I'm new to camcorders and have to learn fast because I have a baby coming soon. I'm leaning towards the Canon HV20 based on what I've read here and the fact that I'm a high-def junkie. However, I need to convince my wife that we'll be able to manipulate/distribute the footage easily.

So... My question is: after transferring footage from the camera to the PC, what format will the raw footage be in? Do you HAVE to use an NLE to get the footage off the camera and onto the PC, or can I just store the raw footage directly? Like I said, I'm a newbie to working with camcorders...

What we'll want to do with the footage is 1) be able to play it from the PC using our Roku HD1000 media server (which recognizes MPEG 2 files, which is why I ask what format the raw footage is in), and 2) burn DVDs.

Any answers are appreciated! Oh, different question -- how many hours of HD footage can be stored on a single Mini-DV tape?

I know the last one. 63 min per tape.

Congrats!

Sorry, no answers to your questions.

You can burn DVDs and play them back in full HD on any HD DVD player. However I still find it easier to simply attach my HV20 to my HDTV and hit 'play'. Nothing easier than that. :)

I'm new to camcorders and have to learn fast because I have a baby coming soon. I'm leaning towards the Canon HV20 based on what I've read here and the fact that I'm a high-def junkie. However, I need to convince my wife that we'll be able to manipulate/distribute the footage easily.

So... My question is: after transferring footage from the camera to the PC, what format will the raw footage be in? Do you HAVE to use an NLE to get the footage off the camera and onto the PC, or can I just store the raw footage directly? Like I said, I'm a newbie to working with camcorders...

What we'll want to do with the footage is 1) be able to play it from the PC using our Roku HD1000 media server (which recognizes MPEG 2 files, which is why I ask what format the raw footage is in), and 2) burn DVDs.

Any answers are appreciated! Oh, different question -- how many hours of HD footage can be stored on a single Mini-DV tape?
no special NLE is needed to get the footage off the HV20, only firewire port on your PC and some freebie software you can download from the web.
once on a PC you can play the HD footage with a lot of free media software provided your PC is relatively fast.
you can burn HD or SD version of footage onto DVDs. But the person receiving the HD DVD will need to have an HD DVD player like the Toshiba HD-A1 to view it. SD DVD will need conversion from 1080i to 480p in your NEL, and the process can take a long time.
so you will have a dilema when it comes to distribution: if you film it in 1080i/p it's a lot faster creating HD version but few people will have the system to play it, if you want to make quality SD DVD out of your HDV then be prepared to spend 10hours for every one hour of footage.

no special NLE is needed to get the footage off the HV20, only firewire port on your PC and some freebie software you can download from the web.
Can you also use USB? I'm not sure either of our PCs have a FireWire port....


SD DVD will need conversion from 1080i to 480p in your NEL, and the process can take a long time... if you want to make quality SD DVD out of your HDV then be prepared to spend 10hours for every one hour of footage.
Wow... that could be a showstopper... gonna have to think about whether we're really going to be doing a lot of DVDs or not. Thanks for the info!

USB is only used for photo transfer. Firewire port is cheap to stall as long as you know how to open your PC case.

As far as the time it takes for HD to SD conversion it is not as bad as it sounds. You would typically leave it running overnight after you set up the task.

Also, be aware that you can configure the camera to downconvert from HD to SD when transferring to the PC if all you want is SD to make standard DVDs - that way your PC doesn't have to do any of the work. The advantage of an HD camera that can do this is you can use SD today, and when HD is more prevalent for home-based media (or when your baby grows up), they'll have the best quality you can deliver today

Also, be aware that you can configure the camera to downconvert from HD to SD when transferring to the PC if all you want is SD to make standard DVDs - that way your PC doesn't have to do any of the work. The advantage of an HD camera that can do this is you can use SD today, and when HD is more prevalent for home-based media (or when your baby grows up), they'll have the best quality you can deliver today

I bought the camera this weekend and tried to do just that, but I couldn't get it to go. I set the Playback Std to DV and tried to capture it but the camera displayed "PLAYBACK STD LOCKED PLAYBACK IS RESTRICTED" and nothing was transferred. I tried this with four different software packages and always got the same thing. And ideas?

Back to the original post, I picked up a firewire card for $14, with a cable, at a local store, you should be able to find something pretty cheap somewhere.

so you will have a dilema when it comes to distribution: if you film it in 1080i/p it's a lot faster creating HD version but few people will have the system to play it, if you want to make quality SD DVD out of your HDV then be prepared to spend 10hours for every one hour of footage.

Not really, there is a work around that.

You're done with the HDV editing, right? Before doing anything, send it back to your camcorder via firewire and record it in HDV mode (you can use that tape as a backup of your final edit too), then you playback the tape with the output set to miniDV (you can do the output setup on your camcorder) and stream the data back to your PC or standalone DVD recorder.

It's going to take about 2.5 hours total for a 1-hour tape (1 hour from PC to tape, 1 hour from tape back to PC or DVD, plus another half hour added for doing settings changes, finalizing DVD etc).

