Can I edit/view video from a HD Camcorder on a normal PC/TV?

3 Comments

1. rory w says:

   October 30, 2009 at 7:21 pm

   well define a normal computer?

   I build custom computer systems for video editors and they aren’t off the shelf systems as the best and fastest way to edit video has to be considered.
   You by all means use a normal computer if its got a firewire connection, has the software that you need to edit and create. But then it might be old and slow meaning that what I can do in 20 minutes on one of my systems takes you 6 hours.. (yes that is quite a real time calculation)

   Most (if not all) CRT monitors are HD in fact are more than the top HD specifications. A lot of TFT screen are not.. but it depends.. HD sizes are 720 and 1080 so any screen that can perform these resolutions is a HD screen.

   You can burn on a DVD RW, but you will be limited by the size of the files or lengh. There are DL DVD RW’s (dual layer) which will burn around 9.6 gigabytes of data and there are HD DVD’s as well. you just need to make sure that your DVD RW will work with those discs.

   Though out of date now, head over to my website and look at the systems that are designed for progaming and video editing.

   Note that you will need a large amount of disc storage
2. Little Dog says:

   October 30, 2009 at 7:25 pm

   All camcorders (including high definition camcorders) have an “AV-out” capability. Use the color coded cable with RCA jacks: Yellow-Video; Red-Right audio; White-left audio. This can connect to any TV with AV-inputs (like connecting a VCR, DVD player or game console). This will not be in HD – but analog, composite, video. When you get an HDTV, the HD camcorder will connect to it with either HDMI (which includes audio) or component (RGB) plus audio cables. Not all HD camcorders have both connections – typically one or the other (but some have both).

   I don’t understand what a “normal” PC is.

   MiniDV tape based camcorders continue to provide the best available video quality for camcorders in the same price range because DV/HDV compresses a lot less than the other consumer storage types. MiniDV tape camcorders transfer DV/HDV to the computer by connecting the DV port on the camcorder to the firewire (also known as IEEE1394, DV, i.LINK) port on the computer. Macintosh computers have had a firewire 400 port standard for about 10 years (the only exception is the MacBook Air). A traditional Windows computer may need to add a firewire port – if your computer has an available expansion slot. If you have to add one and have an expansion slot, firewire 400 cards are cheap and easy to install. USB will not work. USB-firewire adapter/converters will not work. HDV uses about 44 gig of hard drive space per hour of imported video. DV uses about 13 gig of computer hard drive space per hour of imported video. If your computer was made in the last 4 years or so, you don’t need an upgraded graphics card (unless you get a REALLY low-end one to begin with. I have been editing HDV for the last 3-4 years on a 17″ flat-panel iMac with 2 gig RAM and 2 external 500 gig hard drives that are used ONLY for video editing projects.

   Windows MovieMaker will not handle HDV. You will need to get a video editor that can deal with HDV. Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere always float to the top.

   When editing is done, the video editor will have instructions for saving the project in a format that a DVD authoring application can deal with. The DVD authoring application allows you to set up DVD menu items, background picture or video with a soundtrack, etc. The DVD authoring application will know what your DVD burner can do (in this case, standard definition video) and it will downsample the video from the video project for you so you do not need to know about all the different compression possibilities and files formats. Let the DVD authoring app do the job it was made to do. Each frame of the video project will be rendered, then burned to the DVD. This DVD can be played in regular DVD players connected to a regular TV.

   Then I export the finished project from the computer back to the camcorder miniDV tape. This is high definition. When you get a HDTV, use the camcorder as the play-back deck connected to the HDTV and watch the project in high def. This tape also becomes the “archive” along with the original miniDV tapes… If you want to use the video from the original miniDV tapes, you have them for other projects in the future. When you upgrade the DVD player to BluRay or if you want to re-import the high definition video file to a media server connected to the HDTV, you can do that. Again, the other consumer storage media cannot do this.

   MiniDV tape is cheap. You do not need to use the “special HD” tapes. I use the plain old ~$3 per tape Sony Premium tapes.

