How to convert analog video to digital

filmguy · August 2nd, 2009, 09:22

Just a heads up before you buy a new camera. While you can get a digital camcorder for a few hundred dollars at your local best buy, you need to do some research abut what kind of video quality you want.

You're going to shoot L&C videos? If you want it to be professional quality, you're going to have to spend a lot more for a camera, as a little consumer cam ("one chip") is great for home videos, but not so great for making videos you intend to sell. Nothing irritates me more than paying for a clips4sale clip only to realize it's basically shot on a cellphone. A good professional camera (Cannon XL) will run at least 6 grand for HD, and around 3 grand for SD (Cannon GL2). In comparison, an HD consumer camera will be around a grand, but the difference is noticeable.

The most important thing you need to know, regardless of camera, is that video takes a TON of space. You WILL need to buy at least a 500gig external harddrive to store the footage you digitized. That'll allow you to edit it (if you have the software for that), make clips, etc.

Stuff like this takes a LOT of capital to start off. I think a reason so many of these companies fail is because they fail to comprehend how much work and money goes in to shooting, digitizing and editing decent quality video.

August 2nd, 2009, 09:22	#4
filmguy STANDARD Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 73 : 0 For This Post 61 Total	Just a heads up before you buy a new camera. While you can get a digital camcorder for a few hundred dollars at your local best buy, you need to do some research abut what kind of video quality you want. You're going to shoot L&C videos? If you want it to be professional quality, you're going to have to spend a lot more for a camera, as a little consumer cam ("one chip") is great for home videos, but not so great for making videos you intend to sell. Nothing irritates me more than paying for a clips4sale clip only to realize it's basically shot on a cellphone. A good professional camera (Cannon XL) will run at least 6 grand for HD, and around 3 grand for SD (Cannon GL2). In comparison, an HD consumer camera will be around a grand, but the difference is noticeable. The most important thing you need to know, regardless of camera, is that video takes a TON of space. You WILL need to buy at least a 500gig external harddrive to store the footage you digitized. That'll allow you to edit it (if you have the software for that), make clips, etc. Stuff like this takes a LOT of capital to start off. I think a reason so many of these companies fail is because they fail to comprehend how much work and money goes in to shooting, digitizing and editing decent quality video.