Still a relatively long time, but not 10 hours.

USB is only used for photo transfer. Firewire port is cheap to stall as long as you know how to open your PC case.

As far as the time it takes for HD to SD conversion it is not as bad as it sounds. You would typically leave it running overnight after you set up the task.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815265002

I bought that firewire card (which also comes with a cable) for my HV20 and it works great (on Vista for that matter).

Also I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, having a baby this summer, HD enthusiast, so I bought this camcorder. I've played around with a lot of NLE, Vegas, Premiere Elements, Windows Movie Maker. And not wanting to do much at all with my NLE, i think I'm probably just going to use Windows Movie Maker 2.0 in Vista. It has a much simpler UI for creating basic stuff, and seems to be fairly quick...

Good luck with your research into your future purchase :)

Not really, there is a work around that.

You're done with the HDV editing, right? Before doing anything, send it back to your camcorder via firewire and record it in HDV mode (you can use that tape as a backup of your final edit too), then you playback the tape with the output set to miniDV (you can do the output setup on your camcorder) and stream the data back to your PC or standalone DVD recorder.

It's going to take about 2.5 hours total for a 1-hour tape (1 hour from PC to tape, 1 hour from tape back to PC or DVD, plus another half hour added for doing settings changes, finalizing DVD etc).

Still a relatively long time, but not 10 hours.
David, what I found about the SD output from HDV is that the PQ is usually pretty awful with the in-camcorder conversion. Conversion of 1080 to 480 done in Vegas simply yields much better results with the PQ almost HD like. Many people on this forum have complained about the SD DVD quality out of the HDV recordings being far below commercial DVD's. I think what they miss may be the correct conversion process. So far I found Vegas creates the best result though it does take a LOOONG time.

Curious.. how long of video can you store in HD mode on a dual layer DVD disc? Is it 1 hour?

It also sounds like if doing SD, it is best to just record in HD and downconvert via software (plus you can use the tape later on and do an HD disc either on DVD or HDDVD when the burners are more readily available)?

How is the quality of stills on this unit (while not recording video)? I'm wondering if it would be comparible to my Fuji S602 3+ MP digital camera?

Curious.. how long of video can you store in HD mode on a dual layer DVD disc? Is it 1 hour?

It also sounds like if doing SD, it is best to just record in HD and downconvert via software (plus you can use the tape later on and do an HD disc either on DVD or HDDVD when the burners are more readily available)?

How is the quality of stills on this unit (while not recording video)? I'm wondering if it would be comparible to my Fuji S602 3+ MP digital camera?

I believe a single sided 4.7GB DVD can hold 22 minutes of HD video, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I bought the camera this weekend and tried to do just that, but I couldn't get it to go. I set the Playback Std to DV and tried to capture it but the camera displayed "PLAYBACK STD LOCKED PLAYBACK IS RESTRICTED" and nothing was transferred. I tried this with four different software packages and always got the same thing. And ideas?


Set the DV OUTPUT setting to be "DV" - this is what is used to specify what type of data to send out the DV port. I tried it on the HV10 and it worked - the HV20 should be the same

I believe a single sided 4.7GB DVD can hold 22 minutes of HD video, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

yep - that's about right

It also sounds like if doing SD, it is best to just record in HD and downconvert via software (plus you can use the tape later on and do an HD disc either on DVD or HDDVD when the burners are more readily available)?

yes - this is the best. keep in mind, though, that downconverting via software on even the fastest box will more than likely be slower than realtime. if you want a quick DVD, the camera will downconvert in realtime as the tape is transferred. so, you have to decide between quality vs speed. and, in the future, when you transfer the HD from the tape to put on an HD disc, you can pretty much use the existing files without having to convert them (unless you want to put them in another format that is more space efficient)

Hi David,

I remember reading something, somewhere, about this technique you mention. Very interesting indeed.

I have a question for you.

If I recorded HD video on a miniDV cassette, and now am importing it to my computer, can I just use my Pinnacle Studio 11 to do this ?

If yes, how large will the 1 hour video be on the computer drive, will it be the same as my older miniDV camera does in Standard video mode ( about 13 gigs for 60 mins ) ??

So if I have this correct, it's not the copying it to the computer that is long, it's the converting it from the HD format, to a format a regular DVD can see and play - that is the part that would take a long time to do ?

thanks for any info, and sorry for opening up this old thread, but I think it's a great topic to discuss. :)
Not really, there is a work around that.

You're done with the HDV editing, right? Before doing anything, send it back to your camcorder via firewire and record it in HDV mode (you can use that tape as a backup of your final edit too), then you playback the tape with the output set to miniDV (you can do the output setup on your camcorder) and stream the data back to your PC or standalone DVD recorder.

It's going to take about 2.5 hours total for a 1-hour tape (1 hour from PC to tape, 1 hour from tape back to PC or DVD, plus another half hour added for doing settings changes, finalizing DVD etc).

Still a relatively long time, but not 10 hours.