I find myself in a different boat than most of the postings I've been reading. I run a series of websites - and most of my video winds up on the web, not a DVD player.

I've been using a lower end Samsung MiniDv cam - and I hate it. Video quality is grainy, low light recording is impossible to watch, there seems to be a lot of motion blur, and I must say I'm not a fan of lugging around the MiniDV tapes anymore.

What I'm looking for is the best video quality possible - for the web, within my price range ($700 - $800). I also use Windows Movie Maker to edit my videos, so I need something that will work with that. I know "professionals" should be using some higher end equipment - but I don't have a professional budget. So I just need the most out of what I can afford, and make it work.

I recently tried a friends Mini DVD cam - but I can't edit anything with it. Unless I'm not working it right, the files all save into a DVD format and I have no idea how, or if, I can convert that file to an editable format for the PC.

While I've read in a few places that people that do editing still get the most freedom with MiniDV tapes (frame to frame) - What are these Hard Drive camera's all about? Do they save the files in a format that I'd be able to edit with Win Movie Maker?

I was looking into HD camera's - but would that make the video quality any better for viewing on a PC? I personally don't have an HDTV or Blue Ray DVD burner - so unless the video quality would come through on the PC - I'm afraid I'd be wasting money.

The one thing that bothers me the most with my cam is the pixilization I get at times (or whatever it's called when my object seems to break down into a million little boxes) - and the bad Motion Blur I get if objects move any fast than slo-mo.

Is there a feature on a camera that I should look for that would solve this issue? Is that what the purpose of that 3CCC feature I've read about, or whatever its called?

I'm very much a beginner. I've been at this for a while, but I never had a clue camcorders were so complicated. I assume the more you spent, the better of a camera you got - and after doing research I realize that's a very naive way to look at it.

That's why I'm here doing my research now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Some quick answers:

1. Windows Movie Maker for XP will only edit .WMV and DV-AVI (MiniDV) files. That is why you can not edit DVD's with it, they are MPEG-2. You will need extra software depending on what you are trying to do. There are some good packages for $100 or less.

2. Hard Disk Drive camcorders record in MPEG-2 or AVCHD (High Definition). You generally need to get some software.

3. Pixilated video, it could be your camcorder or how you are processing your video. Are you using USB or Firewire to transfer your video? You did not mention how you got your video onto the web sites, how you processed them etc. It could be a variety of things.

4. There are some good High Definition camcorders in your price range.




Rich

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FireWire Survey

The quality will come through unless you squish them down to 320x240 or some other small resolution. The files will be much larger so if you have the disk space and need the higher resolution then HD might be the way to go. But, in general, I'd say HD for the web is not worth it.You might be refering to "3CCD" which doesn't have anything to do with pixelization. As Rich said it could be the cam or the way you're post processing it for your site. I'm betting it's the post processing. We need to know more about what you are doing to the video in your computer to prepare it for your site. Or maybe a link to your site so we can see some of it.

Good luck.

Dennis

I use a Firewire cable to get the video on to the computer. I use Movie Makers "High Quality" option when importing the video via the firewire, so I assumed that was the best quality Move Maker offered. I think the resolution, at high quality, is 640x480.

I understand screen resolution, but I don't know if the camcorder I have will go any higher than 640x480 or if thats a limitation of Movie Maker.

I do have Adobe Premeire, but haven't had much time to use it. Movie Maker was easy to pick up and add the beginning title and end credits, so I stuck with it.

Edited by Poncho:
if you want a sample of the video I can upload something and go from there.

Thanks for all your help so far!

You are probably encoding the video to .WMV format and not transfering the video as DV AVI.


To transfer your video from your camcorder to your computer via a FireWire cable (Not USB) with Movie Maker you need to save the video when you transfer as DV-NTSC or DV-PAL whichever is shown. In Movie Maker:

1. Select "File"

2. Then "Save Movie File"

3. Then "My Computer"

4. Enter a filename and path where you want to save the file

5. If you only see "Best Quality For Playback" on my computer (recommended)" then click on "show more choices..."
and select "Other Settings: DV-AVI



Rich

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FireWire Survey

SD video is 720x480 in the US. I don't know what cam you used but almost any cam should be capable of 720x480 except for some digital cams with video capability. If you used a high def cam you definitely downconverted somewhere along the way.

If 640x480 is what you want I wouldn't bother with HD.

Good luck.

Dennis