"Best" video editing software for HV20 novice

Hello All -

I am looking for recommendations on the "best" video editing software for a beginning (but tech savvy) videographer. I just purchased the Canon HV20 and it is my first camcorder. I have a Windows Vista machine with 2G of memory.

I am not looking to make movies per se. I really purchased it to record family events (we're adopting a baby in a few weeks).

I would like to capture the events and then edit them to clean them up. Ultimately, I would like to save them in some format that can be shared with family and friends and also retained permanently.

I have seen a few recommendations on this site for Adobe Premier. I will be downloading the demo for it shortly. I don't know what I don't know since I have yet to do anything with a video camera. Just would like to be prepared.

Thanks for the help - Dave

David.

The additional package kits that you can add to your HV20 can be useful if you don't have any accessories yet, but you can also buy all your accessories alacart so you get exactly what you need.

Keep in mind that a good video tripod has either a friction head or even better is the fluid head for smooth camera panning and tilting movements during recording, you will get more professional looking results. A monopod is great for hand held shooting situations, it gives you a much more stable shot than free hand shooting. You can use a monopod while sitting or standing, its better than trying to lean against the wall, or leaning on a rail or table, its perfect for long shooting events. A monopod is very portable like a telescopic cane. If you use a telephoto conversion lens, then you must use a tripod or monopod. The image stabilization is only going help so much for extreme zooming. Without a tripod or monopod when you are zoomed in at 20x optical or more, you get results like you are swaying at sea with the waves.

Monopods:
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=499314

http://www.fullcompass.com/brand/BOG/Camera-MonoPods.html


Another important thing to keep in mind, audio sound recording. I am suggesting a wireless mic system as another option for external mics because it can work well in recording distance sounds. If your videos include people talking, the lapel mic(Lavaliere) can be placed on your subjects lapel/collar area. This will assure that the surrounding sounds and noises do not drown out, muffle, or over power your subjects voice. The Lavaliere mic is a miniature mic which is descrete looking with a transmitter that is usually clipped to the waist area or placed in pocket. The reciver part is plugged into the camera, so this will allow you to record audio in a far distance in the audience like on a balcony level in a concert hall and record her voice as if she was standing next to you.

There are different models of wireless systems, some are made for better distance and more reliable signal strength. You should base the signal strength required by at least doubling the distance you actually need to be more reassuring in covering you for better signal transmission.

Some wireless mic systems come with both a hand held mic and a Lavaliere mic, including transmiter and receiver. Some systems allow you to use multiple mics. They are very easy to set up, you just need to flick a switch on the transmitter and recever so they match up frequencies and you are ready to go. Having the option of selecting a different frequency is good so that you change it any time you feel that one signal frequency is better than another for that location.

Reviews have not been the best for Nady and Sony models, they can be cheaper and would be also considered more of a toy. Azden seems to be very good brand in wireless mics, they are taken more seriously.

Wireless camcorder Microphones links:

http://www.nextag.com/wireless-camcorder-microphone/search-html

http://www.videoguys.com/azden.htm

Thanks Piero,

Can I ask what software you are using?

Thanks for the other post as well. I was actually headed out to buy a tripod. I noticed that holding this thing still was not easy. I cannot stand jiggly video...

As a follow-up there. Do I need to get a lens glass filter/cover. I have them on my digital camera (like a UV filter, etc.) just to protect the lens. Do I need this with a camcorder?

Thanks again for your information and willingness to help others!

Hey, David.
I am on Mac system, using iMove and Final Cut Pro suite with some other video and sound effect stuff.

I only use a UV filters in riskier environment conditions, like: outdoors when its raining, or the ski slopes for the snow, and the beach for the sand. Its good to protect the lens. In general shooting conditions I don't use one because the less there is in front of the lens the better for best optical quality. Sometimes different filters can serve its purpose. I just use my inter-graded lens cover when I am not recording.

As I mentioned, the best video tripods have either a friction head or a fluid head, all other tripods are for still cameras. So if you want nice smooth pan/tilt shots during recording you will regret not getting a proper tripod. The fluid head tripod is the best. Also a heavier or stronger tripod will also help with less camera vibrations and jiggles.

Some tripods have multiple leg movements that allow the tripod to be used on a side of a cliff or or any extremley un-level grounds and etc.

Also look into a monopod, its a great tool to support hand held shots. Its easier to carry around and it will make your shots much more stable than the image lens stabilization system. You will propably get more use from this than a tripod in most cases.

If you decide to also get one of these, make sure it has a tilt head for your video cam.

