Question About Video

[svenivan]

I am going to help my daughter (in Sweden) to transfer and edit 30+ miniDV tapes to DVD. She has used a Panasonic NV-GS120 with miniDV. When I look at Ebay to find a similar camcorder they are named Panasonic PV-GS120 in US. US has NTSC and Europe has PAL so I reckon that I cannot buy a camcorder for NTSC and read the miniDVs that are made with a PAL camcorder.

Is that right?

Do you think that I can use a camcorder for PAL with another brand like Sony, Samsung etc to read the tapes?

Last question: Is there someone here that has a Panasonic camcorder or know of one that I can buy for this work?

Thank you guys !

[IanForbes]

A major problem occured when builders of video cameras switched formats. Last year I drowned my Sony camcorder that used mini-DVD tapes. I have hundreds of old tapes that were not converted onto digital disks. But, when I tried to find a new camera that used the old tapes I was not able to find one. I finally had to buy a second hand Panasonic camcorder for no other reason than to download taped video onto disc format. I'm a bit paranoid that my second hand camcorder might quite on me at some point in the game before I change all my hundreds of tapes onto disk. I also have a very expensive (at the time) Canon camcorder that shot video in analogue. I had a converter at one time but it stopped working. That left me with a bunch of the old tapes that needed to be converted to digital as well as onto DVD disk format.

Roxio has a converter that changes analogue tapes to digital and I bought one of those before I came to Thailand, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet.

At one time it was a long, slow process because computers were not fast enough to keep up, and there wasn't enough memory in RAM to hold a whole tape. That has been corrected with my multi-terrabite computer. I just have to set aside the time to do the re-recording.

I do know that there are a few places that will do the work for you in Thailand, but I'll wait until I get back to Canada. Editing is LONG, SLOW PROCESS!

I don't know if I answered your questions or not.

I'll eventually buy an SLR that shoots stills as well as HD video. That will be a whole new process to learn. At that point I'll only use my camcorder to do the recording of old tapes.

[svenivan]

A major problem occured when builders of video cameras switched formats. Last year I drowned my Sony camcorder that used mini-DVD tapes. I have hundreds of old tapes that were not converted onto digital disks. But, when I tried to find a new camera that used the old tapes I was not able to find one. I finally had to buy a second hand Panasonic camcorder for no other reason than to download taped video onto disc format. I'm a bit paranoid that my second hand camcorder might quite on me at some point in the game before I change all my hundreds of tapes onto disk. I also have a very expensive (at the time) Canon camcorder that shot video in analogue. I had a converter at one time but it stopped working. That left me with a bunch of the old tapes that needed to be converted to digital as well as onto DVD disk format.

Roxio has a converter that changes analogue tapes to digital and I bought one of those before I came to Thailand, but I haven't had a chance to use it yet.

At one time it was a long, slow process because computers were not fast enough to keep up, and there wasn't enough memory in RAM to hold a whole tape. That has been corrected with my multi-terrabite computer. I just have to set aside the time to do the re-recording.

I do know that there are a few places that will do the work for you in Thailand, but I'll wait until I get back to Canada. Editing is LONG, SLOW PROCESS!

I don't know if I answered your questions or not.

I'll eventually buy an SLR that shoots stills as well as HD video. That will be a whole new process to learn. At that point I'll only use my camcorder to do the recording of old tapes.

Thank you Ian. Yes, it is a problem with all these different variations of a specific format. A link about different DV format.

I used a shop here in Chiang Rai when I converted 10 VHS-C cassettes 6 months ago. They say they can also take miniDV and they lovered the price from 300 baht to 200 baht per tape. But I do not know how good their equipment is for miniDV. I would like to do it myself with the best hardware and the best software (Premiere Pro CS5). But I will have the first tape here next week and will give it a try and use that shop.

Everything with video is both timeconsuming and computerconsuming. I understand that it needs a very good PC with best CPU, lot of RAM. best graphiccard with a GPU and fast harddrives.

I have done some work with Premiere Pro CS4 and it takes time to learn the software and all possibilities. I am aiming to also learn After Effects.

There are some used Panasonic camcorders out there so I hope I will get my hands on one of them soon.

I go to BKK coming Wednesday and will try to find a used Panasonic in Chinatown. If someone has info where to go I will be happy.

[IanForbes]

What I do know is that all camcorders that use the mini-DVD tapes will be able to play tapes used on other cameras. And, they download them at the same quality that the original camera recorded them at. That means you could buy a second hand Sony, Panasonic, or any other make and still be able to download onto a computer. There is no need to buy an identical camera for downloading. The second hand Panasonic that I bought is of a better quality than the Sony I took the video with. The Panasonic is a 3 CCD camera whereas the Sony used just one prism. That means the colour separation is better in harsh, bright sunlight. The better quality Camcorders today went from 3 CCD to HD.

One thing I learned a long time ago when making movies is that everything is ediited into short segments that seldom last more than 5 to 10 seconds. Of course, you have to take longer segments than that so you can edit them down to size later. It REALLY helps if you have a basic "script" idea of what you want your finished movie to look like BEFORE you start recording. It makes editing a WHOLE lot easier. In some cases I've run a half hour of movie straight from the camera to DVD without editing at all. In most other cases I'm bouncing back and forth between various tapes, and segments of tapes, to get a finished product.

[svenivan]

What I do know is that all camcorders that use the mini-DVD tapes will be able to play tapes used on other cameras. And, they download them at the same quality that the original camera recorded them at. That means you could buy a second hand Sony, Panasonic, or any other make and still be able to download onto a computer. There is no need to buy an identical camera for downloading. The second hand Panasonic that I bought is of a better quality than the Sony I took the video with. The Panasonic is a 3 CCD camera whereas the Sony used just one prism. That means the colour separation is better in harsh, bright sunlight. The better quality Camcorders today went from 3 CCD to HD.

One thing I learned a long time ago when making movies is that everything is ediited into short segments that seldom last more than 5 to 10 seconds. Of course, you have to take longer segments than that so you can edit them down to size later. It REALLY helps if you have a basic "script" idea of what you want your finished movie to look like BEFORE you start recording. It makes editing a WHOLE lot easier. In some cases I've run a half hour of movie straight from the camera to DVD without editing at all. In most other cases I'm bouncing back and forth between various tapes, and segments of tapes, to get a finished product.

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your info that I can use another camcorder. I just got info that a friend has a JVC that I can use for my project.

You are right about how to make an interesting video. I took some videos 20 years ago when I travelled and lived abroad with my two daughters for a year. I have 10 x 30 minutes and probably I can get less than 20 minutes out of these cassettes. Absolutely no script!

Good luck with your projects!