Digital Video Cameras
As you can see by the post just below this one, I finally got around to setting up a Youtube account for Mr. Completely. This means I can now put some of my own videos on the site, that is, if I had any, which I don't!
I'd like to post some videos of pin shooting and Steel Challenge matches, for starters.
I've got a small Sony Handycam, and with a certain amount of hardware and messing around, I guess you can convert the analog video to digital and get it into the computer. I have no idea what quality you would have left after doing that, however. Another option would be to buy a digital video camera, and then you can send the video directly to the computer (I think).
I'm sure some of you have been down this road already, so I am seeking your advice on how to proceed, including what's a good camera, and what features to look for.
Any ideas?
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4 Comments:
My wife has an inexpensive digital camcorder. It is very easy to transfer it with XP.
I haven't tried to get analog video into a digital format. If I were trying it here I'd hook the camera (or VCR) to my wife's WinTV equipped computer, tune it to channel 3 and record.
WinTV Info here:http://www.hauppauge.com/
I have both Analog and Digital and suggest you go analog since you can rewind and re-tape easier, media's reusable, less hassle, i.e. no formatting, etc.
Transfer to PC with a video capture board (Camera to PC). My board's an Adaptec AVC-2410 for Video capture.
Some suggestions (experience from the Shooting Trail filming) are to go with multiple cameras / camera angles, i.e., wide view of shooter; close (over the shoulder, target picture shot, and close (tripod mounted close-up on targets), etc.
3 cameras would probaly be cheaper in analog, too.
Other considerations:
Power - An inverter, run from your vehicle will provide a source of AC power so battery life does not become a limitation.
Sound - Certain (external) mics handle gunshots better than others and external mics avoid the motor noise of some autofocus cameras. Another key consideration is wind noise. I've had some meduim-good luck with the foam mic covers to reduce wind noise when film outdoors.
Anyway, there's a quick $.02 ...
I can't recommend WinTv or Hauppauge. I bought their full package, and used it for about a year with good success, but then they got behind in updating their drivers to keep up with all of MS' Hotfixes, and now my unit doesn't load it's app at all. All the usual recues/fixes, such as deleting and reloading the original software doen't cut it.
There are other video-capture units, and I would try them before WinTV.
ADS makes a decent consumer-grade analog-to-MPEG 2 video capture-converter box that takes composite video/stereo audio and imports it to your system via USB port. I bought one several months ago and have been playing with it; seems to do a pretty good job! It's the DVD Express unit, can be had for $100 or less, and is available at Best Buy and WalMart. It comes with bundled editing software (eh, not the best I've seen, but it isn't bad for home video work) and all cables to go from analog camera/VCR/other NTSC source to the computer. Good luck and have fun.
Jas.
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