I am wanting to film a table top instructional DVD on my own. The main
thing I need to know is how to edit and author the video to DVD. I
filmed a short sample and brought the video into my computer through a
Dazzle DV bridge and authored it to DVD with the Dazzle software. The
output was grainy and pretty poor quality. I want to know what the
professionals use. I don't want to deal with the small editing
software titles that are out there. I would like to know if the
professionals use a hardware device to edit or if they use a software
solution. To make a long story short here is what I need:

1. A thourough explanation of what professional videographers use. I'm
not looking to go Hollywood pricing here, but what a good local
videographer might use.
2. A recommendation of professional digital video camera to purchase
with lapel microphone input. Again, not Hollywood style, just a very
good DV camera with external mic input. Preferably not Mini DV. I'm
willing to pay as much as $1500.
3. A recommendation of professional video editing equipment. Software
or hardware that professional videographers use to edit the video with
transition effects and royalty free sound tracks. The equipment needs
to be able to author to DVD.

I already have a Windows 2000 machine with 1GB of RAM and a AMD Athlon
XP 2500+ processor. I need to know if this is sufficient to run the
recommended software or hardware.

---

Request for Question Clarification by larre-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:13 PST

One quick clarification... 

You've said, "...just a very good DV camera with external mic input.
Preferably not Mini DV."

Could you briefly explain the reasons why you don't wish to use a
camera with MiniDVD format, so that I can recommend the most
appropriate alternative choice?

Thanks,  ---larre

---

Request for Question Clarification by larre-ga on 12 Mar 2004 12:33 PST

Oops... miniDV -- my typing fingers are clumsy today. I'm asking
because most -new- DV cameras are pretty far beyond the price range
you've stated. The semi-pro or dedicated amateur camcorders that are
available for $1,500 and less all utilize the MiniDV, or the even less
desirable Digital8 format. I don't think its prudent to recommend
pre-owned DV format equipment, over newer products with broadcast
quality CCD 3 Chip technology coupled with the MiniDV format. The
format is not as critical to image quality so much as the CCD 3 Chip
technology and optics.

---l

Hi bigbruiser-ga, 

As a professional editor I feel fairly well-placed to answer this for you.

1) The Software
There are basically two products on the market I will look at when it
comes to professional video - they are Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid
Xpress Pro.

Let's outline the players ? Avid has a long history with non-linear
(desktop) editing, or at least about as long as can be expected for
what is a relatively new area. Avid has been the leader in NLE editing
for at least 10 year, and is still the most widely used system in
post-production overall, including big budget Hollywood films, to
wedding videos. Avid offers a range of products for different markets,
and has been pushing it DV-based Xpress products to lower-budget
markets in the last 3-5 years.

Apple is a something of a newcomer to the NLE market, but made a huge
splash with it's Final Cut Pro software a few years ago. It has be
very widely adopted by independent DV-film makers, but also packs
quite a punch for more demanding users when extended with additional
hardware and software. Apple has taken bigger steps in desktop video
in the past few years than any other company has in the same amount of
time, and now is considered a very real contender by many people.

As an editor I have experience with both Avid and FCP, I have cut a
DV-based feature film on Final Cut, and many hours of television
content on Avid systems. They are different beasts. For straight-out
editing, in speed and efficiency, I choose Avid. I can cut faster on
Avid than any other system, however recent improvement in FCP have
improved it's usability greatly so this could change.

However FCP has it over Avid Xpress Pro in one respect, it has
somewhat more flexibility in effects editing. Avid has some powerful
effects, especially the newer versions, however they can be a little
cumbersome at times, and some things are just not possible without
external plugins. FCP also can't do everything itself, and many
plugins are available, but it does have the edge on Avid a little in
effects. It has a slightly larger range, I think, and can be easier to
work with when it comes to complex effects.

Either of these applications are ideally suited to a lower end
professional videographer, or production company. Both are widely
used, well supported and of very high quality. One advantage of the
Avid is that learning to cut on a Avid will enable you to operate any
Avid (all the way up to the film editing systems) with little
retraining. Final Cut Pro, while popular is still less utilised in
many higher-end areas, and reskilling from FCP to Avid can be a little
daunting for some people.

Avid Xpress Pro:
http://www.avid.com/products/xpresspro/index.asp

Apple Final Cut Pro:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/



2) The Camera
I also have a reasonable background in camera work... The DV cameras
your price-range all use MiniDV cassettes, however some record DVCAM
on those cassettes.

However, you should know that there is no difference visually between
DVCAM (Sony's professional DV), DVCPRO (Panasonic's professional DV)
and MiniDV ? they all record video with exactly the same compression
and bit rate. Visually the lense and CCD quality will have the most
impact on the quality of your recording.

