top high end camcorders image
S.Smith
I have Vista. I installed vlc media player, and set it to my default media player. I have the usb, and sd card for my camcorder, but when i move the videos to my computer, and play them on windows media player, it just plays the audio, but when i play it on vlc, it plays the audio and video. It's ticking me off. Can anyone help me please? I'm trying to move it to windows movie maker but it still just plays the audio.
Answer
Certain programs use certain codecs to play videos. Windows has a hard playing any video encoded with Xvid and VidX codecs. There are probably a few others it has problems with that I don't know about - yet;-) VLC is set up to play videos using the codecs Media Player can't use. This is why so many of us have VLC installed.
Vista's Movie Maker is set up to only use WMV and some AVI files (but not all AVIs).
To use your videos on Movie Maker you need to re-encode them (what normal people call "convert"). With Vista, you want to convert to a high quality WMV file type.
Converting isn't hard to do. It's just part of the workflow, the step-by-step process of making a video. There are a couple of things you have to know first. Don't panic. You only have to do some of these once. It's confusing at first, but like everything else in life, you get used to it;-)
Step 1: Are your clips HD or HD Lite? If you don't know, find one of the clips and right click on it. Scroll down to and click on "Properties". In the little window that opens, click on the Details tab. Scroll to the width and height (frame size). If one of the numbers is 1080, its an HD clip. If one of the numbers is 720, it's HD lite. Write down which one your have, 1080 or 720. If the height and width are some other numbers, the clip isn't HD.
Step 2: Convert the clip(s). If you're a beginner, you don't know much about codecs but there is one warning: Movie Maker cannot use AVI files encoded with Xvid or VidX codecs. So, if you ever stumble across AVI files that you have trouble with, you'll have to convert them. An easy converter is Freemake. It downloads and installs cleanly and safely and has a really simple interface. It uses Microsoft's NET Framework and, if your computer doesn't have the newest version, you'll be prompted to download and install it.
http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/
To use Freemake: click it's desktop icon to open it. It takes a minute to open (it has to do the connections to the NET Framework). Click the Video button to import the clips you want to convert. The conversion options are along the bottom. Use the < and > buttons to scroll through them. Click on WMV. In the new little window that opens, click the dropdown arrow at the end of the long Preset button. Now, you'll see why I had you write the 1080 or 720 down. Select the appropriate HD or HD Lite option with the VC1 codec, etc. or, if your clips aren't HD, select DVD Quality.
Select a place to save the converted video in the section below the Presets. The last part (Select One Pass Encoding is up to you. I usually click to use 2 pass encoding because the quality is better but it takes longer. If one pass is OK, then leave it alone.) Click the "Convert" button. It's important not to make the computer do a lot of "heavy" work while it's converting or uploading to the web. No streaming audio, TV or movies kind of stuff.
Format Factory also is an easy-to-use converter for beginners and will do both video and audio.
http://www.formatoz.com/
To use:
1. On the left side, click on the bar labelled "Video" if it's not already open and select WMV. Use the little up and down arrows at the top and the bottom to scroll through the list of file types. After you click a new window will open.
2. On the upper left, click on "Add File" and browse to your video. You don't have to do anything with Options because Format Factory is already set to the highest quality.
3. At the bottom of the window in "Output Folder", click on Browse to select a place to save the converted file. If you don't, it will be in Documents, in an FF Output folder.
4. Upper left again: Click "OK" and that window disappears.
5. Back to the opening page. Almost in the middle of the line of options near the top, click on "Start". Format Factory converts quickly.
Once your video is converted, import it into Movie Maker and have fun editing.
Certain programs use certain codecs to play videos. Windows has a hard playing any video encoded with Xvid and VidX codecs. There are probably a few others it has problems with that I don't know about - yet;-) VLC is set up to play videos using the codecs Media Player can't use. This is why so many of us have VLC installed.
Vista's Movie Maker is set up to only use WMV and some AVI files (but not all AVIs).
To use your videos on Movie Maker you need to re-encode them (what normal people call "convert"). With Vista, you want to convert to a high quality WMV file type.
Converting isn't hard to do. It's just part of the workflow, the step-by-step process of making a video. There are a couple of things you have to know first. Don't panic. You only have to do some of these once. It's confusing at first, but like everything else in life, you get used to it;-)
Step 1: Are your clips HD or HD Lite? If you don't know, find one of the clips and right click on it. Scroll down to and click on "Properties". In the little window that opens, click on the Details tab. Scroll to the width and height (frame size). If one of the numbers is 1080, its an HD clip. If one of the numbers is 720, it's HD lite. Write down which one your have, 1080 or 720. If the height and width are some other numbers, the clip isn't HD.
Step 2: Convert the clip(s). If you're a beginner, you don't know much about codecs but there is one warning: Movie Maker cannot use AVI files encoded with Xvid or VidX codecs. So, if you ever stumble across AVI files that you have trouble with, you'll have to convert them. An easy converter is Freemake. It downloads and installs cleanly and safely and has a really simple interface. It uses Microsoft's NET Framework and, if your computer doesn't have the newest version, you'll be prompted to download and install it.
http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/
To use Freemake: click it's desktop icon to open it. It takes a minute to open (it has to do the connections to the NET Framework). Click the Video button to import the clips you want to convert. The conversion options are along the bottom. Use the < and > buttons to scroll through them. Click on WMV. In the new little window that opens, click the dropdown arrow at the end of the long Preset button. Now, you'll see why I had you write the 1080 or 720 down. Select the appropriate HD or HD Lite option with the VC1 codec, etc. or, if your clips aren't HD, select DVD Quality.
