baronn 111 #1 March 11, 2009 I don't do a lot of camera jumps, but that will change this summer. I have a TRV20 and a 10d for cameras. Ideally, I would love to have just 1 camera that I could use for video and pull stills off of. That not being possible, I'll keep a still camera up on top, but would like to add an HD video camera. I hear you can download videos like a file on some of the hard drive video cameras. I also understand these cameras don't like altitude. What about video cameras that write to a card? I have a Mac powerbook and I'll put my niece to work editing these while I go back up. Any and all help I can get with this would be appreciated. I'm not that great with this stuff, so please keep it simple. Thanx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #2 March 11, 2009 The FAQ/Sticky covers this, but...Anything that has moving parts and isn't tape isn't appropriate for skydiving. You can shoot with say...CX100 (Sony cam) and it shoots to flash cards (Memory Stick Pro Duo). That will download to your Mac, it'll take some time. As has been said at least 100 times here, AVCHD (which is the codec most of the flash cameras shoot to) isn't Mac-friendly, but iMovie/FCS/FCE can all import/convert it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PharmerPhil 0 #3 March 11, 2009 Additionally, I don't think you can use AVCHD files on an older Mac. I believe you need an Intel Mac. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Powerbooks (as opposed to MacBooks or MacBook Pros) use Motorola processors, not Intel, and hence won't work with Apple's current AVCHD compatible software. In answer to your first question, yes you can get stills from newer video cameras, but they are pretty poor quality compared to a DSLR. Also, the 10D is pretty old and is large, heavy and slow (burst rate and writing to card) by today's standards. If you are looking to save money and still get decent stills, you may want to hang on to your TRV20 for a little while longer (which you can use with your older Powerbook) and get a smaller, lighter still camera like the Canon XT. Then get a newer HD (that's hi-def, not hard drive) video camera when you have more computing horsepower to deal with it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baronn 111 #4 March 12, 2009 my bad, it's a new Macbook. It's got an Intel processor. Are there any digital video cameras you might recommend? Love the idea of downloading a file, instead of having to run thru the whole tape. You'd think the mfg. would be on this and come up with a fix. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #5 March 12, 2009 QuoteYou'd think the mfg. would be on this and come up with a fix. it's not a manufacturer problem, it's an Apple problem. There are thousands of threads on the internet about Apple's refusal to natively manage MPEG file sources for the past four years. Apple won't do it, and it's to their detriment. Because of Apple's stupidity (cheapness), I carry a MacBook too...but use Bootcamp for Windows at least 70% of the time. As far as camera...there is *nothing* in the realm of "small" that uses anything but HDV (MPEG2) or AVCHD (MPEG4) and Final Cut does not natively support either format. Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Sanyo, JVC, Samsung, they all make AVCHD cams, none of which Apple wishes to be compatible with. There are third party tools, as discussed in the CX100 thread. If you have a niece or daughter to edit for you, speed probably isn't a concern, cuz it's slow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnskydiver688 0 #6 March 12, 2009 I am getting conflicting impressions. You have been mentioning on multiple occasions that Macs do not support AVCHD. Is it the OS, Hardware of an Apple or is the the Apple software that doesn't? Reason why I ask is Adobe Premier touts that it supports AVCHD natively on a Mac. Shed some light DSE. Thanks!Sky Canyon Wingsuiters Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alge 0 #7 March 12, 2009 Oh, oh, oh, can I try to explain it? Then DSE can comment if I'm on to something or completely off.. Also, IANAL and other disclaimers. The people behind the MPEG formats have spent an amount of money on developing it. The codecs are protected by patents. You can check out the guys who have h264/AVC patents on http://www.mpegla.com/avc/ - all of these guys wants to get their money back through licensing. (AVCHD uses h264/AVC for video.) If you sell a product which can decode or encode h264, you'll have to pay royalties to all these guys to keep them off your back, which varies with what the end user is doing with the codec. Apple gives away QuickTime, for example, which can decode MPEG4. But only for non-commercial use. They don't want to pay the extra bucks per product sold for full MPEG4 support. By the way - the guys behind VLC and other free