Import format WMV or AVI

[ericmark]

I have a camcorder Sony DCR-HC22E (Optical 20x zoom) with firewire link to PC and loads of tapes which I want to transfer to main hard drive.

The Windows program gives three options import all using AVI I can select a stop point or all using WMV or split into sections using WMV the latter seems to auto group mistakes and makes it very easy to delete where I have run camera in my pocket would seem I have done that a few times.

However the video size with WMV is much smaller than with AVI and I wonder what is being removed.

Although I do have a BluRay drive on PC and could write as a BluRay never seen any BluRay blanks for sale and would mean very limited as to what players could be used so far more likely to transfer to DVD.

However may try to extract still shots from the video and in that case the video part would be important. But not even sure how to edit or do anything with video at the moment just want to transfer from the tapes.

So what are the pros and cons between formats. I have noted the pictures stored as WMV when played on BluRay player and PC seem squashed with black either side everyone looks tall and thin.

One test bit was 817 MB with WMV and 5.6 GB with AVI which is rather a huge difference for 28 minutes of video.

Any advice welcome. Wedding coming up and will want to transfer to stick or DVD not sure which camera to use. Camcorder very small lens easy to carry will likely last around 1 hour before flat battery. Casio Exilm EX-Z600 will take video has 8 GB card no idea of how long it will go for before either battery flat or 8 GB card full 6 Mega Pixels when used as camera. The Nikon D7000 is clearly the best for video have two batteries fitted with two 32 GB cards but would mean not available for still photos and 16 Mega Pixels with 14 bit RAW files also the best still camera also has the best CCD so will work in very low light and with a 28 - 270 lens has everything one could wish for but idea was to hand hold this and put camcorder on tripod and just let it record.

Looked at my Pentax K10D but max ISO 1600 and at that very grainy so really 400 ISO max OK with F2 fixed lens but that lens is manual focus and I fear loads of soft focus images. With auto focus lens its F3.5 at wide angle so again thinking of tripod mount and use a wireless remote to fire it. This is the only camera I have a large flash for Vivitar 3500 very old but still works all other camera have only built in flash.

Likely I will send grand children off with one camera but clearly with no professional photographer I want to capture as much as I can with what I have and it is the camcorder bit which most worries me as not really into movies.

 

[Sam Gangee]

Any advice welcome.

Stop using your personal shorthand and write understandable English, using a full stop at the end of every sentence, or a question mark if it's a question. I really can't be bothered to try to extract the meaning, otherwise.

{My} Wedding {is} coming up and {I} will want to transfer {the video recording} to {a USB memory} stick or DVD [full stop]

{I am} not sure which camera to use. {My} Camcorder {has a} very small lens {and is} easy to carry {and it} will likely last around 1 hour before {it has a} flat battery. Casio Exilm EX-Z600 will take video {and} has {an} 8 GB card [full stop]

{I have} no idea of how long it will go for before either {the} battery {goes} flat or {the} 8 GB card {is} full [full stop]

{It uses?} 6 Mega Pixels when used as camera.

Leave it running and time it.

 

[Lucid]

Like Sam Gangee, I too am having a bit of difficulty following all that you're trying to do.

Here are the basics:
1) For video capture on to a PC you want to use an editable file format. The would be AVI. Only use WMV for very short clips you intend to upload directly to Youtube. It's fine for that but useless for most editing programs.

5.6G for 28 mins used to be considered a lot back in the 90's. Now though that 2,000Gb hard drives are common and readily available for under £80, and even 32Gb USB flash drives for under £15. Worrying about 5Gb of video per minute is something very last decade.

2) Sound. Everyone forgets sound.... until it's too late.
With any tape based camera there is motor noise. There might also be auto focus noise, zoom lens noise, there will certainly be handling noise. Then there's the external sounds - wind noise is the main one. But the other is general ambient noise; this is from people talking/coughing/sneezing/laughing/shuffling about and the acoustics of the space we are in.

As humans, we are good at filtering that out and concentrate on the sound we want to hear. Camcorders are not that selective. Their mics are omni-directional (all around pick-up) and they camcorders have Auto Gain Circuits (AGC). AGCs constantly adjust the recording level. When it's quiet they increase the level so you get a lot of hiss and motor noise. Then when there's some sound the level crashes.

The other thing with sound is that distance reduces bass. In-camera mics are not good at picking up bass. The effect worsens over distance, so someone speaking 20ft away will produce a thin sound through the in-built mic.

The solution is to use a shotgun mic (if your camcorder has a mic socket), or to get the camera as close to the action as possible. Another good tip is to fix the mic recording level. The risk though is that it could be set too high or too low. For a first time effort leaving it on AGC might be the safer option.