Select a place to save the converted video in the section below the Presets. The last part (Select One Pass Encoding is up to you. I usually click to use 2 pass encoding because the quality is better but it takes longer. If one pass is OK, then leave it alone.) Click the "Convert" button. It's important not to make the computer do a lot of "heavy" work while it's converting or uploading to the web. No streaming audio, TV or movies kind of stuff.
Format Factory also is an easy-to-use converter for beginners and will do both video and audio.
http://www.formatoz.com/
To use:
1. On the left side, click on the bar labelled "Video" if it's not already open and select WMV. Use the little up and down arrows at the top and the bottom to scroll through the list of file types. After you click a new window will open.
2. On the upper left, click on "Add File" and browse to your video. You don't have to do anything with Options because Format Factory is already set to the highest quality.
3. At the bottom of the window in "Output Folder", click on Browse to select a place to save the converted file. If you don't, it will be in Documents, in an FF Output folder.
4. Upper left again: Click "OK" and that window disappears.
5. Back to the opening page. Almost in the middle of the line of options near the top, click on "Start". Format Factory converts quickly.
Once your video is converted, import it into Movie Maker and have fun editing.
Is the quality of video from Full HD Camcorders still lower than DVCs?
Andrew Mil
Nowadays you have full HD camcorders that are supposed to deliver best picture. So are the NEW camcorders not delivering as good picture as DVCs.
By DVC I meant digital video cassettes. So I was not too far off the terminology end. But what is interesting is that most brands are now just focusing on HDD and flash camcorders and not MiniDVs anymore.
Answer
I agree with Iridflare.
But you need to consider what is "best". And the assumption is you are referring to miniDV tape ("digital video cassette" is a bit generic).
In video, generally speaking, less compression of the digital video stream is *WAY* better than lots of compression.
As well, the way a video format handles groups of frames can have a substantial impact on video quality.
Last, for this short discussion, anyway, you should learn a bit about the different video formats available.
Since you referred to "Full HD", you should know that this is a not a technical term. It is a marketing term. While it is accurate to say the "progressive" capture method has some advantages over interlaced capture, the fact is that anything over 480 horizontal lines of video is considered high definition - in consumer cams, that is usually 720 or 1080. Red and Silicon Imaging have been doing Ultra-high definition for a while.
Next, add the video compression layer. The easiest observable method is to understand the data rate of the video. Higher data rate means less compression is used. More compression means more discarded data so lower data rate. Higher is better. DV and HDV (typically captured to miniDV tape; but there are a few ways to use flash memory and special external storage devices) are clocked at 25 mbps. XDCAM, HDCAM, DVCAM, DVCPRO and DVCPRO HD have a similar data rate. Typically, consumer grade camcorders using non-tape storage top out at about 17mbps - though there are a few at the higher end that get to 24 mbps in the AVCHD/MTS file environment. The new Canon XF series camcorder record to an interesting MXF format and delivers 50mbps data stream - but is clearly not a consumer cam.
You can do your own research on GOP and how poorly AVCHD handles video with fast action in the event of a dropped frame.
BUT, it is all about skill. Someone with a good, trained eye can capture good, compelling, content on the least expensive camcorder... while someone with no skill would likely capture garbage with the best available equipment.
I agree with Iridflare.
But you need to consider what is "best". And the assumption is you are referring to miniDV tape ("digital video cassette" is a bit generic).
In video, generally speaking, less compression of the digital video stream is *WAY* better than lots of compression.
As well, the way a video format handles groups of frames can have a substantial impact on video quality.
Last, for this short discussion, anyway, you should learn a bit about the different video formats available.
Since you referred to "Full HD", you should know that this is a not a technical term. It is a marketing term. While it is accurate to say the "progressive" capture method has some advantages over interlaced capture, the fact is that anything over 480 horizontal lines of video is considered high definition - in consumer cams, that is usually 720 or 1080. Red and Silicon Imaging have been doing Ultra-high definition for a while.
Next, add the video compression layer. The easiest observable method is to understand the data rate of the video. Higher data rate means less compression is used. More compression means more discarded data so lower data rate. Higher is better. DV and HDV (typically captured to miniDV tape; but there are a few ways to use flash memory and special external storage devices) are clocked at 25 mbps. XDCAM, HDCAM, DVCAM, DVCPRO and DVCPRO HD have a similar data rate. Typically, consumer grade camcorders using non-tape storage top out at about 17mbps - though there are a few at the higher end that get to 24 mbps in the AVCHD/MTS file environment. The new Canon XF series camcorder record to an interesting MXF format and delivers 50mbps data stream - but is clearly not a consumer cam.
You can do your own research on GOP and how poorly AVCHD handles video with fast action in the event of a dropped frame.
BUT, it is all about skill. Someone with a good, trained eye can capture good, compelling, content on the least expensive camcorder... while someone with no skill would likely capture garbage with the best available equipment.
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