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If you are using a DV tape video camera and you wish to move the video from your camera to your computers hard drive so that you can edit it, you will need a digital video camera, a PC with over 50gb free on the hard disk and Firewire connectivity (plus a firewire cable)
You will also need editing software and a little know how.
Editing Software: There are many software packages that allow you to edit, cut, and sequence a video production, for example: |
I movie (mac)
Final Cut (mac - advanced)
Windows Movie Maker 2 (windows)
Adobe Premiere (Windows Advanced)
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iMovie and Windows Movie Maker are intuitive interfaces that are very easy to use and many functions are as simple as a click of a button.
The other two are industry standard professional editing tools and are not recommended for beginners projects.
Film Source: You can take your film on many different devices. |
Digital camera
Digital video camera
Mobile Phone
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| Firewire connectivity |
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| Firewire cable |
Most digital cameras have the ability to take moving picures. You will be able to import them to your Hard Drive without any problem. You will just need a flash memory card reader.
Some mobile phones can take video and connect directly to your computer via USB.
Some Video cameras have inbuilt Hard disks, others use DV tape.
If you have the mini DV tape style, you will need to capture your video. Read the following information for tips on what you will need to do.
Most computers these days have USB inputs for connecting peripherals such as mouse, keyboard, external hard drive.
Some computers also have what is known as FIREWIRE (IEEE 1394). Fire wire is much faster than USB and is the standard connection used when transferring your digital video to your computers hard drive. This is called “Video Capture”
You will need FIREWIRE connectivity in order to capture your video from your video camera.
Most video cameras have a 4 pin connection and most computers have an 6 pin connection. This means you will need a 4pin to 6 pin firewire cable in order to connect your camera to your computer.
Once you have connected them and switched them both on, they should communicate automatically and you can start capturing your video onto your computer.
This requires A LOT of space on your hard drive. How much depends on the format and resolution of the source video. Capturing takes anywhere between 3 and 10MB per second. That’s up to 600 MB per minute and 36BG per hour of captured video.
You will also need a similar amount of free space for editing, so it would be useful to have at least 50GB of HD space before you get started.
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| Basic Editing |
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| Once you have captured your video on your hard drive as an “mpeg” or an “AVI” file or other, you can import the clips to your clips bin or clip pane. |
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| Clips Bin: |
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| The outlined box is a “clip” that you have captured from your camera or copied from your Hard Drive. Clips are what you place in the sequencing timeline below for editing. |
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| Transitions: |
| You can add effects and transitions between clips by simply dragging and dropping them in between clips on the timeline. |
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| Audio: |
Most cameras automatically capture Audio through an inbuilt microphone.
The volume of your audio can be manipulated on your video clips in the timeline. Sometimes the Audio will get too loud or soft in a section, so you will have to adjust it on that section of the timeline.
You can also drag music into the track below your video on the timeline. Be sure to use copyright free music. That means none of your CDs will be useable. You should either download copyright free music from a website or create your own.
It is not necessary to have a music soundtrack to your video. It is entirely up to you. |
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| Exporting: |
When you have finished editing your video, you will have to “export”. This basically compiles all your edited work into one neat, viewable file in the form of an mpeg or avi file. |
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| DVD |
If you like, you can Author your own DVD with title, chapter and submenus using iDVD (or similar on the pc). That way, you can watch your production on a big screen tv using a DVD player.
Otherwise, you can simply burn the exported file to a CD or DVD for use on a computer.
Some DVD players can run CDs or DVDs are able to run mpeg and avi files.
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