Panasonic pv-gs32o
3 CCD MiniDV Camcorder
• 3-1/6″ Image Sensor with 800k Pixels each
| • 3.1 Megapixel Still Picture Recording to SD Card
I • Leica Dicomar 10x Optical,
j  700x Digital Zoom Lens
i • USB 2.0 HS
S – Card Mode H.S. Shutter
\ 1/30-1/2000
] • Includes IR Remote and
IÂ Â Software, Tele Macro
SONY-DCR-HC96 MiniDV Camcorder
• Carl Zeiss Vario-SonnarT Optics
• Progressive Shutter System
• Primary Color Filter
• 1/3″ Advanced HAD CCD with 3 Megapixels
• 10x Optical, 120x Digital Zoom
• Super Electronic SteadyShot
• 5 Lux (0 Lux in Super NightShot Mode)
• Built-in Flash
A convenience product of sorts for new parents (though we certainly hope it never makes it onto the shelves of your local ultra-mart), Baby Feeder delivers some honest laughs. This very interesting video included compositing performed with Apple Motion. C’cAllOIIZR 800
MiniDV Camcorder
• Canon Optics- 35x Optical, 1000x Digital Zoom
• 1/6″CCD Image Sensor with680K pixels CCD
• External Microphone Input | • Electronic Image Stabilizer I -True Widescreen HR Recording I • DIGIC DV Image Processor
IÂ Smooth Zoom Control
|Â Â with 3 Selectable
i  Fixed Zoom Speeds
If you shoot with more than one camcorder and find that you are spending more time than you’d like transferring your footage from tape, check out the latest generation of direct to disk recorders now on the market. Since ingesting footage from tape is a real-time process, you automatically gain one-to-one time savings by having your material already on disk. And, as most recorders allow you to edit directly from the portable disk, you don’t even have to transfer (at least immediately) to your edit computer. Depending on the size of your camcorder and options for external brackets, the only tricky part can be finding an appropriate mounting surface.
The next question you’ll want to address is how big should you make your frame size and what quality settings should you use to encode? As more people are now connected with high-speed connections, larger frame sizes are becoming possible. Don’t be afraid to try full-frame 720×480 at medium quality settings. This usually means video bitrates around 600-700kbps. But it is still common practice to offer multiple media player formats and in at least a high and low quality/size offering. So, pick the top two or three media players and encode with those file types. Once your show has been running for a while and you are getting some traffic, you can analyze which tiles types are the most popular and possibly drop the least accessed.
RSS requires doing an additional step of creating an XML file that allows aggregators to recognize and people to subscribe to your vidcast feed. An easy way to get going is to visit www. feedburner.com and follow their instructions on how to proceed.
AVCHD
The release of the AVCHD consumer camcorders! from Sony and Panasonic added more affordable| HD camcorders for both the hobbyist and pro-sumer. These DVD- or hard disk-based camcord-| ers include Sony’s new CMOS-sensor HDR-UX5 ($999) and HDR-UX7 ($1,299), both of which record footage to DVD. Both camcorders also feature 5.1 stereo surround sound.
Panasonic’s offerings include the HDC-DX1 ($1,399), which burns to DVD, and the HDC-SDll ($1,499), which records onto an SDHC memory j card. Both units have three CCD chips, which allow for improved color reproduction, and 5.1 stereo surround sound.
The AVCHD format specifications allow for 1080i, 720p and standard definition recording modes, although not every AVCHD camcorder supports all these shooting modes.
The first thing that the program asks when you start it is whether you want to create an NTSC or PAL project. If you’re just going to Blu-ray Disc, this question will seem quite strange on the surface, but the reason the program asks has to do with one of the line items on the box. The program includes the ability to write the same project to both Blu-ray Disc and DVD—a very useful feature that has the potential to save you a lot of time (depending on the scope of your disc authoring project, of course).
We found the process to bring assets into program a bit confusing at first. The File > Import > Media option seems a logical choice on the surface, but fails to bring in anything but still images. However, there’s also File > Add Movie. This is the one you want to use for bringing in your video clips. The program is also finicky about file extensions—we had some .m2t (MPEG-2 transport stream) files captured from a Sony HDR-FX7 HDV camcorder via Sony DVGate Plus that had to have their extensions changed to .mpg before we could import them.
The arrangement of the program in its default workspace (there are a few others to choose from) made immediate sense to us. The menu bar is arranged left-to-right in order of how you will be accessing the functions beneath (e.g., Timeline, DVD Menus, Simulate, Burn)
Over the years, we’ve found that manufacturers sometimes like to slap the word “pro” on their camcorders as a way to compensate for less than professional capabilities. Clearly, this is not the case with JVC’s recent addition to its professional products line, the GY-HD200U high definition camcorder. While the sticker of $8,995 pushes the upper limits of many of our readers’ budgets, there are just too many features for the serious shooter packed into this camcorder not to cover it here in the magazine. OK, we admit it. In an ideal world, looks should be one of the last things you consider when buying a camcorder, right? But you just can’t help but be impressed with how the HD200U stands apart from other camcorders in its class. With its compact shoulder design, a 16x Fujinon removable lens in front, sleek, though certainly not Spartan, main body, component/DC assembly and brick battery dock at the rear; this is certainly a camcorder that holds its own in a crowd of professional high-def camcorders.
Hoisting the HD200U to your shoulder confirms that JVC has built a solid, rugged performer. When you heft its 10 lbs. 7 oz. with tape and Anton Bauer battery, you know you’re armed with some serious metal and glass. Even the tape door, usually requiring delicate closure of an inner cage on other camcorders, is very robust. Simply pop in the tape and close the camcorder’s sturdy outer door.
You’ve got enough stress without seeing your critical footage undermined by glitches, dropouts or digital artifacts. Sony Professional Media is co-developed with Sony recorders, so your precious assets get maximum protection from shoot to playback to archive — in SD or HD. Sony also keeps you productive with worldwide technical support, recovery and conversion services, highly trained dealers and the largest dedicated pro media sales team in the US. Our 10-year strong Rewarding Recordingâ„¢ loyalty program even boosts your bottom line. No wonder Sony is the world’s #1 brand of professional media. Stress less with Sony. Got a true story where Sony Pro Media helped relieve your production stress? Send it to us and you may be selected to win a Sony HD Camcorder!
Get in close. Fly through and around every scene with your camcorder, free of tripods \ or shoulder mounts— ( free of bumps and jitters —with the remarkable Merlin.
Why do you need a Merlin?
Merlin’s award-winning ultra light and rigid compact, ergonomic design evolved from years of development by Steadicam’s inventor, Garrett Brown, with feedback from the industry’s top professionals.
Unlike built-in camera image stabilizing that works on small vibrations in two axes, the Merlin controls both large and small motions in all three axes for professional high-quality productions. It’s the difference between a camcorder’s “vibration help” vs Merlin’s full-scale stabilization. The result? A completely new camera stabilization system, created for today’s ultracompact digital and camcorders weighing up to five pounds. .
