I hit the bit five oh a couple of weeks back, and decided to splurge on a birthday present for myself. The only video camera I had was an old analog 8mm type from somewhere in the mid-to-late 80s, and I'd long been wanting to replace it with a modern digital model. This past Saturday, I found a little (literally -- it is pretty tiny, though not like one of those pocket flip things) JVC Everio model at Costco for $350 including a case and 4GB memory card in addition to the camera itself, which is a GZ-HM320BU (camera specs seem similar to this one -- http://amzn.to/cy4JJo -- though I'm not sure about the slightly different model number). Key features that interested me were the full HD 1920x1080 and a 20x optical zoom. The ability to use memory cards is actually pretty nice, too. Thought I'd try it last Saturday night, so I set it up on a tripod in my living room to record my normal practice session on my 1940-something Story & Clark spinet. Well, normal other than to the degree that I was walking over to the video camera between songs to stop and start it so each song would end up in a separate file. One thing I learned is that my RAM card reader doesn't support the SDHC format this thing uses, so I'll probably want to replace the card reader eventually. In the meantime, it also hooks up via USB, so that let me transfer the files over okay. Considering the low light in my living room at night, quality seemed quite good for the raw files. Next thing was to try and make some simple edits for YouTube uploads. I did that with Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8. I wasn't really sure what format to use for that, but had been remembering a 100 MB limit for files on YouTube (which actually isn't the case anymore, as I found out later), so ended up going with a WMV file format, which I'd used in most of my earlier attempts from the analog camera, for the first one, "Fly": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36Ca1zcsuc I noted that the YouTube result seemed quite fuzzy, and there were no HD options available, which was counter to my expectations at that point. So I did some more research into YouTube's format guidelines, found that you could use up to a 2 GB file and some of the recommendations for various formats. This time I ended up creating a 720p MPEG2 file (my version of Vegas wouldn't allow me to do a 1920x1080 file), also making a few slight contrast and brightness enhancements to the video within Vegas to help make up for the low light. This one did come across as an HD video in YouTube, and seems considerably clearer, even when watching in the low resolution modes. Only disadvantage was that, at least on my DSL connection, it took way longer to upload the 500-600 MB file. Song is "If I Could Turn the Hands of Time": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BzdY1PcSJw These are just using the built-in mic on the camera, with no audio processing other than turning the sound down by 0.5 dB to protect against any peaks. It's decidedly not optimal for sound (e.g. when I compare to the earlier videos I'd posted there where I was using an SM-58 and recording the sound side of things live to hard disk while the video was streaming to hard disk in parallel through the video interface). Nevertheless, it's not bad for doing quick piano/vocal stuff of this sort. Rick -- ======================================= Rick Paul Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) Web: www.RickPaul.info MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic =======================================
YouTube results are going to be most relative to your output format and bit rate. This is a good tutorial that get's great results, at least for my camera. ( Canon HV40 ) http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/11/09/exporting-with-vegas-for-vimeo-hd/ A few of my test clips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q886GvPGTc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-eyosHaTnw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZm26NwPcuU "Rick Paul" <> wrote in message news:... >I hit the bit five oh a couple of weeks back, and decided to splurge on a birthday present for myself. The only video camera I had >was an old analog 8mm type from somewhere in the mid-to-late 80s, and I'd long been wanting to replace it with a modern digital >model. > > This past Saturday, I found a little (literally -- it is pretty tiny, though not like one of those pocket flip things) JVC Everio > model at Costco for $350 including a case and 4GB memory card in addition to the camera itself, which is a GZ-HM320BU (camera > specs seem similar to this one -- http://amzn.to/cy4JJo -- though I'm not sure about the slightly different model number). Key > features that interested me were the full HD 1920x1080 and a 20x optical zoom. The ability to use memory cards is actually pretty > nice, too. > > Thought I'd try it last Saturday night, so I set it up on a tripod in my living room to record my normal practice session on my > 1940-something Story & Clark spinet. Well, normal other than to the degree that I was walking over to the video camera between > songs to stop and start it so each song would end up in a separate file. > > One thing I learned is that my RAM card reader doesn't support the SDHC format this thing uses, so I'll probably want to replace > the card reader eventually. In the meantime, it also hooks up via USB, so that let me transfer the files over okay. Considering > the low light in my