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Solved New to HD video

New to HD video was created by Holescreek

Posted 18 Sep 2014 12:16 #1
I'm a newbie to HD video recording, until last month I spent most of my time recording slow motion video with a Casio EF-X1. My wife spent the better part of the year planning her dream vacation in Alaska and Canada so I started looking for a small hand held movie camera (I wasn't willing to risk my EX-F1!). I researched cameras in my price range and settled on a Sony Handycam, printed out the internet pricing and headed to the store to try to get them to price match it.

The floor manager didn't have a problem with the price match but he started asking what I planned on using the camera for. "The first day we're dog sledding on a glacier" was the statement my wife made that prompted him to suggest the JVC Quad Proof camera due to its resistance to water and freezing. Of course my first thought was that he was just redirecting me to a slightly more expensive camera (about $30 more) but I'm glad he did. August is the start of the rainy season in AK and it was coming down steadily on the glacier. We were dressed in our thermal jackets and each had two rain suits on over the top of them. It would have been a disappointment if the camera I'd chosen would have crapped out in the middle of nowhere.

I'd perceived the biggest "con" of the camera to be the built-in battery but even after a four hours of near continuous recording the battery was still showing only half spent. I took three SD cards with me, a 64 gig and two 32's. I'd nearly filled the 64 by the last day of vacation when she was going to use the camera zip lining so I popped a fresh 32 into the camera so we wouldn't loose everything if the camera got dropped from 600'. My only complaint is the autofocus tended to focus on the closest thing to the lens and occasionally it would reel back and focus on a raindrop streaking across the helicopter window while I was filming a glacier. It was my first day using the camera the way it was intended so I had a learning curve to overcome.

Ultimately we brought back some very nice movies and it wasn't until then that I discovered the real cost of HD, my computer and software were too old and outdated to process the videos! I'd tested the camera before we left making some short videos (and it was fine) but discovered that anything over a minute or two long caused the program (Windows live) to choke while processing. Extensive online research and a freshly emptied wallet led me to Sony Movie studio Platinum 13 and (thankfully) Dereks great tutorials I found that led me here.

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Replied by DoctorZen on topic New to HD video

Posted 18 Sep 2014 14:03 #2
Hi Holescreek
Welcome to the Forum.

One thing does lead to another when you purchase modern tech, you can't have one without the other.
The majority of computers before 2009/2010, where not optimized for large HD Video file processing.
The CPUs released from 2011 onwards were a quantum leap in processing power.

Sounds like you experienced an amazing adventure in more ways than one.

All the best.
Derek :)
ℹī¸ Remember to turn everything off at least once a week, including your brain, then sit somewhere quiet and just chill out.
Unplugging is the best way to find solutions to your problems. If you would like to share some love, post a customer testimonial or make a donation.
Last Edit:31 Jan 2015 00:10 by DoctorZen

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Replied by Holescreek on topic New to HD video

Posted 19 Sep 2014 01:25 #3
You're right about the adventures, I just found the link here to the sound tracks and can't seem to get away from my computer now.

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