When it comes to audio, MiniDV is normally 12bit 32kHz recording, and
DVCAM and DVCPRO are normally 16bit 48kHz audio. However, most if not
all miniDV cameras are switchable to the higher quality.

MiniDV does not record timecode to every frame of video, it records it
less often, and calculates the frame numbers in between. This can
result in cueing problems when capturing, and possibly in inaccurate
timecodes in captured footage, but in reality that is very rarely a
problem. Certainly not one I have ever encountered.

DVCAM runs the tape faster and makes wider tracks on the tape. This
makes a DVCAM recording more resilient to faults that a MiniDV
recording. That and the timecode are the main advantages in DVCAM over
MiniDV.

Now, the camera choices ? there are a few popular models in this sort of range:

Sony DSR-PD170 ? RRP US$3,940
http://bssc.sel.sony.com/Professional/webapp/ModelInfo?m=0&sm=0&p=2&sp=11&id=71949

Panasonic AG-DVX100A ? RRP US$3,995
http://www.panasonic.com/pbds/subcat/products/cams_ccorders/f_ag-dvx100a.html

Canon XL1S ? Around US $4,700 (excluding current $500 rebate offer)
http://www.canondv.com/xl1s/xl1s_flash.html

Canon GL2 ? Around US $3,000 (excluding current $250 rebate offer)
http://www.canondv.com/gl2/gl2_flash.html


These are all good cameras, and all outside your price-range, but they
are often available second-hand and are the best bang for their
respective bucks, really.

So, the PD170 to start ? it follows the PD150, a VERY popular DVCAM
handycam from Sony. It has a good lens and can be fully manual. It
features professional balanced audio inputs and records in DVCAM or
MiniDV formats on MiniDV cassettes. The 150 is widely available second
hand, and the 170 is starting to show up second hand too.

The DVX100 is very popular with the indie film set. This is mainly
because it can shoot 24P (24-frame progressive scan) and as a
Film-gamma setting. These two things together produce a 'film look'
that people seem to love. This camera also features balanced audio,
can operate fully manual and has a good quality lense. However, it
only records MiniDV.

The XL1S is the only camera of this type to feature a interchangable
lense. Also it is the only one with a side-mounted viewfinder, which
when combined with an optional mount makes it possible to rest it on
your right shoulder like a larger TV camera. However, it is the only
one in the bunch not to feature a fold-out LCD screen. Also, it does
not have balanced audio inputs ? although it can be easily adapted
with a fairly simple cable. This camera also only records in MiniDV
standard.

The GL2 resembles the PD170 and DVX100, and offers very similar
features. Like the XL1S it has no balanced inputs, nor does it have
easily adaptable RCA inputs. It has similar manual settings, to the
others. It can also only record MiniDV.

My personal pick is the PD170, for the fact it record DVCAM and has
professional audio. I also like the lense quality that comes with the
XL1S.

However seeing as these are out of your price range, what else is
where? It will be MiniDV for under $1500, however with a good camera,
MiniDV will be fine. For the best image quality, 3 CCDs is a big step.
It results it is a much better picture.

Sony DCR-TRV950 ? RRP $US1,995

This is Sony's only 3CCD consumer camera. It has a 3CCD sensor, a
fairly high-quality lense. However it lacks professional audio inputs
(it is a handycam) and it lacks the fine level of manual control of
the prosumer cameras above.


Panasonic PV-DV953 ? RRP $US1,495
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelDetail?displayTab=F&storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=63124&catGroupId=11303&modelNo=PV-DV953&surfModel=PV-DV953

Panasonic have four current 3CCD models, of which this is the top of
the line. It has a good quality lense. It has a reasonable level of
manual control. No professional audio.

For Panasonic's other 3CCD cameras, look here:
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ModelListByAttribute?storeId=11251&catalogId=11005&itemId=63188&catGroupId=11303&attributeId=50113


These are probably the best bet with your price range.

For the external Mic input, for those cameras not featuring
professional audio inputs, you can purchase interface hardware from
companies like Beachtek:
http://www.beachtek.com/


3) Editing Equipment

This will depend on what software you choose. If you went for Avid
Xpress Pro, your current computer would be capable of running it. It
would need a firewire card if it doesn't have one. And also need
Windows XP to run Xpress Pro. Also, unless it is from a specific
manufacturer it would not be 'certified' to run Avid, but that doesn't
mean it won't it just means you will have trouble getting technical
support from Avid if it doesn't.

For Final Cut Pro, you would need a Mac. Specifically a PowerMac G4 or
G5 running MacOS X. A higher-spec G4 is preferred.

