Looking into purchasing a new Sony SR-1.Will be recording alot of fastpitch softball games for local recruiters so I like the fact of no tape changes.Typical games are 2-3 hours so the 30 gig hard drive should hold a game.I'm not up to speed on any of the newfangled gadgets like dvd burners or even recorders that use mini-dvd and regular size dvds for that matter,so I need some help.I would like to transfer from the SR-1 to dvds.Not that interested in viewing or editing for right now.How difficult is it to transfer to dvd.Have an HP media center 7350n computer.It has a lightscribe dvd super multidrive and also a dvd-rom.Are these burners(Like I said ,I'm new.)?
How long does it take to burn from the SR-1 to disk and how much footage will I be able to get on a disk.(Are disks available with different capacitys)
If recorded in HD and burnt to a disk will it still be in HD, and be played back as such.
Will my computer be adequate as is or will it need some upgrades.
Also have a Panasonic EH 75v dvd recorder with built in harddrive.Could probably hook to the SR-1 and put on the drive and then transfer to disk,not certain.
Any help or guidance would be appreciated.Am I looking at the right product for my needs. Thanks

Was hoping for a little help guys !!!! Is there another forum that might be more helpful for my question.

Thanks
Dee :( :(

I just bought one....supposed to be here today. I'm sitting here waiting for FedEx since I have to sign for it.

There's some discussion of your questions already here. Do a search for SR1 in this forum and you'll find some info in regards to what we can do at the present time with the HD recordings we'll be making.

I've read, although I won't know until I get the camera, that even SD content on this camera is superior to other cameras. I've heard that there's software that will write HD content to regualr DVD burners but that's not real clear to me either. Also, folks expect software companies to jump on this format and provide software for editing.....again....we'll have to see. Probably the biggest issue for me is the burning part. Getting the movies onto the computer is the easy part. I, for one, don't own a HD burner.......I do have a Blu-Ray player.......still after paying this kind of money for a camcorder it'll be awhile before I run out and buy a Blu-Ray burner for my computer.

Dee,

I have the SR1 and use it for.... what else... fast pitch softball! :)

It is very easy to transfer to a regular DVD. The camera ships with software that allows you to manage the files. It has VERY limited editing capabilities. However, to burn DVD's it is very intuitive. You select the files, right click and pick DVD creation. It automatically converts it from HD to regular DVD format. The regular DVD format still looks very good.

I record everything in the highest HD mode that camera does and I have no problem doing a whole game. The camera also has a "slow motion" feature, which I use to record pitching and batting.

I have a PS3 which will play the DVD's in HD. You have to burn the DVD's in HD mode, however, it is actually faster to do that than convert them. I have on old PC, so, it takes a while to convert to a regular DVD.

I am not sure about connecting to a DVD player/burner. I always use my PC. If I get time I will test that tomorrow on my DVD player/burner.

The only drawback I've found so far is the still photos when recording. First, you can only take three photos while recording (if you stop recording and restart you get three more). Second, there's no flash when you take photos while recording video. Well, if there is I've not found out how to make it Flash. I took a bunch of photos Christmas morning and the only photos that are decent were the ones I took when I wasn't recording video (and the flash went off). Guess it's time to re-read the manual.

David,

Do you mean you can transfer the HD files from the SR1's HDD to your pc in either SD or HD format and from there, you can burn them using the supplied software from the pc to a DVD-R in either SD or HD format? Thanks

Dee,

I have the SR1 and use it for.... what else... fast pitch softball! :)

It is very easy to transfer to a regular DVD. The camera ships with software that allows you to manage the files. It has VERY limited editing capabilities. However, to burn DVD's it is very intuitive. You select the files, right click and pick DVD creation. It automatically converts it from HD to regular DVD format. The regular DVD format still looks very good.

I have a PS3 which will play the DVD's in HD. You have to burn the DVD's in HD mode, however, it is actually faster to do that than convert them. I have on old PC, so, it takes a while to convert to a regular DVD.

I am not sure about connecting to a DVD player/burner. I always use my PC. If I get time I will test that tomorrow on my DVD player/burner.

David,

Do you mean you can transfer the HD files from the SR1's HDD to your pc in either SD or HD format and from there, you can burn them using the supplied software from the pc to a DVD-R in either SD or HD format? Thanks

Since you didn't get an answer:
No, you *record* in SD or HD, then transfer whatever you've recorded to the PC and do with it whatever is appropriate for the format you recorded.

In my case, I record in highest-quality HD, transfer to PC, archive on large storage array then transcode down to DVD format if necessary. Then again I don't pay for most of my PC hardware. If PC horsepower for transcoding and multi-terrabyte disk arrays aren't available then recording in SD is always an option. Just keep in mind that you can always transcode DOWN to standard DVD format, but if you record in that format you won't have HD masters for "later use", if such use is anticipated.

HTH,
--jim

David,

Do you mean you can transfer the HD files from the SR1's HDD to your pc in either SD or HD format and from there, you can burn them using the supplied software from the pc to a DVD-R in either SD or HD format? Thanks


I always record in the highest HD. Save it to the PC. Using the software - you can burn either an HD DVD or regular DVD from the same file. For example one file I made on a DVD-R in HD for me and burned another for on a DVD-R in regular format since they don't have an BD-DVD Player using the same file.

Help!

I have a full HDR-SR1 and need to get my HD video onto my iMac. This POS camcorder does not have firewire, and I looked for another way to connect it to my computer, but cant. What do I do? I've read other posts and reviews, but I could not find a clear resolution to my problem. = ( Someone please help!

-DJADJ

The iMac web page says it has a USB port. The HDR-SR1 comes with a USB cable. You would need a UDF reader to read the filesystem. Attaching the HDR-SR1 to my Fedora Linux machine via USB 2.0 works fine, and the OS automatically mounts the hard disk and makes it visible. (It's plug and play under Linux, not sure about OS X.)