Features Worth Noting

Electronics manufacturers love to make bulleted lists of features. Some you may never need or want, while others can help you improve the footage you shoot.

Focus

It's a safe bet that you want the subjects in your video to be in focus but which subjects, and when? Camcorders feature automatic focus control, which is great when you're shooting footage on the fly. Who wants to try to manually focus when following animals in the wild (Figure 1.9)?

Figure 1.9. Gratuitous vacation footage inserted here. But really, when you're shooting video on the run, trying to manually focus at the same time would have meant losing the shot. You can view this movie clip at this book's companion Web site (www.necoffee.com/imovievqs).

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However, sometimes the automatic focus can be too good, bringing most objects in a scene into focus which is why camcorders include an option for manually focusing the lens. (Higher-end models include a focus ring built around the lens, like on a 35mm still camera. Most smaller camcorders sport small dials or scroll wheels to control manual focus.) Manual focus is essential for some situations, such as interviews, when you're not moving the camera (see Chapter 2).

Shutter speed

The term "shutter speed" is a bit misleading here, since a digital camcorder doesn't technically have a shutter (a door or iris that opens quickly to allow light to enter the lens). However, it's possible to duplicate the effects of different shutter speeds by changing the setting on the camera. This is good for filming action with movement that would otherwise appear blurry (such as sporting events). Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second, so a setting of 1/60 is slower than 1/8000 (see Chapter 2).

Night vision/low light

You have a few options for filming in low-light conditions. You could always carry around a full lighting setup, but that's not realistic. To compensate, some cameras include a night-vision mode that picks up heat from objects near the camera and displays a greenish representation of the scene.

Other cameras may include a low-light setting, which boosts the amount of available light that's picked up by the camera's image sensors (Figure 1.10). It's surprisingly effective, though the playback can be stuttered or blurry if there's a lot of movement in the scene.

Figure 1.10. Some camcorders feature a low-light setting, which boosts the effectiveness of the available light.

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S-Video port

All camcorders offer some type of output port so you can hook up a television or monitor to play back your footage. Usually, RCA-style plugs are included, but some models also offer an S-Video port (Figure 1.11). Hooking up your camera to a TV with an S-Video cable gives a clearer picture than with other AV cables. Use it if you've got it.

Figure 1.11. An S-Video port offers higher-quality image playback on televisions and monitors.

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iMovie 3 for MAC OS X. Visual QuickStart Guide
iMovie 3 for Mac OS X (Visual QuickStart Guide)
ISBN: 0321193970
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 125
Authors: Jeff Carlson

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