For any professional editing system, a dual-head monitor setup is
almost vital. It's important to have matching monitors, so if you were
to upgrade your current PC, it would be worth getting rid of your
current monitor and buying two matched ones, or if you have quite a
new monitor, getting another of the same model. For the Mac, you
should stipulate dual monitors when purchasing, if you were to go that
way.

Royalty-free music is a different issue. It can be purchased from
libraries such as:
Sound Dogs ? www.sounddogs.com
Megatrax ? www.megatrax.com
Videohelper ? www.videohelper.com
...and many others. There are various purchasing and usage
arrangements you can enter into, depending on usage.

If you are feeling a little musical, there are a few programs that
make creating music fairly simple:
Apple Soundtrack ? A pretty cool application purpose designed for scoring video.
http://www.apple.com/soundtrack/

Rebirth ? A tracker, designed for making loops and somewhat suited to
dance-type music.
http://www.propellerheads.se/products/rebirth/

ACID ? Another tracker-type program, with a little more range than rebirth.
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=704

For DVD authoring, there are a number of options too. The leading
products are, probably:

Adobe Encore
http://www.adobe.com/products/encore/main.html
Encore is quite powerful, and very well featured software. It allows
for very flexible DVD design in a fairly straight forward manner.

Sonic Scenarist
http://www.sonic.com/products/scenarist/default.asp
Scenarist is probably the most powerful DVD design software around,
and is more-or-less the standard for professional DVD creation. It can
be quite complicated to pickup, but offers a lot of power over the end
product.

Apple DVD Studio Pro
http://www.apple.com/dvdstudiopro/
DVD Studio is also very popular, and like Final Cut Pro has come from
no-where to be a fairly major player. It offers a powerful, and quite
simple interface to DVD creation.





This answer doesn't really provide the exact answers for you, but
hopefully narrows the field a little.  For more information, reviews
and comments, check out the following sites:
http://www.computervideo.net/
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/
http://www.uemedia.com/CPC/2-pop/
http://www.dvdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi
http://www.uemedia.com/CPC/videography/
http://www.digitalvideoediting.com/
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/

Also, for a range of price comparisons and personal opinions, try:
http://www.epinions.com/


I hope this helps, and please let me know if my answer needs clarification.

Regards,
Sycophant-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by bigbruiser-ga on 15 Mar 2004 07:29 PST

Thanks! Excellent answer! I only have a couple of points that need clarification. 

1. Should I use a separate program for editing and authoring as you
have suggested? Is there a benefit from doing the two actions
separately? Is there an Avid quality software title out there that
integrates the two functions?

2. I am not interested in MiniDV because of the short amount of record
time. Are DVCAM and DVCPRO the only other types of DV out there? Do
other companies besides Sony and Panasonic make their own DV tapes? Do
other brand cameras use the DVCAM and DVCPRO tapes?

Thanks again for your help!

---

Clarification of Answer by sycophant-ga on 15 Mar 2004 20:59 PST

Hi, 

Glad you found my answer helpful, to clarify your other questions...

No, there are no professional quality applications I am aware of that
will provide comprehensive editing and DVD authoring features. The
workflows and concepts of both are too different.

However, Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro, are both Apple programs and
interoperate well. I do not believe Avid interoperates with any
specific applications as such, but taking a finished project from Avid
into any DVD authoring software is very straight-forward.

As for the tape-length of DV formats...

DVCAM and DVCPRO are both available in longer variants, up to three
hours roughly. However, the size of those cassettes makes them
unavailable to the handycam models. They can be used in larger cameras
such as those used in electronic news gathering, but those cameras are
generally not available for less than US$20,000.

As a format, DV actually offers quite lengthy record times - up to 60
minutes in MiniDV (DV SP) and 40 minutes in DVCAM mode. DV LP or Long
Play (which doubles the maximum record time) is to be avoided at all
costs, the slow tape speed combined with the fine track width and
small tape significantly increases the risk of serious video errors.
The 40-60 minutes of DV tapes tapes stands up well to other formats
used professionally such as BetacamSP, Digital Betacam and BetacamSX
all this tape durations of closer to 30 minutes for cameras. The only
formats that will offer significantly longer record times are VHS/SVHS
with up to 4 hours on a full-size casette, and Video8/Hi8 with up to
120 minutes on a casette. The lack of digital support for these
formats rules them out, as well as quality issues and availabilty
(it's hard finding VHS camcorders these days).

There are disk-based camera technologies becoming availabe in the
professional and domestic markets, but they are largely still in
development, and may present a whole new range of technical problems
at this stage.

Regards,
Sycophant-ga