players obviously can't pay MPEGLA for each free download of the application, so in a country that cares about software patents, you're breaking the MPEG4 license by using VLC. MPEGLA does not sell licenses to individuals so there's no way you can do it legally. See http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq/en/index.html#id404342 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #8 March 12, 2009 QuoteOh, oh, oh, can I try to explain it? Then DSE can comment if I'm on to something or completely off.. Also, IANAL and other disclaimers. The people behind the MPEG formats have spent an amount of money on developing it. The codecs are protected by patents. You can check out the guys who have h264/AVC patents on http://www.mpegla.com/avc/ - all of these guys wants to get their money back through licensing. (AVCHD uses h264/AVC for video.) If you sell a product which can decode or encode h264, you'll have to pay royalties to all these guys to keep them off your back, which varies with what the end user is doing with the codec. Apple gives away QuickTime, for example, which can decode MPEG4. But only for non-commercial use. They don't want to pay the extra bucks per product sold for full MPEG4 support. By the way - the guys behind VLC and other free players obviously can't pay MPEGLA for each free download of the application, so in a country that cares about software patents, you're breaking the MPEG4 license by using VLC. MPEGLA does not sell licenses to individuals so there's no way you can do it legally. See http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq/en/index.html#id404342 You got it in one. Premiere does do some conversions as well, because the AVCHD decode information isn't part of Apple's CPU coding. If you can't put a card reader on and edit straight from the card, it's not "native." Premiere builds a copy on the hard drive, so it acts like it's native. Premiere CS4, however, is the fastest/best solution for AVCHD on the Mac at this time, IMO. Caveat Emptor, I'm on the beta team for CS4, so I'm a bit biased that way. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skydivesg 6 #9 March 12, 2009 I have a friend who has a brand new high end Macbook Pro with Imovie 09 and (delivered today) a CX 100 . Would he be better off getting the Premier CS4 to edit? And will your "Tandems Made Easy" work (or help) on either the Imovie 09 or the Premier CS4? Which would be best?Be the canopy pilot you want that other guy to be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #10 March 12, 2009 Depends on his knowledge level. Premiere CS4 has a bit of a learning curve, iMovie doesn't. the techniques presented in Chris Warnock's "Tandem Videos Made Easy" apply to all NLE's, but the included free templates only work with Sony Vegas. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnskydiver688 0 #11 March 12, 2009 As I am a college student I was lucky enough to get a copy of the Adobe Master Collection CS4 for very cheap (relatively) and now I just need some footage to play with. My other question is if I am using a scratch disk (external HD), and I pull the raw MTS files from the camera off the scratch disk into Premier, is that the fastest route for importing into Premier? Another question how do you like Dynamic Link? Sounds pretty nice to only have one render from import to DVD, even with some After Effects thrown in. Again, thanks DSE for all your "Indigenous" knowledge!Sky Canyon Wingsuiters Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DSE 3 #12 March 12, 2009 Personally, I don't use Dynamic Link, but most of those who do swear by it. I rarely stay in the Adobe suite, but again...those that do swear by it. Jarno probably has better input because he uses AE all day... and perhaps uses Adobe Media Encoder vs a third party tool. Nothing wrong with an external scratch disk. ReadyBoost might help you out with speed though, depending on your OS. Generally, editing from an external is going to be a lot faster than editing straight off a card. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
baronn 111 #13 March 26, 2009 I just finished reading your article about the Sony CX100. You seemed to endorse it in the article. Seems like a great choice to me. Are there any issues with using this? More specifically, does it like our world up in the air? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Icon134 0 #14 March 26, 2009 QuoteI just finished reading your article about the Sony CX100. You seemed to endorse it in the article. Seems like a great choice to me. Are there any issues with using this? More specifically, does it like our world up in the air?There is a thread discussing the CX-100/105 and yes... although I only have 3 jumps with the CX-100 it seems to be quite content in freefall operations. ScottLivin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
