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Questions about Panasonic TM900

post #1 of 5
5/17/12 at 8:56pm
Thread Starter 
This is my first post so I should first say howdy to everyone.
Now let's get down the business.
I bought a TM900 camcorder and I do have quite few questions. BTW, the images are kickin' a$$. Is the best camcorder I ever had in my life. The screen on my laptop has also a killer resolution so combined everything is a dream.
First video I didn't even know in which format should I film so I pressed on a button marked as "1080/60p". So I filmed around 38 GB of videos like that in two days.
Now I transferred everything in my laptop through the software who came with the device (HD Writer AE). Well, everything was OK until I realized that I cannot upload anything on youtube and to edit I can only use the HD Writer.
After I checked AVS forum I found out few things but I still have questions unanswered.
Questions:
1. Which is the best format to choose when I film ? The best format that let me edit the videos not only using HD Writer. Also there is another video editor that can I buy in order to edit videos taken with my TM900 in the best format?
2. What should I do to be able to upload on youtube? Filming in a different format or converting the video ? BTW, I found in the HD Writer an option that allowed me to convert from AVCHD to MPEG2. Well that conversion basically destroyed the video. Converted, that stunning video is now a horrible critter.
3. In the device menu/setup/HDMI resolution I do have 1080p and 1080i. Other than name (progressive and interlaced....which I do not fully understand even I tried hard to understand) what is the difference in terms of quality ? How about in terms of editing and possibility of uploading online. How about in terms of burning on a DVD ?
4. Now I do have transferred all the videos on my laptop through HD Writer. What my options are now in order to edit the videos and then upload online ? Coz if I use HD Writer it tells me very clear that the format (AVCHD) cannot be uploaded or burned on DVD.

I may have more questions but I think is way too much anyway for one post.
I kindly appreciate any input. I'm trying to learn things so please be patient with my lack of knowledge.
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post #2 of 5
5/18/12 at 12:21am
What video editing software (apart from HD Writer) have you tried? Most recent versions should be able to handle 60p AVCHD video from your camera.

I'd recommend looking at Vegas Movie Studio:
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/trials

Before you upload your footage to YouTube you should edit it (and probably reduce the bitrate so that the file sizes aren't massive). YouTube accepts various formats and resolutions - check out their site for guidelines.
http://support.google.com/youtube/bi...&page=guide.cs
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post #3 of 5
5/18/12 at 8:38am
In addition to sabatical's suggestion, I recommend Adobe Premier Elements 10. Coincidentally, it is on sale as an Amazon "Gold Box Deal" today for under $50.

If you have the bandwidth, you should be able to upload to YouTube with your 1080p files. Get to the upload page on YouTube, they select the file on your computer. But, the 1080p files are so big, it will take a long time. Any of the other settings on your camera, will make smaller files and YouTube can work for that.

HD Writer should work for YouTube too. My version is 2.6 and it has a "share online" button where it does all the work. Your 3.0 version should have it too.

I use PE 10 with 1080p60 files from a Panasonic SDT-750, which is very similar to the TM900. There are two choices in PE10 for getting it to YouTube. One is a menu choice under "Share" where you provide you YouTube account. The other, which I prefer, makes an optimized for YouTube file that I use with the YouTube uploader. It does the same for Vimeo.

You are using the "best format" if you want monster files. If you want to be more efficient, the other "AVCHD" settings work better. On my 55" Sony TV, I can't see an eyeball detectable difference from the couch, unless it is video of a fast moving object.

When you burn a DVD, all software has to dumb down the video to SD (standard definition) so, the camera settings will matter even less.

There is a specialized version using ordinary DVDs called "AVCHD Disc" that puts a HD version of video on a DVD that plays only in Blu-Ray players. HD Writer and PE 10 both do that.

All editors such as HD Writer, Vegas and PE10 leave your original files alone. When you edit (make changes to them) you make new copies. HD Writer is unique in the way it protects the original quality. Vegas and PE10 have many more creative features, but to use them it has to "render" in ways that may effect the original quality some.

Hope this helps!

Bill
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post #4 of 5
5/18/12 at 9:35am
Thread Starter 
Thanx a lot gents. U gave me now lots of things to do. I will come back to u as soon as I have my homeworks done.
Thanx again.
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post #5 of 5
5/18/12 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moose1850 View Post

Thanx a lot gents. U gave me now lots of things to do. I will come back to u as soon as I have my homeworks done.
Thanx again.

I bought my camera about 18 months ago. As I said, it is very similar to yours. I had zero video experience. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out and learning what was important.

What I should have done:
1 - Read the camera manual a couple of times. It's not so much knowing all of the camera, but learning which parts you want to know well for what you are going to do.

2 - Print and read the HD Writer manual. Again, you need to understand what it can do and then learn the parts you need. You may learn you don't want to use it at all. But, it does do things you can't do any other way or with any other tool.

3 - If you want to do more than what HD Writer does, pick an editor -any editor - and learn it. This is where I wasted most of my efforts. I was trying to find "the best one". There are too many, they are all complex and everyone of them has fans as well as people that have trouble. If you haven't used a video editor before, the learning curve is steep and it can be slow. Finally, I focused on Adobe Premier Elements and forgot the others. There is excellent and inexpensive training at lynda.com that flattens the learning curve. The feature set in PE10 is amazing. It will manage audio and video with multiple controls, effects, layers and filters. It will create optimized video for everything from an iPhone to a high def TV using a long list of presets. Or it will make silly, amateurish instant video with preloaded themes.

4 - Now that I know some of the important parts of the basic tools, I can use them to create video. Taking random clips of interesting things is always fun and I will continue to do that. More fun, is the bigger challenge of editing the clips into something people enjoy watching. Finding worthy topics is a challenge in itself. Based on views, my best had a special purpose for a small nitch audience s and made it to 260 views on YouTube. A recent book called "How to Shoot Video That Doesn't Suck" has been a big help.

Hope you have as much fun with your new camera as I have with mine.

Bill
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