12-03-2007, 10:25 AM

I noticed that the new Final Cut Express and Pro (maybe iMovie '08, I can not remember) had the ability to import and edit HD content. I am also seeing a bunch of new HD video cameras out there with at least some of them in an attainable price range. My question is, say I buy one a these new HD video cameras and I record my kids birthday party in HD. I then buy Final Cut Express (or iMovie '08 if HD editing is available in that) and I import my video and and I edit it. Now what??? My Mac Book Pro does not have a HD-DVD or Blue-Ray burner so what good it this? I guess my question is how do I get my new HD Video content onto my HD television in the living room?

Thanks,
Richard

12-03-2007, 10:29 AM

Well it looks as though someone else beat me to the question by 3 minutes. But the response he got did not answer my question. What is the sense in getting an HD camera, importing it to my Mac, Cutting together a small home movie, if I can not then play it on my HD TV in the living room. There must be something I am missing?

12-05-2007, 01:36 AM

You do it just to say you shot and edited it in HD. Then you burn a DVD and then record that to a VHS tape (in EP mode) and dub that down a few generations, just for fun.

I agree with you, though. Not much of a reason to shoot and edit in HD if you can't present in HD. It may make for some slightly better looking standard definition DVDs, but certainly not worth the $$$ just for such a minor improvement. I guess you could always record the finished product back to your camcorder tape and hook it up to your HDTV. Not exactly practical, but one of only a few options currently available.

12-05-2007, 08:58 AM

Thanks Joe, the idea of hooking it back up to the HD Camera and recording it back to tape and then hooking the camera to my HDTV seems to really be the only workable solutions at this time. If I get an HD Camera it probably won't be for 6 months so maybe things will change, if not I suppose playing it through the camera is not to bad and really at this point at most of my family does not have HDTV so the play back would mostly be for me at HD levels and maybe I could burn normal DVD's at the lower resolutions for family. Thanks for the input.

12-10-2007, 08:51 AM

There is more to it than that. Allow me to explain. For decades, 35mm film was the medium of choice, because it was the only option for filming. But even after video came out, film and t.v. producers still shot on film. Now, im not sure about other people on this forum, but i dont have a 35mm projector in my living room. So why do/did they shoot on film? Quality! Film had a resolution unmatched by any other medium, and that high quality carried over, even after the footage was downgraded to standard dvd or t.v. broadcast quality. Now, in our new age of technology, HD video is beginnin to replace film as the medium of choice (but hopefully never replacing it completely.) The same concept applies to HD. Even when you downconvert to SD, the picture quality remains.

There is another reason for shooting HD video today: Future-proofing. In 2009, broadcast television will switch to a completely digital signal, with a majority of the content being HD. Video producers want to know that their product will not become useless in 5 years, so they shoot in HD now. The same goes for home videos. 10 years from now, their will be no SD t.v.s left, and the footage of your child's birth or first steps should be as useable then as it does now.

I hope this clears things up for you, and makes your decision about a new video camera easier.

dylan

12-10-2007, 09:30 AM

Thanks Dylan. I am definitely leaning towards getting an HD video recorder in the next 6 months. And your reasons make sense. I guess at this point though there is no way to share HD content unless I record my edited HD content back to the camera and then hook that up to HD TV, or my friends and family's HD tv's (if they have one).

12-11-2007, 08:40 PM

I agree with the future proofing, but I don't think DVDs made from HD sources will look too much better when consumer HD cameras are being used (which barely even quality as "HD" in my opinion). I imagine all HDTVs in the next decade will automatically upscale SD footage like the TVs now do.

And lots and lots and lots of TV shows were shot on video, especially sitcoms.