Looking for new camcorder -- Pros vs Cons of hard drive unit

[Black Lab]

Who called the cops?
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[2Dogs]

I was worried that this post was turning into a Wire in the Blood episode... The idea of everybody getting together in a hall, with all their equipment began to seem likely to cause a major ruck.

Returning to the actual topic, however, I would make the following observations about currently available HD camcorders.

In a MiniDV camcorder, the tape transport mechanism is about the size of a *** packet (*** pack to inhabitants of our former transatlantic colony)

The available standard definition HD camcorders use a mini hard drive - far smaller than the 2.5" units commonly found in laptops (notebooks) The hard drives are not made to be easily removable. This therefore limits both the data transfer speed of the hard drive, since the miniature designs are slower than the 2.5", and also limits their storage capacity. Whilst current camcorders typically feature a 30Gb drive, 200Gb 2.5" drives are currently available. I can't understand why there are no 2.5" drive camcorders available. After all, the Mini DVD camcorders had that big round lump sticking out of them, which the marketing people must have considered to be acceptable.

(the unforgivable feature to my mind is the use of mpeg2 as the storage format, but I won't mention that, since would be like asking "are you looking at my bird?")

Using the storage format that dare not speak it's name, the 30Gb drives can store several hours of footage at their highest quality settings.

On the issue of weight - if you are specifically looking for a tiny, light camcorder, then you might go for one of the palmcorder style devices. As you know, image stabilisation (by the user) is harder with smaller, lighter camcorders. In fact I usually use my own JVC with a monopod attached, poor man's steadycam in effect, just to give it more weight and inertia.

On the not too distant horizon, there is the prospect of solid state drives - similar in effect to data cards. The price of these will come down to realistic levels. Their write speeds will be far higher than current data cards, and having no moving parts, not a lot to go wrong. Even current hard drives are fairly shock resistant, however. It's wise to be extra careful when the platter/s are spinning, but when stopped they can take huge G loads.

[jchunter]

...On the not too distant horizon, there is the prospect of solid state drives - similar in effect to data cards. The price of these will come down to realistic levels. Their write speeds will be far higher than current data cards, and having no moving parts, not a lot to go wrong...

I agree. The sticking point is that solid state memory cards will not be large enough to hold much video for several semiconductor generations, unless it is more highly compressed than the Mpeg2 format. This will neccesitate the use of Mpeg4 compression, which has been reported on the Internet to cause certain parts of the male anatomy to deteriorate.

Moreover, compressing Mpeg4 HD in real time (1X), within the camcorder, is going to be a real computing challange because, today, transcoding Mpeg2 to Mpeg4 high definition video takes 18 - 20 times real time on my rather ancient 3 GHz P4. This may require multiple processors and memory buffers to be integrated on the same chip with the CMOS sensor.

However, there is no question in my mind that solid state HD camcorders will happen.

[Mark2]

Wow, that's all a bit over my head for a guy that just wants to edit home movies into something worthwhile. I just want someone to help me with an MPEG2 problem. Why is it that I have been able to use VS9 to edit mini DV in AVI without problems. When I start using MPEG2 I encounter issues like not being able to include JPEG files into the timeline.
I import music MP3 into the timeline. Finish my final edits then when saving to disc & rendering I get an error at 20 percent complete. I assume the MP3 music is the problem? because the raw MPEG video renders and burns to DVD okay. How can I use the full editing functions with MPEG2 video.

[jchunter]

Mark,
Mpeg2 does not prevent jpeg stills from being placed in the timeline. The short answer is that you have to control the video properties in every phase of video editing. Follow recommended procedure below. If you still have problems, re-post your question in the main body of the forum.

[Mark2]

Thanks John. I'll look at the article. I thought there might be a quick solution to including MP3 and JPEG into the edit timeline. Obviously not. I think I might stick to Mini DV - AVI video at least I have a handle on that and besides I have a full time job and this software is quickly taking over.

Mark

[Machineman]

The pro's and Con's of a Hard Drive Unit.

I have a Sony DCR-SR100 Hard Drive camcorder. The source files are MPEG2 VBR 9100KBs, AC3, etc... It works great with VS10 using smart render. I'm happy with the camcorder and would never go back to tapes. The 30Gb HD is plenty and some of the newer ones are coming out with 60Gb. Its also nice to be able to just drag the mpeg files over to the PC hard drive. No more lengthy DV capture and dropped frames. My end result is always to DVD so no need for the raw DV especially when VS10+ (SP1) is able to handle the MPEG editing with out issue.