living room at night, quality seemed quite good for the raw files. > > Next thing was to try and make some simple edits for YouTube uploads. I did that with Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8. I > wasn't really sure what format to use for that, but had been remembering a 100 MB limit for files on YouTube (which actually isn't > the case anymore, as I found out later), so ended up going with a WMV file format, which I'd used in most of my earlier attempts > from the analog camera, for the first one, "Fly": > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36Ca1zcsuc > > I noted that the YouTube result seemed quite fuzzy, and there were no HD options available, which was counter to my expectations > at that point. So I did some more research into YouTube's format guidelines, found that you could use up to a 2 GB file and some > of the recommendations for various formats. This time I ended up creating a 720p MPEG2 file (my version of Vegas wouldn't allow > me to do a 1920x1080 file), also making a few slight contrast and brightness enhancements to the video within Vegas to help make > up for the low light. This one did come across as an HD video in YouTube, and seems considerably clearer, even when watching in > the low resolution modes. Only disadvantage was that, at least on my DSL connection, it took way longer to upload the 500-600 MB > file. Song is "If I Could Turn the Hands of Time": > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BzdY1PcSJw > > These are just using the built-in mic on the camera, with no audio processing other than turning the sound down by 0.5 dB to > protect against any peaks. It's decidedly not optimal for sound (e.g. when I compare to the earlier videos I'd posted there where > I was using an SM-58 and recording the sound side of things live to hard disk while the video was streaming to hard disk in > parallel through the video interface). Nevertheless, it's not bad for doing quick piano/vocal stuff of this sort. > > Rick > > -- > ======================================= > Rick Paul > Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) > Web: www.RickPaul.info > MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic > ======================================= > > > > > > >
The killer robot "Rick Paul" <> grabbed the controls of the spaceship cakewalk.audio and pressed these buttons... > These are just using the built-in mic on the camera, with no audio > processing other than turning the sound down by 0.5 dB to protect > against any peaks. It's decidedly not optimal for sound (e.g. when I > compare to the earlier videos I'd posted there where I was using an > SM-58 and recording the sound side of things live to hard disk while > the video was streaming to hard disk in parallel through the video > interface). Nevertheless, it's not bad for doing quick piano/vocal > stuff of this sort. Pretty cool little camera. I've got an older JVC DV cam with Firewire, which is how I grab segments from it. No moving parts and higher res is definately an advantage over what my cam has. -- Remove YourHeadFromYourAss to Reply by email ________ __ / ____/ /__ ____ ____ / /_ ____ / / __/ / _ \/ __ \/ __ \/ __ \/ __ \ / /_/ / / __/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ / \____/_/\___/_/ /_/_/ /_/_.___/\____/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Glennbo http://www.soundclick.com/glennbo Non-Linear Sound http://www.soundclick.com/jambits Hear My Music http://www.soundclick.com/ThePseudonyms
Thanks for the pointer, Steve. That article mentions being for Vimeo, but I guess it would be similar for YouTube. I noticed for my version of Vegas (Movie Studio Platinum 8) it actually suggested using WMV form, which I'd previously found to be best for my old analog video camera. Maybe I should try that again next time, just with a higher bandwidth setting. I've still got a few things from my Saturday session that might be decent enough for posting. Got some more stuff at an open mic I played tonight, and the woman who operated the camera while I was singing did a nice job with zooming and such. Unfortunately, I mucked up the lyrics on the one original song I did, and probably can't legally post the cover song. Your clips look pretty good. I'm going to have to try my camera in daylight one of these days, too, as the lighting in my living room is decidedly bad. The stuff from The Gate (where I played tonight) was better in that respect, and more of stage lighting-type stuff (albeit church stage). Rick -- ======================================= Rick Paul Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) Web: www.RickPaul.info MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic ======================================= "Steve_Karl" <> wrote in message news:i441ot$s7m$-september.org... > YouTube results are going to be most relative to your output format and > bit rate. > This is a good tutorial that get's great results, at least for my camera. > ( Canon HV40 ) > http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/11/09/exporting-with-vegas-for-vimeo-hd/ > > > > A few of my test clips: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q886GvPGTc > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-eyosHaTnw > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZm26NwPcuU > > > > > > > "Rick Paul" <> wrote in message > news:... >>I hit the bit five oh a couple of weeks back, and decided to splurge on a >>birthday present for myself. The only video camera I had was an old >>analog 