Anyone on here know much about camcorders? Settings? Compressing videos etc?

[NextG]

33 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

A couple of other things after a bit of experimentation (sorry to be a pest ????

 

1) As much of my shooting will be indoors night time in room lights / low light or indoors daytime with some window light.....

 

I read in lower light, a lower FPS speed setting ie 25p will allow more light and hence a clearer movie? Does that sound right?

I did a couple of test movies in 25 and 50 and think I did see an improvement in 25p

 

2) Straight off the disk the files are MTS....I can copy them straight to my computer and play them, convert them or what ever. If I use the Sony software to export the photos off the camera I get an MTS-2 file

 

Is there anything going on there with the different files or does something happen (compression, enhancement etc) using the software, or does it just change the file extension and not much else. If it is only adding file metadata or something and not improving image quality it is not important to me. Only reason I ask a lot easier for me to copy the MTS files straight off the SD card rather than go through the export process with the Sony software. Thanks again ????

It’s always easy when you know how. Don’t feel bad about asking questions. 

[Kenny202]

13 minutes ago, NextG said:

It’s always easy when you know how. Don’t feel bad about asking questions. 

Thanks so much for your help bro!

[NextG]

Of course it might be obvious m, but don’t cheap out on your SD cards. They need to have good write speeds and to be reliable. They often quote Read speeds as they look better than Write speeds. I would buy U3 as a minimum. U3 have a minimum Write speed of 30 Mbps. 

[Kenny202]

Just now, NextG said:

Of course it might be obvious m, but don’t cheap out on your SD cards. They need to have good write speeds and to be reliable. They often quote Read speeds as they look better than Write speeds. I would buy U3 as a minimum. U3 have a minimum Write speed of 30 Mbps. 

Learnt that the hard way recently with a DSLR I had. Would crash every time I shot a movie. Thought the camera was faulty until I saw the prehistoric SD card in it. Forget what it was rated at but must have been some of the first ones they ever made lol

 

[NextG]

1 minute ago, Kenny202 said:

Learnt that the hard way recently with a DSLR I had. Would crash every time I shot a movie. Thought the camera was faulty until I saw the prehistoric SD card in it. Forget what it was rated at but must have been some of the first ones they ever made lol

 

https://www.kingston.com/en/blog/personal-storage/memory-card-speed-classes

[Kenny202]

Went to the markets last night took about 10 clips. I shot in 25fps / 50 thinking it would allow more light. Was just on twilight / dark. There is a bit of grain in the movie as you would expect but the worst thing focus. A lot of people moving around obviously (close and far away) as well as market stalls having their own lights...so patches of dark and patches of very bright light. Its an outdoor market with no overhead or general lighting. The only lighting is from the stalls lights themselves. 

 

As far as focus goes I am guessing in low light the camera selects a very wide aperture to let as much light in as possible and this alters the depth of field where it is only possible to focus on one near subject, and the rest become a bit of a blur. Like Bokeh? Does that sound right? I am guessing in this situation it is near impossible to video without some extra lighting

[Kenny202]

2 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

Went to the markets last night took about 10 clips. I shot in 25fps / 50 thinking it would allow more light. Was just on twilight / dark. There is a bit of grain in the movie as you would expect but the worst thing focus. A lot of people moving around obviously (close and far away) as well as market stalls having their own lights...so patches of dark and patches of very bright light. Its an outdoor market with no overhead or general lighting. The only lighting is from the stalls lights themselves. 

 

As far as focus goes I am guessing in low light the camera selects a very wide aperture to let as much light in as possible and this alters the depth of field where it is only possible to focus on one near subject, and the rest become a bit of a blur. Like Bokeh? Does that sound right? I am guessing in this situation it is near impossible to video without some extra lighting

I just noticed somehow I accidentally had turned spot focus on, instead of leaving it in auto. I guess that wouldnt have helped ????

[Kenny202]

If any of you guys are still around, just wanting some info on Handbrake re converting MTS to mp4.

I know how to use it and can convert successfully...watched a few tutorials but feel the compressed MP4 video about 10% less quality than the original MTS file (I think). The MTS file I was actually floored by the quality. The MP4 file I kinda went hmmm. Just a touch grainer maybe. I have fairly high quality settings based on the tutorials I have seen. One thing seems odd is that my camera predominantly shoots 50fps / 100fps...and this camera has very little you can do to over ride that (Panasonic HDC-HS60). There is a setting where the camera can auto adjust to 30fps if needed, I guess in low light but I was out in daylight shooting today. Anyway, in handbrake it automatically comes up suggesting conversion to 1080p, 30fps.....and I always select settings as same as source anyway. 

 

I know compressing video there I imagine will always be some loss but I think the end result should be better. 

Could I simply rename the MTS files to MP4? I thought an MTS file was already a compressed file. 

 

Any tips on what I can do possibly get a better video on conversion?

[Kenny202]

On 7/13/2023 at 6:32 PM, recom273 said:

Wondershare used to have some shady practices - HB is fine.

 

If you have a Mac, then FCP is pretty straightforward after watching enough video tutorials, but like adobe premiere, it's can be a pro-tool. (if you have a Mac) iMovie is already installed on your Mac and even easier, just edit your video and then clicking share will give you an option on quality / compressor / resolution. Easy.

By shady practices you mean installing worms, malware etc? I have had nothing but problems and bombarded with scam emails and adverts since installing it

[recom273]

14 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

By shady practices you mean installing worms, malware etc? I have had nothing but problems and bombarded with scam emails and adverts since installing it

Yes, it’s malware, these apps used to load out your inbox but I there is more money to be made by silently collecting your data these days. 

