Ping: Video Production Enthusiasts

[kcchief19]

I'm starting a new project at work where we want to shoot video to produce segments that we will put online and also use to make some short videos that we will screen at meetings and presentations.

The two things that I need are a good camera that lends itself to somewhat sophisticated video imaging and easy digital transfer and a user-friendly and at least somewhat sophisticated software editing software.

I have a ball park budget in mind, but I'm going into this with limited knowledge of the current available products. I'm interested in seeing if any of you doing any video production, editing and transfer and what equipment you recommend.

Any suggestions? I don't need the most powerful camera on the planet, but I want something decent enough that when we produce videos it doesn't look like it was shot by Ed Wood, but I don't need something that looks like it was shot by Spielberg. Maybe his non-union Mexican equivalent, for you Simpsons fans. I appreciate any thoughts!

[gstelmack]

If the camera records digital and has a firewire connection, you're good-to-go on the digital front. I'd avoid a camera that records direct-to-DVD, as they're already compressing more than you probably want. Find one that records to one of the tape mediums.

There are consumer-level HD cameras out now, and cameras that record in widescreen 16:9. Don't know if that is important to you.

As for software, it really depends on your budget. But if you're going professional, you can't go wrong with Adobe Premiere. Pinnacle also has a pretty nice system, and the SoundForge guys had one as well.

I'm still figuring out which one I'll buy when I've got a spare $500-$600 to move up to a decent set of video editing software as opposed to the roulette I keep playing with consumer-level software.

[Anthony]

i have Pinnacle's video editing software that i can sell to you, chief, for way less than what you'd spend in a store. i've moved on to Adobe Premiere. well, i haven't moved to it just yet, i'm in the process of assembling the parts for my dedicated video editing rig. i won't be needing my Pinnacle anymore, so if you'd like it (even just to practice on), it's yours for a deep discount price. box and manual included.

EDIT: this is the program (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002ZQB0Q/202-8608529-4448661)

[moriarty]

I'm starting a new project at work where we want to shoot video to produce segments that we will put online and also use to make some short videos that we will screen at meetings and presentations.

The two things that I need are a good camera that lends itself to somewhat sophisticated video imaging and easy digital transfer and a user-friendly and at least somewhat sophisticated software editing software.

I have a ball park budget in mind, but I'm going into this with limited knowledge of the current available products. I'm interested in seeing if any of you doing any video production, editing and transfer and what equipment you recommend.

Any suggestions? I don't need the most powerful camera on the planet, but I want something decent enough that when we produce videos it doesn't look like it was shot by Ed Wood, but I don't need something that looks like it was shot by Spielberg. Maybe his non-union Mexican equivalent, for you Simpsons fans. I appreciate any thoughts!

I think it depends on your budget. Unless you're willing to spend around $1500+ for a camera, any of the camcorders will give you decent pics and multiple optons + some special effects (mostly lame). If you want a HD camera I think the cheapest is a Sony around $1500 (and you'll need Googles of HD space). I'd look for a $400-500 camcorder that you can outfit with multiple lenses and microphones (if you want quality audio you'll need this) so that you can spend more money/expand quality over time. I agree with the mini-DV over DVD recording option.

Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas are more professional quality tools and require some learning curve. They run around $700. For <$100 I would suggest ulead, Pinnacle, or Sony Music Studios (i think they renamed this). All 3 are pretty easy to use packages that have the basics (cut/edit/add sound, music/burn to DVD+menus, basic special effects like fade to black etc..). All 3 have free demos if you want ot experiment.

edit: you may want to budget for an extra hard drive as well. Video editing chews up HD space like crazy. I'd recommend a 300GB HD.

[moriarty]

Dola - I use this site for camcorder info: hxxp://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/index.php
It has reviews and a lot of good stuff + message boards.

The Sony HD Camera is Sony HDR-HC1 HDV IIRC.

[kcchief19]

I actually have a Pinnacle transfer device that I obtained cheap that has Pinnance Hollywood FX 5. It's starting to sound from my research that this is probably not their best product. I was wondering about direct-to-DVD. Glad to know I should stay away from that.

Moriarity -- great tips. Changing lenses would probably be very valuable, and I do want excellent audio so I need to be able to use it with good mics. I was looking at HD and I was vascillating back and forth -- one thing we will want to do with the video is play some of it on a HD plasma screen we're setting up in our office, so I was considering that as a worthwhile option. I think the other two main mediums will be using to air video will be online and through digital projects, so I actually think HD would work well. You also mentioned hard drive space -- does working with an external hard drive pose any major problems?

Adobe Premiere seems to get good reviews from all of you -- that's within my budget, so I would prefer that to something cheaper and less sophisticated.

What about lighting? I initially assumed that a lighting kit was a must for some of the work I plan to do, but wanted to know if anybody else use a light kit either on the camera or separate from the camera.

Great info guys -- I appreciate!

[Antmeister]

Since you mentioned audio and since you have also mentioned that you would be getting Premeire, you may want to seriously consider getting the Adobe Video Collection. This Standard Version offers Premeire, After Effects(post production/special effects software), Audtion (audio editing software), and Adobe Encore (DVD authoring software) and this is all for about $1000. It is well worth it since you will pay about $700 for Premeire alone.

And to be honest with you, if you later take the time to learn After Effects, it will make you that much more marketable. This is what is used for commercials, trailers, title sequence of televisions shows and even special effects for some movies. I know I just went off in a different tangent, but it is some very powerful software and something that is worth learning since it will blow Premeire out of the water. That's because you can import images, 3d objects, and video to be manipulated in more ways than you can imagine.

[Antmeister]

dola....

By the way, if you ever want to learn After Effects, I can point you in the direction of which books are good, what are the best plugins, mailing lists, and links.