I have written in the past about reading movies from your camcorder and producing video files or video DVDs. At the time, I found the available hardware and software a bit cranky, but I was able to get through some of it, and to send my daughter some video clips of one of my grandkid's birthday parties.
I have gotten a few calls about this lately, so I thought I might spend some time explaining what I know of the state of the art in video production.
Every once in a while a PC application comes along that catches the public's imagination. Everybody wants to get into the act, and there are companies or retailers out there just waiting to take your money. But video production is still very much in its infancy and the equipment and software not easy to work with. But, if you read the ads in the Wilmington paper's electronic retailer's Sunday fliers, it's easy and cheap. Not so. Let's cover some basic areas.
You need to realize that there are basically two types of video signals that come out of your camcorder. Old style analog signals are the way TV and video have worked for the last 50 or more years. They are not digital, and are really not acceptable quality. If the computer interface you are considering purchasing has analog inputs, pass it up. You can usually tell because they use the old style round RCA connectors, usually labeled VIDEO and AUDIO, or VIDEO and L/R if stereo. If this is the only type of output your camcorder has, you might as well stop there until you can get a digital output unit.
What you need is a Firewire connection, or IEEE 1394 as it is also called. Sony calls it the iLink. If your camcorder has this, it is your first step towards video success. You need to interface the Firewire connection to your PC, and you do this by getting a Firewire card installed into your PC, unless it is a new PC and already has it.
Next you need software. Your Firewire card may come with software, or you can buy a card without software and order the software separately. I am really no expert on which software to use, so research would be in order here. Some software has more bells and whistles than others. For example, if you want to just get the video from the camcorder, do a bit of basic editing such as adding titles or music, and write a DVD, most software products will do this. If you want fancy rearranging, fades and editing, you will need a more powerful product.
Once you have learned how to get the video and edit it, you next task is to write the finished movie to CD or DVD. You can use CDs in some cases, but you can only put about 20 minutes of video on a CD. Most people today are using DVD writers. The problem is that there are two competing DVD formats - much like the old Beta vs. VHS tape wars back in the early 80's. Obviously you would not want to get caught with the format that doesn't end up as a winner in the long run. Also, if you want to send the DVD to relatives and one has one type and one the other, you have a big problem.
Sony does make a DVD drive that records both formats. This seems like a reasonable thing, but there is still no certainty that either of them as they are today will be the final format.
The bottom line to all this, is that video production is still very much of an intense hobby, rather than a simple turnkey operation. You need to do your research on all of the above areas before diving in. And leave yourself plenty of time for learning - don't assume that you can put all this together in one weekend so you can complete your school project!
(Bob Seidel is a local computer consultant in the Southport / Oak Island area. You can visit his website at www.bobseidel.com or e-mail him at bsc@bobseidel.com)