8mm type from somewhere in the mid-to-late 80s, and I'd long been >>wanting to replace it with a modern digital model. >> >> This past Saturday, I found a little (literally -- it is pretty tiny, >> though not like one of those pocket flip things) JVC Everio model at >> Costco for $350 including a case and 4GB memory card in addition to the >> camera itself, which is a GZ-HM320BU (camera specs seem similar to this >> one -- http://amzn.to/cy4JJo -- though I'm not sure about the slightly >> different model number). Key features that interested me were the full >> HD 1920x1080 and a 20x optical zoom. The ability to use memory cards is >> actually pretty nice, too. >> >> Thought I'd try it last Saturday night, so I set it up on a tripod in my >> living room to record my normal practice session on my 1940-something >> Story & Clark spinet. Well, normal other than to the degree that I was >> walking over to the video camera between songs to stop and start it so >> each song would end up in a separate file. >> >> One thing I learned is that my RAM card reader doesn't support the SDHC >> format this thing uses, so I'll probably want to replace the card reader >> eventually. In the meantime, it also hooks up via USB, so that let me >> transfer the files over okay. Considering the low light in my living >> room at night, quality seemed quite good for the raw files. >> >> Next thing was to try and make some simple edits for YouTube uploads. I >> did that with Sony's Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8. I wasn't really sure >> what format to use for that, but had been remembering a 100 MB limit for >> files on YouTube (which actually isn't the case anymore, as I found out >> later), so ended up going with a WMV file format, which I'd used in most >> of my earlier attempts from the analog camera, for the first one, "Fly": >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36Ca1zcsuc >> >> I noted that the YouTube result seemed quite fuzzy, and there were no HD >> options available, which was counter to my expectations at that point. >> So I did some more research into YouTube's format guidelines, found that >> you could use up to a 2 GB file and some of the recommendations for >> various formats. This time I ended up creating a 720p MPEG2 file (my >> version of Vegas wouldn't allow me to do a 1920x1080 file), also making a >> few slight contrast and brightness enhancements to the video within Vegas >> to help make up for the low light. This one did come across as an HD >> video in YouTube, and seems considerably clearer, even when watching in >> the low resolution modes. Only disadvantage was that, at least on my DSL >> connection, it took way longer to upload the 500-600 MB file. Song is >> "If I Could Turn the Hands of Time": >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BzdY1PcSJw >> >> These are just using the built-in mic on the camera, with no audio >> processing other than turning the sound down by 0.5 dB to protect against >> any peaks. It's decidedly not optimal for sound (e.g. when I compare to >> the earlier videos I'd posted there where I was using an SM-58 and >> recording the sound side of things live to hard disk while the video was >> streaming to hard disk in parallel through the video interface). >> Nevertheless, it's not bad for doing quick piano/vocal stuff of this >> sort. >> >> Rick >> >> -- >> ======================================= >> Rick Paul >> Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) >> Web: www.RickPaul.info >> MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic >> ======================================= >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >
"Glennbo" <> wrote in message news:Xns9DD386954338BrownShoesDontMakeIt@188.40.43.230... > Pretty cool little camera. I've got an older JVC DV cam with Firewire, > which is how I grab segments from it. No moving parts and higher res is > definately an advantage over what my cam has. My old analog camera was also JVC. You're definitely right on the no moving parts thing. I didn't realize until actually trying it how nice it is not to have any kind of motor noise whatsoever, not to mention no worries of tape degradation or breaks. Rick -- ======================================= Rick Paul Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP) Web: www.RickPaul.info MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic =======================================
In news: the killer robot "Rick Paul" <> grabbed the controls of the spaceship cakewalk.audio and pressed these buttons... > My old analog camera was also JVC. > > You're definitely right on the no moving parts thing. I didn't > realize until actually trying it how nice it is not to have any kind > of motor noise whatsoever, not to mention no worries of tape > degradation or breaks. I've also have a solid state video cam, but it's more like near VHS quality. I bought it because I could stick it in my front pocket and take it places I'd never take my good camera. It's this little stealthy guy. http://members.cox.net/glennbo/MicroCam.jpg -- Remove YourHeadFromYourAss to Reply by email ________ __ / ____/ /__ ____ ____ / /_ ____ / / __/ / _ \/ __ \/ __ \/ __ \/ __ \ / /_/ / / __/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ / \____/_/\___/_/ /_/_/ /_/_.___/\____/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- Glennbo http://www.soundclick.com/glennbo Non-Linear Sound http://www.soundclick.com/jambits Hear My Music http://www.soundclick.com/ThePseudonyms
