I just finished a post over on my Sheila’s Guide to the Good Stuff blog, about why tourism organizations might want to hold off using one of those neat pocket video cameras that shoot in HD (high definition) unless they have access to some rather sophisticated editing software and a pretty powerful computer.
Here is a quick summary of my own painful recent painful videographer learning experience as outlined in “Look before you leap into HD video:”
If you’re thinking of shooting HD to take family travel video, be aware of the following issues:
- The file extension is different and may not be recognized by your video editing software. My PC’s installed version of Windows Movie Maker can’t “see” the new .MP4 files from the FlipHD Mino, and the latest version of Movie Maker (that can work with MP4) won’t work with my Windows XP. Technology awesomeness!
- Technology crises always happen at 9 pm on a Saturday night when you’re alone – at least, they do with me. When I saw I had a mess, I put a call out to my video-savvy Twitter followers, who quickly gave me software suggestions. Hurray for helpful networks. No, I can’t “call the IT people” because that’s me. Freelancer awesomeness!
- Adobe Premiere Elements was recommended by several (thanks, Dwight Silverman at the Houston Chronicle‘s TechBlog) but I found it crash-prone (corroborated in several user forums.) I never could even launch the 30 day free trial and finally had to uninstall it. The real problem became clearer when….
- ….I then bought (for about $100 at Best Buy) and installed Pinnacle Studio Ultimate HD (thanks for the tip, Omar Gallaga – he’s the Austin American-Statesman Digital Savant.) Pinnacle didn’t crash and nicely corrected several problems in a few of my video files – harsh sunlight, funky audio – but playbacks kept stuttering and everything just seemed “gummy.” Turns out that when I actually read the Pinnacle system requirements (d’oh!) my laptop has insufficient RAM and the processor is too slow.
- To handle the two videos (plus lots of B-roll) that I’ve shot in HD, I’ve now installed the Pinnacle software on my family desktop PC, which has a more powerful processor (but the same amount of RAM as the laptop, so cross your fingers for me.) I’m copying all the HD files on my laptop onto a 500G-capacity Seagate external hard drive, then dumping them from the Seagate onto the desktop so I can try to make everything work properly on a better platform. You can’t transfer such big files by email or sticking them on a thumb drive (without losing your mind) so I went with the big digital shovel. Tech logistics awesomeness!
Bottom line? If you want to roll with HD, it’s not enough to shoot it. That part is deceptively easy.
You need a high-powered, fairly recent computer with capable software to edit those HD files unless you’re always going to be content to upload directly online (i.e., can shoot without error and never want to change it much.)
I’m dropping back to my lower-resolution Flip Ultra for now, so before you drop any serious coin on video toys, research what you’ll need to edit your footage.
Do as I say, not as I already screwed up….
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{ 7 comments }
I agree that one should be careful when deciding on an HD camcorder. I bought one that produces great videos and is easy to use, but it has no audio input (which I did not know when I bought it). I bought another HD camcorder that was more expensive and had great reviews. Although I am fairly techno-savvy, I couldn’t get the software to work properly.
I really don’t know why it has to be so difficult.
Hi Joy,
Yeah, I hear you. I claim no tech wizardry, but I’m reasonably bright and this was a frustrating experience. Got a tip at Austin’s VideoCamp this past weekend – run the HD through software to “step it down” to lower resolution, then edit. Final Cut Pro will do this, and I’m going to see if my husband’s basic iMovie can do it.
You’re absolutely correct, digital video editing is all about RAM and processor speed. I personally use Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, but that is very pricey. If your needs are more modest, say just trimming clips and joining them together, you ought to look at Apple Quicktime Pro. This is the $29.99 upgrade to the free Apple Quicktime player. I was amazed at the number of video formats it will handle. The minimum hardware requirements are the lowest of any I’m aware of, and at thirty bucks, most anyone could afford it. Best of luck.
Hi Doug,
I did download the free trial but never could get it to open, so had to uninstall.
To merge you can simply fade one clip into the other by inserting a Fade transition between each clip. To delete a section of a clip, make sure you highlight the unwanted section (probably after you’ve split the clip and know which part you don’t want) then hit “Delete.”
Hmmm…I use Adobe After Effects to make my videos cool. Never had errors with it. For picture editing I use Blender or Photoshop. Why Blender? Because it’s open source software. You can download it for free. Photoshop is amazing but it costs. In Blender you can edit your pictures and videos also. It have low system requirements. So try it. Maybe you will love it.
Once you have purchased your new digital video camera you then have to plough through the manual to understand all its functions. This seems to takes ages but, it is quite boring. However, it is really important to learn at least the most common functions. Like all the other hi-tec devices nowadays you always have to take into account battery life.
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