Digital Movie Gear


To make a movie, you need a camcorder, a personal computer, editing software, and some accessories: an external microphone and extra batteries for your camcorder and, if you like, an external hard drive to use with your computer.

What to Look for in a Digital Video Camcorder

If you already have a digital camcorder, great! If you're in the market for a new one, get a miniDV camcorder, which is a digital video camcorder that records onto miniDV tape.

MiniDV camcorders range in price from $300 to $3,000 and up, but you can generally find a full-featured model for about $300 to $500. Plan to spend more for camera accessories, cables, and perhaps an extra hard drive, which can cost another $300 to $1,000, depending on your budget. You'll find a checklist of recommended items and approximate costs later in this chapter.

In general, compact camcorders cost more than larger models, but the quality of the two types is often about the same. You pay extra for the convenience of having a smaller camera, but some tiny camcorders sacrifice important external connections (such as an external microphone jack). You should get a camera that balances size, weight, features, and your budget, but you shouldn't compromise external connections.

Shopping for a Camcorder

Don't know which camcorder is for you? CNET has a helpful online movie camcorder buying guide that helps you select the right camera. The guide includes common profiles of camcorder users, including home and vacation movie makers, budget buyers, trendsetters, independent filmmakers, and business videographers.

You can find the CNET digital camcorder buying guide at http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6500_7-1023271-1.html?tag=fs.


These are some of the essentials your camcorder should have:

  • 10x optical zoom (typical)

  • External microphone input

  • FireWire (also called IEEE 1394 or iLink) connection

  • Image stabilization (helps avoid shaky cam)

  • Low light feature (enables you to shoot at night or in low light)

  • Good battery life

  • Manual controls

Disposable Camcorders

Don't know if digital video is for you? Try this out: For $29.95, you can buy a disposable video camcorder (available at CVS and other outlets) with 20 minutes of shooting time. The quality is comparable to VHS quality (not as good as miniDV), but you can find out if making movies is for you without investing $300 or more.

The disposable camcorder, made by Pure Digital of San Francisco, is about the size of a deck of cards, has easy-to-use controls (On/Off, Playback, Record, and Delete) and weighs about 5 ounces. It has a square, 1.4-inch color LCD screen that is both the viewfinder and playback screen. The camcorder records video to a flash memory card inside the camera.

One minor drawback of the disposable camcorder is that you can see only the last clip you've recorded. It also has no zoom. And it has no image stabilization, which makes it better at close-ups and medium shots than at long shots.

For $12.99, you can get a DVD of your footage from the camera, which you can then import into your computer and edit. Included in this $12.99 purchase is the ability to post your video on the Web and email others with a link to the online movie.

To see an interview with Pure Digital's CEO that was shot with the disposable camcorder, see the San Francisco Chronicle site, at www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/06/13/BUGO0D5OEG28.DTL&o=1&type=tech.


In addition, you also want to look for these features:

  • Top or side tape loading (so you can change tape without removing the camera from a tripod)

  • Flip screen (so you can see yourself when you shoot yourself)

  • Remote control (so you control your camcorder if you want to be in your movies while you shoot them)

You might also consider getting a three-chip camcorder, which gives you higher-quality movie recording.

What to Look for in Shooting Accessories and Editing Equipment

Remember that in addition to your camcorder, you need $300 to $1,000 for accessories and perhaps a hard drive for editing. Here is a list of the shooting accessories you should plan to purchase:

  • UV filter A UV filter protects your valuable camera lens from dust and scratches. This is essential.

  • Camera case A camera case protects your camcorder and holds your accessories.

  • Tripod A tripod is a must-have. Some tripods have camera controls so that you can control your camcorder from the tripod handle. Though these cost more, they are highly recommended.

  • Extra batteries Extra batteries extend your shooting time. In general, the basic battery that comes with your camera gives you one hour of shooting time. Buy larger batteries for longer shooting time. Buying two of these longer-lasting batteries is a good way to go. The more batteries you have, the better off you will be.

  • Battery charger If you want to charge batteries from an outlet or your car, an external battery charger is a good investment.

  • External clip-on microphone and cable The camcorder-mounted mike that is built in to your camcorder will rarely get good sound. If there's only one accessory you can afford to buy (in addition to a UV filter), let it be an external mike. They cost around $20, so this is a great investment.

  • Shotgun (or directional) microphone If you want to capture audio from a distance without a clip-on mike, you need one of these microphones. They are more expensive than clip-on mikes but capture sound from a larger area.

  • FireWire camcorder-to-computer cable This connects your camcorder to your computer. Many camcorders come with such a cable, but some do not. You can't edit without one. A FireWire camcorder-to-computer cable is different from the FireWire cable you use to connect your computer to an external hard drive.

  • Camera-mounted light Some camcorders have a slot for mounting an external light. In general, camera-mounted light is rather harsh and less desirable than other kinds of lighting, but if you must have a light (say, for shooting night interviews), a camera-mounted light would be helpful.

Avoiding DVD Camcorders

You may be tempted to buy one of the new direct-to-DVD camcorders. These are digital video cameras that record and save your video to DVDs (instead of to miniDV tapes). Don't buy one if you plan to edit most of your movies. Compared to that of a miniDV camcorder, the quality of a DVD camcorder recording is poor; and if you want to edit your footage on your computer, you have to use DVD import software as an extra step in the editing process.

If you use a miniDV camcorder, you can make much higher-quality DVDs, use your computer to quickly and easily edit, and output your movie onto a DVD.