3) Whoever you are doing the video for isn't expecting perfection. Just hold the camcorder still and straight. Avoid using zoom for anything other than reveals or focussing attention. Don't pan unless you are following the action.

If this is a video for the bride and groom then try to get stuff that they'll miss on the day. Look around for people on the periphery. Look for folk chatting and laughing. Get stuff that the bride won't have seen. Close-ups of flowers and decorations in church, order of service, back of the brides dress, the best men waiting, people arriving at church.

The other thing is they don't need (or want) the whole ceremony showing in real time. It's better to do an edited highlights version. Get the basics of the actual ceremony - the brides arrival, procession down the isle, the vows, the reading, exchange of rings, the kiss. There'll be some waiting time while they are off signing the register. You can't film or photograph the actual signing for legal reasons, but they can pose with the book for wedding shots which the official photographer should take. Then there's the procession back down the isle.

If you can get your camcorder set up looking past the vicar's shoulder and face on to the bride then great. If not, don't sweat it.

Whatever you plan to do though, talk to the vicar first. Some churches are okay with video, others can be funny.

 

[ericmark]

Thank you so much. Some really good points. I have found Adobe Premier Elements 4 is loaded onto the PC I am using and it would seem I can strip the sound track or add another sound track just got to work out how to use it.

I have evaluation version of PicturestoEXE considering buying full version as this with combine video and stills together.

Software came with the camera but with only work up to XP as will the USB link but lucky the firewire still works with Vista.

I was considering clearing tapes to use, but have instead bought new at £10 for 50Gb cheap enough to buy 5 tapes and in real terms only likely to fill one before battery is flat.

Can't move a 5Gb AVI file onto a 32Gb stick formatted as FAT32 seems NTFS only for files that big so will store on external hard drives. Not sure if I can format a stick to NTFS?

The other camera is H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding not a clue what that means. Seems I can select Frame size 1,280 x 720 or 640 x 424 at 25 fps it is different for 24 fps but seem to remember everything else is 25 fps. It seems maximum length 20 minutes so I wonder if I keep clips to under 20 minutes is I can load onto 32Gb stick. That camera has two 32Gb SDHC cards so would expect it's not card size which limits video.

 

[Lucid]

The comment about putting the file on a USB flash drive was more a comment on how inexpensive it is now to buy storage. However, your point is taken and yes, the 4Gb file size limit under Fat32 would be a problem. To solve that you can format in NTFS. Here's a guide to help: format Flash drive in NTFS under WinXP

One thing I remember back when I was working with DV tape was setting the capture mode so that it segmented the rushes in to small blocks. This made them much easier to work with. The PC of the day back in 2002 didn't have the horsepower of a modern system. But more than that, it ensured the capture process wasn't ruined if there was a glitch. The risk was limited to a small capture segment which could be easily recaptured rather than repeating the whole lot if it was one continuous huge file.

H.264 is a file format that goes up to HD resolutions. Those are 1280x720 that you have already mentioned, and 1920x1080 which is the other common HD format.

HD brought with it the possibility to use film frame rates in domestic gear. TVs now routinely handle 24fps from 1080p Blu-ray. 25 and 30fps are video frame rates tied to the worlds of PAL and NTSC TV respectively. There's no problem in using any of these now since TVs are no longer limited to the refresh rate dictated by the mains supply frequency. Sticking with a single frame rate throughout the project would be a good idea though.

 

[ericmark]

Thank you so much. I have uploaded all my old DV tapes now although still need to work though them and split into sections.

The old analogue is more of a problem. Bought an EasyCAP USB unit and with one lap top it will capture video and sound but other one only seem to get video bit can't capture sound. The picture quality is really bad and to be frank think it's too bad to use.

The USB unit when connected to Blu-ray player worked A1 so can't blame the unit but with video camera it was hopeless. So think I will use the compact camera to take video once the batteries on the DV video fail.

I still have the problem of converting AVI to MP4 the latter seems to be standard today. A assume AVI is like RAW and MP4 is like Jpeg with controls in the down loading program able to rectify errors of over and under exposure? honestech TVR 2.5 came with video capture unit and also have Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 between the two hope I can correct any errors but really green at this.

With still camera I have no worries I have been taking in RAW for years and not first wedding but video is something else.

I think I need a crash course on how to use the D7000 to take video had intended to use for still photos but has to be the best video camera I have so I have a week to learn how to use it.

 

[Lucid]

Try a program called handbrake. It's free for non-commercial use. Check out the help guides from the web page about the exact steps for converting.