   Hard Disc Drive (HDD) and Flash Memory camcorders use the same video compression methods. LOTS of compression into MPEG2 (DV) or AVCHD (high definition) MT2S or MTS files. Some video editors need to convert the MPEG2 files before they can be edited. Only current versions of some editors can handle AVCHD compressed files and not all editors can handle AVCHD files from all camcorder manufacturers. File transfer is done by copying the data files over USB to the computer. Your FIRST step after this file copy is to archive the video onto another hard drive or onto a bunch of DVDs (remember, with miniDV tape, the tape is the archive). You use the DVDs as data file storage and these DVDs cannot be played back on regular DVD players. The files are computer readable only. HDD camcorders have problems with vibration (loud audio can cause enough vibration to park the HDD heads. This includes loud music whether amplified or not, loud crowds, loud motors, etc.). They also have issues with high altitude (anything over 9,800 feet), and the heads will park when there is not enough air pressure… Flash memory and miniDV tape camcorders do not have these issues. With a HDD based camcorder, when you drop it and it breaks, you need to hire a data recovery service like DriveSavers to get that video you have not yet transferred to your computer. Flash memory is still pretty expensive… a 60 minute MiniDV tape can hold 13 gig (DV) or 44 gig (HDV) and has a proven long shelf life when stored in a cool dry place.

   What is your budget? The Canon HV30 and Sony HDR-HC9 are both good entry level DV/HDV camcorders with different feature sets depending on your needs. Then there is a jump to the Sony HVR-HD1000U, Sony HVR-A1U, Sony HDR-FX1000 (which recently replaced the HDR-FX1), Canon XHA1 and it is uphill from there.

   Consumer DVD based camcorders compress video the most – and in my opinion should be removed from the market. Everyone should get their money refunded.
3. mpcsecondtime says:

   October 30, 2009 at 7:47 pm

   Most computers made in the past 3-4 years can handle viewing and editing video from HD camcorders without any upgrade. Go to an site that had HD video such as Apple Trailers and Vimeo. If your computer system can download and play the HD videos (even if in a smaller screen instead of full screen), then you your computer can handle capturing, editing, and rendering HD video.

   Your HD camcorder will normally come with more than one option to connect to a TV. The better cameras, $500 or more, usually come with all the cables you need including an HDMI cable. HD camcorders can also convert HD video to an SD signal on the fly for viewing on standard definition TV or use in standard definition video editing programs (such as Windows Movie Maker).

   Yes, increasing RAM and installing a newer video card in your computer can help speed up video capture and rendering times, but it is usually not necessary just to make the process work. The addition that is necessary is additional hard drive space. If you do not have at least 250gb-320gb of space that you can dedicate specifically to video editing, then you need to purchase an additional hard drive. You can add a second hard drive into your desktop, but most people purchase an external hard drive for quick ease of use, portability from system to system, and the secure ability to lock up the hard drive while still being able to use the computer. You can get external 500GB USB hard drives for $100 or less. You can also find external 1TB USB drives for around $150 online.

   Your computer came with free editing software that can capture video from your HDV camcorder – Windows Movie Maker or iMovie; however, only the the highest version of Windows Vista has an HD capable version of Windows Movie Maker. You can still set your camcorder to export HD video in SD for use in WMM. If you need to capture and edit HD video on a Windows PC, you will need to upgrade your video editing software. If you plan to burn DVD in Windows, you also need to purchase a DVD burning program. A Mac computer already comes with all the HD capable video editing software as well as additional software for audio editing, DVD burning, and video conversion . Any other type of HD camcorder, such as AVCHD or Bu-Ray disc, may or may or may not work with your editing platform.

   If you plan to get an HD camera, get an HDV model. If you are already familiar with miniDV, full size DV, or Digital8, then you are already familiar with HDV. You only need to learn a few extra things specific to HD cameras and the HD format. Everything else is tha same since HDV was developed to use the existing DV technology to store and edit HD video.

   Another advantage is that HDV tape is actually a high grade form of miniDV tape, but you don’t have to use the expensive HDV tapes. We use professional grade Panasonic AYDVM63PQ tapes which are the same high quality as expensive HDV tapes but cost half the price of consumer level tape found at Wal-Mart. A 10 pack of the Panasonic PQ tape on Amazon is $35 and 10 of the lowest grade tapes from Wal-Mart is $75. This tape is so cheap we hardly ever reuse them.