What should I use for taking videos and then editing them? I have absolutely no background knowledge on this, so you guys are going to have to help me.
My limit is $700.
Thanks in advance,
Daniel
.
For editing, I cant help much, cause all I have used are Windows movie maker (WMM) and iMovie.
Camera wise. I would recommend using a MiniDV tape format camera. DVD, hard drive, and flash drive camera are really popular right now, but the video gets compressed to a low MPEG2 format when it is recording.
Using a MiniDV tape has no compression of video or sounds. The only compression you will get, is the compression you decide to use, which you dont even have to compress the video if you dont want.
Now for MiniDV, a main thing to look for is the CCD chip number and size. The CCD chip determines how much light the camera can take in, and pretty much decides the quality of video.
There are 1 CCD cameras, and 3 CCD cameras. The 3 CCD camera, has a CCD chip for each main color, red, green, and blue, giving outstanding video quality, but for a hefty price.
Now, there is 1 CCD cameras. This is one CCD chip doing all the work for all the colors and light. This CCD chip can come in different sizes. 1/6" being the smallest, going all the way up to 1/2" size chip. Pretty much, the bigger the chip, the better the quality. One CCD cameras are usually cheaper, even the higher end 1 CCD models, are cheaper than the 3 CCD cameras, and still can give amazing quality.
Now, for your price range, I would recommend this MiniDV camera from Sony. It one of Sony’s best MiniDV camera at that price. Has a 1/2" ccd chip in it, which will give superb image/video quality. It also has a memory card slot and can take 3mb stills, which isnt bad at all for a camcorder to be taking pictures, also with normal, or fast burst modes.
That camera is really great, and here is a review if you want all the info on it.
Thank you so much Jerrick for finding that for me, and giving me all those useful links. I will definitely go with this one =).
What editing programs are the best?
iMovie!! that’s my top pick, but unless you have a mac you can’t use it sorry…
Just go with Movie Maker/iMovie, depending on what computer you have. You can buy a fancy system that will let you do more stuff, but it’s not really necessary. I’ve made all my movies with WMM, and it does what you need it to to make a unicycling movie.
Also, if you want any special effects that WMM or imovie doesn’t have look on versiontracker for a free one.
i have a canon zr85 (miniDV) and it works great. i havent made any movies with WMM but i’ve gone into the program ang it is quite limited compaered to what i use. i use a sony video editor called Sony Vegas Movie Editor. There are two versions of this program-an expensive professional version-and the beginner version(i have this one) it is only about $100. This is a great program with hundred of customizable effects and hundreds of customizable transitions. also http://www.bhphotovideo.com has a great selection of ediotors and cameras. My camera isn’t made but the newer models are. The are like zr200’s or something —hope this helps
B+H Photo is a great place to do business with. I’ve purchased a bit of photography gear through them. As far as cameras, I’d say get a Canon (I have the zr50mc). All my camera gear/video gear is Canon and I’ve had great luck thus far with all of it. That’s the only reason I’m recommending them.
For video editing, I use Adobe Premier Pro, which is an excellent piece of software. It is pricey, but it is well worth it. If you’re not computer savvy, it would be very challenging to learn how to use.