Editing HD Video

Editing HD Video Working with the video of camcorders such as the Sony HDR-HC1 can produce a serious business.  HD video contains four times the number of pixels that standard definition offers, and it's much more heavily compressed.   Keep in mind that you need a powerful computer with a lot of memory to deal with the extra data and compression.  Pinnacle for example, recommends a minimum 512 MB of RAM and a graphics card with 128 MB of RAM for standard resolution video, although that goes up to a GB of RAM and a 256 MB graphics card when working with 1080i HD video. You can find plenty of software available that supports editing high definition videos.  For example, the latest versions of Pinnacle Studio and Ulead Media Studio 8 can import and edit files in HDV format.   Even though the high definition video with these types of looks great when played back on an HDTV, at the present time is there is no way store HD video on a DVD.  The only way you can store HD video for playback is on your PC or the same type of media you used in your HD camcorder. There is however, a new generation of high definition optical media format coming soon.  Products that are based on the HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc formats are very expensive, and they will remain that way for the near future.   HD-DVD players were announced a while back that they will cost $500 and up, and will be available very soon.  You'll also need one of the new HD-DVD drives to write to the disc, which will cost as much again.  You can expect the same story with the Blu-ray disc, as both the recorders and the players are going to be expensive for a while to come. There is one other option as well.  There is a DVD player from KISS, the DP-600, which can play back high definition files that have been compressed to Microsoft's Windows Media 9 format.  This can at least provide a stop gap until the price of the HD-DVD and Blue-ray disc players and writes come down to an affordable price. You can always play back the recorded video you have through the camcorder itself, although you shouldn't expect to be able to write it out on a disc with the current available equipment and preserve its quality.  If you wait it out, the new generation of available media will be everything you need for your HD video.

Controls And Features HD Video Cameras

Controls And Features The central part of a DV camcorder is the CCD, or Charge Coupled Device.  This sensor creates a video picture by recording the light intensity to recognize an image or shape, along with the color levels to reproduce a full color picture.   There are several tape based DV camcorders that have both color eyepiece viewfinders and a flip out TFT LCD screen to view the action as well as the previous recorded footage.  Most tape-less models however, only offer the TFT screen to preview your captured video and to view while you make a recording. When you need to get closer to the action, a zoom lens can be a great feature.  Don't get swayed by the digital zoom figure however; as no matter how large it may be, you should always base your final decision on the optical zoom. The optical zoom will give you a true indication of the video image, where digital zooms interpolate the available pixels to zoom in on an image.  Optical zooms will normally range around the 10X mark, with digital zooms ranging from 100X and above. The auto focusing systems are great as well, although manual focus options can be ideal for low light or when focusing on a subject against a landscape.  Being available on most video cameras, the manual focus control can be found as either a ring on the lens or as a dual button system on the body. Most video cameras these days will provide a tilting feature in the camera itself, although this feature should be avoided unless you don't intend to edit the video on a computer.  The title effects on many cameras are quite limited and cannot be removed afterwards. Almost all new high definition video cameras will use a rechargeable Li-ion battery, even though a spare battery might be useful as the batteries are unique to each camcorder maker and normally each model. Most of the latest cameras allow you to capture digital still images onto a removable flash memory card.  The most popular media is SD or MMC, but Sony and Samsung cameras often capture to a memory stick.   If your video camera doesn't offer still image capabilities, you can always perform a capture of the screen in your editing program.  Always remember that the image resolution when capturing a still this way will always be 640X480, which is actually less than 1 MB, or Mega Byte.

Canon XLH1

Canon XLH1 On September 18 of 2005, Canon broke new ground in the digital video camera industry, announcing the XL H1, which was Canon's first DVC featuring high definition.  Originally developed based on the needs of professional and enthusiast videographers, the XL H1 retains the operability of Canon's very popular XL2 while increasing the professional function and supporting high definition recording. The flagship DVC for the company of Canon, the XL H1 is ideal for use all across the spectrum of professional content making, from film and television production to filming weddings.  The XL H1 also comes equipped with a HD 20X zoom video lens, the XL 5.4-108 mm L IS II, which contributes to Canon's development aim of delivering the highest possible quality of recording available today. As Canon's first HD video camera, the XL H1 camcorder and 20X HD video zoom lens will provide broadcasters with a low budget 1080i resolution option for ENG, documentary or even reality television productions. Film makes will also fall for the extensive Cine controls and 24 frame rate option the XL H1 has to offer.  Canon's custom jackpack features include uncompressed digital HD-SDI output for seamless integration into broadcast studios or high quality image transfer to non linear editing systems. The genlock feature will allow movie sets to easily synchronize camera settings across multiple camcorders and SMPTE time codes will allow for streamlined tape and edit management. The XL H1 also offers three 1/3 inch 1.67 megapixel interlaced CCDs that capture images at 1080i resolution.  It also features selectable frame rates of 50i and 25F, so capturing fast motion and just about everything else is possible with the XL H1.