Newb looking for some direction

[diablo_2097]

Hey all, i've been using doom9 for a bit now, its got great guides on encoding, and i just discovered the excellent DV forums u guys got going.

Well, basically we just got a new Sony DCR-TRV15E (using firewire input). Didn't have much choice in what we got, but hey, its a camcorder... my first too lol. anyway, i was just wondering if you could give me some links of good sites for n00bs like me, and also, i was just wondering if any of you have had any experience with this vidcam?

Also, i got Ulead Videostudio SE v6 with the camera, and i had a fiddle with it, and it seemed ok, but i was wondering what other programs are good, like ease of use vs. 'professionalism' available.

Oh, and one final question. how do i tell what format my video camera is capturing in, like Type 1/2? audio? interlaced? (btw its PAL i think, i hope anyway, i'm from australia).

Thanks Guys/Gals

Appreciate the help

[FredThompson]

See the link in my sig

[bb]

Originally posted by diablo_2097
how do i tell what format my video camera is capturing in, like Type 1/2? audio? interlaced? (btw its PAL i think, i hope anyway, i'm from australia).
Welcome to the DV forum.

Your camcorder captures interlaced only as far as I know. Whether you get type-1 or type-2 DV AVIs depends on the capture program, not the camcorder. As you're using Ulead VideoStudio 6, I'd go for type-1, because its type-2 support is buggy.

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[midiguy]

Ulead VideoStudio isn't all that great (IMO).. Try getting Adobe Premiere 6.5!

[bb]

Originally posted by midiguy
Try getting Adobe Premiere 6.5!
Ulead's MediaStudio Pro is another alternative, but... the professional products have a professional price.

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[Mug Funky]

werd.

i don't own a camera, but i have ready access to my friend's one. it's a DCR-TRV17E... possibly a later model than yours. i'm australian too...

yeah, your camera seems very similar to mine if the model numbers bear out. here's the lowdown:

although it records DV at 576 lines, it doesn't actually photograph this many... so you'll see some vertical blurring. it shoots interlaced (a progressive frame camera that shoots 576 lines is waaay more expensive, like $30,000 Australian). you can use motion compensation deinterlacers to get acceptable progressive frame fakes off it though. (use TomsMoComp for Avisynth)

it has a nifty option to shoot in 16:9 anamorphic, but all it really does is stretch and crop the image. it's still good if you're interested in this format (it's so pretty), because you can watch it in this format while shooting.

as far as capturing, Ulead captures Type 1, vitrualdub caps type 2 (need more processor), Premiere caps type 2 if there's a DV codec present, type 1 if there is not (it uses the MS DV codec).

type 1 and type 2 will have EXACTLY the same data. type 2 just saves a copy of the audio into a Video For Windows readable format. so type 2 files are a little bigger.

as far as what program i'd suggest? Premiere or Final Cut Pro (MAC!!! AAAGH!). there's equal work around professionally for either, but i prefer premiere. much less annoying problems like rendering out black frames without warning.

they are easy programs, and they're in the standard professional format that all others are in (AVID, Media-100, etc).