Happy Shopping.

If these resonses are helpfulful just click the thumbs up symbols

Thanks!

Well, I really feel like a newbie... Even with 15+ years in the IT business! I have just never done this video thing...

I downloaded Adobe Premier Elements. I setup my camera to record HDV. Shot some basic footage of the room and myself (fun). I then imported it with Premier. When I play it on the PC, it looks awful! I guess I was expecting sub National Geographic quality with the whole HD thing, but I don't like what I see.

I am sure I am doing something wrong in Premier. However, when I play the video back on my PC, it seems to show what I would describe as interlace artifacts really bad. Any movement while aimed at a vertical line shows very jagged edges. Even when I filmed myself and I blinked, you could see the jaggedness around the parts of the image that changed.

I tried changing the mode to HDV24p. Same result. So I would think that it is me and Premier.

Or, did I just spend a ton of money on a device that I cannot use and expect too much from? Everyone else seems to love it. Any ideas of what I might be doing wrong?

Again, I apologize for being so quick to post. Normally I research the heck out of problems, but I am in kind of a time crunch. I want to get this somewhat mastered before I really need it. I don't want to screw up and not get the images captured.

Along those lines, if it is just me and Premier that has a problem, should I just shoot in HDV (or HDV24p) and worry about it later. Am I safe, or could I have something set wrong on the camera? I have tried it in auto mode and program mode.

Thanks again!

Hey David.
Let me put my thoughts together on your questions. I am in Florida, its 2:20am but I will still up for awhile. I will get back soon.

I have some questions for you.

Have you played your recorded footage directly to your HD TV to see results.

Do you have a high quality graphics card on your PC, is your monitor LCD screen.

What kind of lighting was in the room where you shot the video footage.

What kind of blank tape are you using, is it a standard blank tape or for HD recording

Is premier a demo or full version.

Check to see if you have any effect filters on.

Are you importing video any specific way yo your PC.

Thanks Piero!

Likewise, I am in FL and was up late playing with the new toy!

I attached the HV20 directly to my TV (ViewSonic 47" HD TV, although a few years old). I used the component cables (not HDMI). At the time I did not have HD tapes so I just used it as a monitor. Was not impressed with it at that time either. Saw some fuzziness on the edges. Just chalked it up to poor cables that came with the device and an older HD TV. (I believe the TV is 720p native although Discovery Channel HD at 1080i looks fantastic from my cable provider.) Have not played the recorded video through it yet. Will do today.

My Laptop is a Dell Latitude D820 (Core 2 Duo @ 1.8GHz and 2G mem) with the NVIDIA Quadro NVS 120M. Not the highest end card in the world, but it is supporting Vista Aero interface just fine. LCD Screen is 17" - 1920 by 1200 wide-screen.

Lighting was at night with ambient room lighting. I was shooting directly at table with a lamp on it. It was not the low light noise that bothered me, although it might later...

Tape is a Sony HD DVM63.

Trial version of Premier version 3.

No filter effects on. Tried both Auto mode and P (program) mode on the HV20.

Just importing video as HD with the basic program defaults. Using 1394 cable between PC and HV20.

As a follow-up. I did change the imported clip Field Properties to be Always Deinterlace and it smoothed out quite a bit. So, I am still leaning to an interlacing problem. Also, I have not burned the video to DVD to try it that way. Maybe my machine is just not enough for this (can you say Apple?).

Just an update. I was able to film outside today. I definitely like the improved lighting response. Things look a little better. Although low light wasn't bad. A little grainy, but that is to be expected (I think).

Also, I did some experimenting with my TV. If I avoid my AV Receiver and go directly to the TV via the component cables, things look very good. More like I expect. Lesser quality if you use the composite cable. Again, as I would expect. Since I only have one HDMI connector on the TV and it is hooked up to my cable box, I have not tried it yet. My guess is that it would look great. I think I am happy that the camera is working as expected. Did not want to give other readers the impression the camera was bad (just a newbie at the controls).

I am still having the same issues with Premier however.

Just an FYI. I could not get Uleads product to work at all with the HV20. Premier fired right up. Ulead never found the HV20 to even begin importing. I have a support question in to Pinnacle to see if they support it yet.

I will get more info to you, but one of the things of higher quality video.

"The more light the better"

Talk to you real soon!

David.
Here is some info on interlaced images you can browse in the meantime as I get other info that could be helpful. You may already know about interlace images, but if you can pick up an extra point or two that's great.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlace

Thanks again Piero,

Interlacing is definitely what is going on here. In fact, the biking image from the wikipedia site (about midway down) is a mild example of what I am seeing. The combing effect is what I don't like.

