Advice required... many thanks

[FrankWest]

Hi everyone -

I really could do with some advice. I had an 8mm camera years ago (thus, giving away my age) but have little experience of DV. I have a strong idea for a short film; I've a budget of about £500 to buy a camcorder and editing software for my PC. If anyone could suggest makes and models of camcorder and recommend software I would be most grateful - there is such an abundance out there I don't know where to begin! And if anyone could suggest a reliable specialist retailer in the greater London area I would doubly grateful.
Kind regards and best wishes
Frank

[col lamb]

Frank

You will find that nearly all the camcorders on the market within your price range are full HD models recording in the AVCHD format.

The images are stunning but they do require a very powerful PC to be able to edit them easily.

Most PC's with a dual core processor will struggle to edit said footage.

I would suggest that you take a new class four (or greater) SD card to your local camcorder shop, record some footage and then at home download a trial version of Grass Valley's Edius Neo 3, then copy the contents of the card onto your PC and see how it goes.

If you are not happy with the outcome download a trial copy of Cineform's Neoscene and transcode the AVCHD footage. This piece of software is actually a convertor, it produces an AVI file from the AVCHD MTS file, in the process it expands the original file into a format that can be edited easier but may produce some stutter and will require rendering before it plays back OK on the timeline. It may be that Edius Neo 3 can do the same transcoding task but I am not sure if this is possible with the trial version

Neo 3 costs c£175 and Neoscene about $100 so you do not have much left for a camcorder but I have seen footage from a JVC model which costs about £200 and that is pretty good for the money

Hope this helps

If you are still having issues after the trial please post the specification of your PC and I'll advise further

[TimStannard]

Can't argue with Col's advice, but I'd strongly recommend you consider Sony Vegas Movie Studio which is much cheaper (c£35) than Edius Neo and give you a cheap upgrade path to Vegas Pro should you outgrow it. There are various versions of Movie Studio - mainly with a different set of bundled software. Just make sure you get one with DVD Architect Studio or you'll need other software for authoring DVDs/BluRay. A 30 day fully working trial is available from www.sonycreativesoftware.com

[Roy1]

I fully agree with the choice of Vegas Movie studio. Try to buy the 10 HD platinum production suite. It will cover HD or SD edited and with the suplied DVD architect will burn Blu-ray or DVD discs. You will get sound forge with it as well. Try Ebay I got mine for about £50. There are extremely good tutorials available as well quite free. Also an extremely good forum where experts will answer any problems.

[col lamb]

Just to add, Edius Neo 3 has DVD/Blu ray disc production built in + you can upgrade to the full Edius 6 at some time in the future for a reduced cost but Neo will do all you need

The Edius family is presently the definitive stable platform for editing native AVCHD files

Also Adobe Premiere Elements is another option and a package is available that includes Photoshop Elements for digital stills

[FrankWest]

Frank

You will find that nearly all the camcorders on the market within your price range are full HD models recording in the AVCHD format.

The images are stunning but they do require a very powerful PC to be able to edit them easily.

Most PC's with a dual core processor will struggle to edit said footage.

I would suggest that you take a new class four (or greater) SD card to your local camcorder shop, record some footage and then at home download a trial version of Grass Valley's Edius Neo 3, then copy the contents of the card onto your PC and see how it goes.

If you are not happy with the outcome download a trial copy of Cineform's Neoscene and transcode the AVCHD footage. This piece of software is actually a convertor, it produces an AVI file from the AVCHD MTS file, in the process it expands the original file into a format that can be edited easier but may produce some stutter and will require rendering before it plays back OK on the timeline. It may be that Edius Neo 3 can do the same transcoding task but I am not sure if this is possible with the trial version

Neo 3 costs c£175 and Neoscene about $100 so you do not have much left for a camcorder but I have seen footage from a JVC model which costs about £200 and that is pretty good for the money

Hope this helps

If you are still having issues after the trial please post the specification of your PC and I'll advise further

Many thanks for your time and trouble - it sounds like I might need a new computer - my present one is quite old! Thanks again Frank

[FrankWest]

Can't argue with Col's advice, but I'd strongly recommend you consider Sony Vegas Movie Studio which is much cheaper (c£35) than Edius Neo and give you a cheap upgrade path to Vegas Pro should you outgrow it. There are various versions of Movie Studio - mainly with a different set of bundled software. Just make sure you get one with DVD Architect Studio or you'll need other software for authoring DVDs/BluRay. A 30 day fully working trial is available from http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com

Thanks for your time and trouble - I am getting some starting points. Thanks again. Frank

[FrankWest]

I fully agree with the choice of Vegas Movie studio. Try to buy the 10 HD platinum production suite. It will cover HD or SD edited and with the suplied DVD architect will burn Blu-ray or DVD discs. You will get sound forge with it as well. Try Ebay I got mine for about £50. There are extremely good tutorials available as well quite free. Also an extremely good forum where experts will answer any problems.

Thanks for you prompt reply and advice - I will start shopping around. Thank again. Frank

[col lamb]

Frank

If you are not bothered about shooting in HD then you could consider buying a second hand MiniDV camcorder, there are plenty of them on e-bay and also if you are a member of a local Movie Making Club there is probably someone there who has a camcorder that is surplus to their requirements. If you are not a member then do consider joining one as there will be a mass of information and advice available face to face.

Mini DV video is very easy to edit and most PC's produced in the last 10 years will probably be able to edit the footage.

As the advice indicates, all software producers have trial versions that are well worth downloading and trying, users always tend to prefer one over the other and for basic editing there is not a lot to choose between them, even Windows has its own Movie Making programme available.

Don't forget to do a search on youtube as many tutorials are posted there, on the Grass Valley and Adobe website's there are video tutorials available to help you on your way.

I produced a video tutorial series a few years ago on using Adobe Premiere and also on making DVD's and whilst the programme interface has changed colour and layout the basic functionality remains the same. So if you are interested in receiving a copy please PM me with your details and I'll respond accordingly.

That is the great bonus of being in the IAC, you are not alone.

[tom hardwick]

You've a budget of about £500 to buy a camcorder and editing software for your PC so I'd suggest you go the secondhand route. If you buy a MiniDV camcorder from someone at your local club you'll get some reassurance that it's working well, and you can buy Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements to get you up, running and producing DVDs.

There are some very good AVCHD hi-def camcorders out there for seemingly very little money (say £250), but as others have pointed out the pc you'll need to handle the compressed AVCHD footage will cost a lot more than your remaining £250.

tom.