iii) flexibility of use of the stored video in years to come.

By item (ii) above, I simply mean, I wish to be able to find video clips based on some type of file system or key word system; then burn them or share them somehow, etc., without too much fuss. Modern life seems to be giving us so very much storage capacity, being able to search and to find things becomes increasingly important.

By item (iii), I am asking whether the available programs will save the video in some weird type of format (beta vhs), or something that is likely to be standard for a while (or transfiqurable to a later standard ).

Any thoughts would be most welcomed.

Thanks.

 

[Bonsai71]

... from our new canon HF10.

Question is what to buy?

iMovie '09 will do what you need, you should also make a file copy of the orginal files, which iMovie '09 will do as a 'Camera Archive', and you should keep those somewhere safe.

iMovie makes it pretty easy to get HD footage upto your YouTube account, which seems to be the easiest way to share publicly or privately these days (Facebook also works)

My workflow with a HF10 and iMovie '09 is:

Shoot to a 4Gb card, and only use the internal memory as a backup.
Using a card reader (faster), import new clips into iMovie as I shoot and fill up the card, publish clips as soon as they are shot.
When the card is full, burn it to a DVD-R for archiving, and also copy the files to a backup directory.
Blank the card, and re-use.

If you have a couple of 4Gb cards, you don't have to burn right away, and you can also switch to the internal memory, and then copy to a card later.

This lets you make use of the footage now, and also preserve a Camera Native archive of the footage for future use (you may, for instance, switch to a PC in some future time).

 

[ChrisA]

Question is what to buy? I understand that imovie 08 will work, and perhaps Final Cut Express or Final Cut Pro.

The latest iMovie is '09.

While Final Cut Express would would work, you don't want it unless you do a lot of editing. Its user interface is complex so unless you are willing to put in a few weeks of study and then after that use it frequently you'd not be able to use it. Final Cut Express is targeted at the Video hobbyist or small scale videographer, someone who edits video every week. Final Cut Pro is aimed at pros working in the entertainment industry. iMovie is the consumer product.

I'm pretty sure iPhoto will stor video clips now. If not you can just keep them in a folder and use Spotlight to search for them later. (Add "spotlight comments" to make finding them easier later.)

As for video formats? That is a function of your camera. Your archive format should be whatever your camera records. Transcoding always degrades the video quality. Will this format "live forever". No. Every 10 years or so you will have to transcode the files that are in some obsolite format tthe latest "standard". Yes transcoding looses quality. Not long ago I transfered all by old VHS and 8mm tapes to DV format. I said you loose quality but it's not much as the new format seem to mostly be better than the old ones.