Still in the process of making a DVD from Premier to see what happens. I don't think it could go much slower...

David.
I am going to feed you info as I come across anything important.

The Sony tape you are using is made for HD, but read the info in link.
In general I know that emulsion formulas can be different from one type or brand to another, but this just confirms the exact difference:

Maxel HDV tapes is superior.
http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=70748&d=1174660867

Its best to find one good brand and stick with it. You will get longer cam head life in the log run, plus it will easier to maintain consistant picture results. HD miniDV tapes are generally loaded with more metal in the emulsion, more metal, faster head wear.

David.
Here is more info.

The HV20 records in 24p(fps-frames per second) and it is stored in a 60i stream for NTSC(North America) (likewise, 25p is recorded but stored as 50i for PAL format (other countries). It is done that way to work with existing standards.

The 24p recording is only stored in 60i and seems to be a desirable choice by many reviews I have read. 30p would be standard playback frame speed rate.

24p(fps) is what's used in the professional motion picture industry. Many people have been waiting a long time for this feature in a video cam.

David, I have recently started using video editing software, and I've done a fair amount of reading on the subject. I have several 2-minute HD video clips from Microsoft that are freely downloadable (I think they're intended to demonstrate the Windows Media HD format). I edited one while working on a tutorial in Adobe Premier Elements 3.0 using a Core 2 Duo E6400 system with 2GB of RAM, and the process was incredibly slow. Take a look at PC Magazine's 2006 review of Ulead's Video Studio 10+ software and you'll see that they confirm in there that even the fastest systems have problems keeping up with HD video when editing. And that's why they gave Ulead's program an Editor's Choice award (Adobe's Premier Elements also has one, the two products being essentially tied for the top spot in their class according to that issue of PC Magazine). I haven't tried it yet, but the review says Ulead's video editor handles HD much more efficiently by working on lower resolution proxy files, then using the original HD source for final rendering. Apparently you have to take the time to create those proxy files first, and I'm assuming that's time when you can be away from your computer for a while. So I'm personally interested in looking at Ulead's Video Studio editor at some point, because I've seen how incredibly slowly HD video is handled in Premiere Elements.

On the subject of the HV20 not being recognized by Ulead, I saw on their site a while ago an update that could be downloaded that would provide specific recognition for Canon's HV10; I wonder if that would also work for the HV20. If not, then I'm sure they'll fix it soon.

Here are some links that contains excellent info and reviews on (HD)video.

CML is a place for professional cinematographers to talk and exchange ideas about cinematography.

30p or 60i topic:
http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%20DW/30por60i.htm
Home page:
http://www.cinematography.net/index.htm
All video topics:
http://www.cinematography.net/video%20toc.htm

Hey Guys!

Thanks for continuing this thread.

Well, my son was born on Friday, so I have been pretty preoccupied. I am also living out of a hotel for the next few weeks until the adoption paperwork processes. So, I am going to be pretty poor in the prompt response department.

I did use the HV20 to record the events of the past few days. I just recorded in HD standard auto mode. I figured I couldn't go too wrong.

Piero, I will read the links you suggested later.

Documentary Maker, I did try the Ulead product on my Vista machine. The product installed, but did not recognize the camera. I tried to install the updates and HV10 stuff, but it would not install. Kept complaining that it could not find the installed application. You are right about Adobe's speed. Very, very slow!

Cheers!

Does anyone know how the HD 20 would perform for underwater vidiography. I have assumed that the 24P mode would assist with lower light conditions. I am a complete amateur and don't want to tackle underwater lights for a while.

Hey my only concern is if HV20 editing format is .MOV

I use imovie and final cut pro to edit my videos and I don't want to jump and buy the HV20 if I can't edit my clips because of it's original format.

Can somebody answer this simple question?


Thanks so much!

there is nothing worst then hd editing you have to pay a lot for program otherwise you're stuck with tons of cassets.

there is nothing worst then hd editing you have to pay a lot for program otherwise you're stuck with tons of cassets.

where i find free dawnload hv20 softword

where i find free dawnload hv20 softword ?

there is not free but have to pay about 100$ for sony vegas editing program,take premium new one . you can't get get any of those for free but you can buy the chipest with 24fps to editing from your canon hv20.if you record at 60fps or 30fps you can use pinnacle11 because there is that option and cost you less. at sony vegas you've got all that options.good luck.