 

With regard to your quality, in the video tab, what have you set the bit rate slider to? Or are you using abr? What target bitrate do the tutorials suggest? If you are noticing a drop in quality, it may be down to this setting. 
 

Another app you should use in conjunction with handbrake is mediainfo, you can check the bitrate and other facts  and refer to them if you notice any issues, also get the info of your successes for future reference. 
 

Have you tried setting chapter markers or editing a 30 second clip and then encoding one chapter or the short clip and experimenting. Saves a lot of time. 

 

 

[Kenny202]

1 hour ago, recom273 said:

Yes, it’s malware, these apps used to load out your inbox but I there is more money to be made by silently collecting your data these days. 

 

With regard to your quality, in the video tab, what have you set the bit rate slider to? Or are you using abr? What target bitrate do the tutorials suggest? If you are noticing a drop in quality, it may be down to this setting. 
 

Another app you should use in conjunction with handbrake is mediainfo, you can check the bitrate and other facts  and refer to them if you notice any issues, also get the info of your successes for future reference. 
 

Have you tried setting chapter markers or editing a 30 second clip and then encoding one chapter or the short clip and experimenting. Saves a lot of time. 

 

 

 I am not sure how old the copy I had was, since deleted but searched WS on my HD last night and junk with there name on it everywhere. Some of it I couldn't delete either as it runs on start up. The exe files I couldn't delete I renamed the extension so they wouldn't run, rebooted my PC and deleted them. Pretty scary world we are in now.

 

As for the files and converting hmmm. I am starting to realize why camcorders aren't that popular anymore. Anything longer than 30 seconds on my camera is 50-100mb at full quality....and the clips are amazingly clear and good. But unless they are only for use at home on PC or TV, downsizing them to under 5mb for social media, emails, posting on the internet somewhere, transferring to someone else they are a pale comparison to the original quality. Even sharing on Google drive or FB the files are compressed by them...hence you may as well use a decent smart phone which probably has a better social media rendering anyway. I do like using the cam though. Does that sound like a fair assessment?

 

How do websites broadcasting HD, 4K etc do it? 

 

I have attached the data / properties screen shots of both the original (.MTS) file and compressed MP4 file if you would like to comment. Interesting that the file says 25 FPS when the camera I believe is pretty much set at 50 FPS with no way to adjust it, only a setting that says something like lower the FPS rate to 25 fps automatically if needed. I imagine it would only automatically select a lower shutter speed in low light but we were out in daylight? Or maybe it also selects the lower shutter speed if it detects what it thinks is fast movement, sports or action?

 

Anyway the bit rate on the MTS file.....17495 kbps

                                              MP4 file.....  3362 kbps

 

Both files are 1920 x 1080

 

Thank you for your help ????

[recom273]

10 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

 I am not sure how old the copy I had was, since deleted but searched WS on my HD last night and junk with there name on it everywhere. Some of it I couldn't delete either as it runs on start up. The exe files I couldn't delete I renamed the extension so they wouldn't run, rebooted my PC and deleted them. Pretty scary world we are in now.

 

As for the files and converting hmmm. I am starting to realize why camcorders aren't that popular anymore. Anything longer than 30 seconds on my camera is 50-100mb at full quality....and the clips are amazingly clear and good. But unless they are only for use at home on PC or TV, downsizing them to under 5mb for social media, emails, posting on the internet somewhere, transferring to someone else they are a pale comparison to the original quality. Even sharing on Google drive or FB the files are compressed by them...hence you may as well use a decent smart phone which probably has a better social media rendering anyway. I do like using the cam though. Does that sound like a fair assessment?

 

How do websites broadcasting HD, 4K etc do it? 

 

I have attached the data / properties screen shots of both the original (.MTS) file and compressed MP4 file if you would like to comment. Interesting that the file says 25 FPS when the camera I believe is pretty much set at 50 FPS with no way to adjust it, only a setting that says something like lower the FPS rate to 25 fps automatically if needed. I imagine it would only automatically select a lower shutter speed in low light but we were out in daylight? Or maybe it also selects the lower shutter speed if it detects what it thinks is fast movement, sports or action?

 

Anyway the bit rate on the MTS file.....17495 kbps

                                              MP4 file.....  3362 kbps

 

Both files are 1920 x 1080

 

Thank you for your help ????

Yeah, that’s pretty standard wondershare MO, loads of processes running, some difficult to remove.

 

I am not really familiar with home video encoding, however, from what I can see, you will notice a difference - if you were reencoding a tv broadcast, either 720 or 1080 to 720 then you would be looking at a bitrate of around 3500kbps. For a 1080 encode you wouldn’t encode less than 5000kbps, you need to adjust the slider to a higher number, to give a bitrate of 5,000-10,000kbps. 
 

Yes, social media rencodes look pretty horrid, streaming platforms host their own files - is that what you mean?

 

Does your camera have manual setting? Whereby you adjust the aperture and frame rate rather than using preset. I used filmic pro on my iPhone in the past and it gave me this flexibility.
I’m not much of a videographer, but if you are looking for realistic output, I think you would go for 30 frames, 24 for a cinematic feel, if you were shooting to use the footage for slow-mo, then you shoot at high frame rates, 60 or 120, right? 

 

Are you using a professional editing suite yet? Adobe Premiere? I use Final Cut Pro on a Mac, and it has decent output presets, that would encode on export.