Other Equipment to Consider

If you're planning to make DVDs, you will need a DVD burner and DVD-burning software. You can find more information about DVD burning software in Chapters 3, "Editing Basics: Movie Maker and More," and 10, "Resources for Learning."

If you're planning to use footage from VHS tapes and you can't connect a VCR to your camcorder, you may have to buy extra cables and hardware for this purpose. You can find more information about importing VHS video in Chapter 9, "Project 5: Making Family Memory Movies."


You'll also need the following editing accessories:

  • External hard drive You will probably need an external hard drive to edit your video. If you are editing only a short amount of video (5 minutes or less), you may have enough room on your computer's hard drive. A larger budget will buy you more hard drive space. In general, prices are about $1 per gigabyte. Many people buy a 200GB to 300GB hard drive for editing video.

  • FireWire cable You need this type of cable to connect an external drive to your computer.

Table 1.1 shows how much you'll need to spend on all these accessories.

Table 1.1. Shooting Accessories and Editing Equipment Budget
 

Low

Medium

High

Shooting Accessories

   

UV filter to protect camera lens

$15

$15

$15

Camera case

$30

$50

$100

Tripod

$50

$150

$150

Extra battery (4 hour)

 

$80

$80

Battery charger

  

$80

External clip-on mike (and battery)

$20

$20

$20

External mike cable

$15

$15

$15

FireWire cable (camcorder-to-computer)

$30

$30

$30

A second extra battery (4 hour)

  

$80

Shotgun/directional mike

  

$100

Camera-mounted light

  

$80

Subtotal (shooting accessories)

$160

$360

$750

Editing Equipment External hard drive

$125

$225

$275

FireWire cable (external drive to computer)

$30

$30

$30

Subtotal (editing accessories)

$155

$255

$305

Total (all accessories)

$315

$615

$1,055


Movie Editing Software and Computer Requirements

Most PC owners have a free desktop movie editing software program built into their computer: Movie Maker from Microsoft. Chapters 3 and 4 describe how to use Movie Maker to edit and share your movies. Because Movie Maker is free, it's one of the most popular programs for movie editing. If you are willing to purchase your own editing software, you can choose from many other options, many of which offer special features, such as DVD burning capabilities (which Movie Maker does not provide). See Chapter 10 for descrip tions and information on how to get free, downloadable trial versions of other editing programs.

On a Tight Budget?

Want to see whether digital video is for you without spending a bundle? If you can't borrow a camcorder from someone, or if you just want to play around before investing in a camcorder, here are low- or no-cost ways you can shoot, edit, and share movies:

  • Make family memory movies (free)If you have scanned or digital photos or old home movies that have been digitized, you can make a family memory movie at virtually no cost on your personal computer with Movie Maker (which is free). See Chapter 9 for more information.

  • Shoot 20 minutes with a disposable camcorder ($30)Using a disposable camcorder, you can shoot 20 minutes of VHS-quality video, and for $12.99 more, you can save your video to a DVD or share it on the Web. It's a little complicated to edit it on your computer, but you may be able to import the footage from the DVD, if you purchased one. For more information, see the sidebar "Disposable Camcorders" in this chapter and check the latest information available from the manufacturer's or seller's website.

  • Buy a used camcorder (variable)Many people are selling miniDV camcorders on eBay and www.craigslist.org. You can often buy a used camcorder at a great price; some camcorders on eBay still even carry warranties.

  • Get free editing softwareMany editing software companies offer free, 30-day trials of their editing software, which you can download from the Web. These programs provide more features than Movie Maker, including the ability to burn DVDs. See Chapter 10 for more information.

  • Share your movies online (free)You can use Neptune's Mediashare service (Microsoft's video hosting partner) free for a three-day trial period. Other movie hosting services (sites that save and play your movies online) are available for free, with no time limits. See Chapter 4, "Saving and Sharing Digital Movies," for more information.

With a $300 camcorder and tapes that costs $10 for an hour's worth of video, you can shoot a lot of video. For the same money, you would pay to see 34 Hollywood movies. If you use your camcorder a lot, that's great entertain ment value for the money.


Macintosh owners generally use the free soft ware iMovie HD from Apple or Final Cut, a professional software program. iMovie is part of the iLife suite and is packaged on most Apple computers; it's also available for purchase at www.apple.com. The following section discusses the computer requirements for using Movie Maker because that's the most widely available software for movie editing. (If you don't have Movie Maker on your computer, you can download it for free from the Microsoft website at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx.)

Movie Maker Computer Requirements

In order to capture and edit digital video from your camcorder, you need the following minimum system configuration (required by Microsoft to run Movie Maker):

  • Windows XP Home Edition (with Service Pack 2) or Windows XP Professional

  • 600MHz processor (Intel Pentium III, AMD Athlon, or equivalent)

  • 128MB of RAM

  • 2GB of available hard disk space

While these are the minimum requirements, if your computer just meets these specs, it will run very slowly, and you may be very frus trated. You'll be much happier if you have the following configuration (which Microsoft recommends):

  • 1.5GHz processor (Intel Pentium 4, AMD Athlon XP 1500+, or equivalent)

  • 256MB of RAM

In addition, you need the following:

  • An external hard drive, unless your videos are very short (5 minutes or less)

  • A digital video capture card (included on most newer PCs and also available from other manufacturers)

  • A FireWire port on your computer




Create Your Own Digitial Movies
Create Your Own Digitial Movies
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 85

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