Hello I am brand new. I did a bit of videoing in high school but recently got back into making films and have decided to try my hand at it again for fun.
Anyways, I will soon start trying to shoot a little short that I have started to write. I have a question about data transfer.
I (my family) has a VHS-C JVC camera that I have access to. I don't want to go out and buy a new DV camera until I know I will continue to be interested.
I plan to film what I can on each tape (may or may not be over the limit for one clean tape) and then I would use a VCR to transfer to DVD then put the video on my computer for editing with the free Avid program.
IYHOs is this the best way to go about editing my filming for my current situation. As I said, I don't really want to invest much money in equipment right now until I get more practice, etc.
I have a DVD that my father has previously made of home videos using this process but the files on the disk are .VOB and .IFB etc. Will I be able to edit these directly or what is the process involved in changing them to AVI or MPEG or whatever I need to edit using the programs I have available.
You are going the wrong way. The data files on DVD (vob/ifo) are MPEG-2 files. You are using Avid FreeDV, which means you have a PC with firewire. When you shoot using the VHS-C camcorder, your video is in Analog (not digital). Find a friend who has a Mini-DV camcorder and borrow that, or AFTER you shoot the video using the VHS-C camcorder, hook up your VHS-C camcorder to your friend's Mini-DV camcorder, press PLAY on the VHS-C camcorder and RECORD on the Mini-DV camcorder to automatically transcribe (convert) the analog video to digital. Then use the Mini-DV camcorder to transfer the digital video to your PC using either the Firewire cable (or USB interface for some camcorders).
Thank you much for your reply, I have a question about your advice. Will I lose quality using this method?
Maybe I shall try to just borrow the DV camera in the firstplace.?:D?
First, if you shoot using the VHS-C, the horizontal lines of resolution is around 240 lines (regular TV). If you shoot using the mini-DV camcorder, you can get from 400-500 lines of horizontal resolution (depending on the lens quality, etc). It means you have twice the quality/quantity of data by shooting the mini-DV camcorder.
