Camera for iMovie???

Piccolo549 · #1 05-27-2011, 04:41 AM

Hey guys, I looking to upgrade from using my built in mac-sight to a camcorder to do recordings of drum covers in iMovie. I know i need to have one with a firewire connection.

Anyone out there use iMovie to do recordings, if so what camera do you use. I'm trying not to spend more than $200.

Brundlefly · #2 05-27-2011, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piccolo549

Hey guys, I looking to upgrade from using my built in mac-sight to a camcorder to do recordings of drum covers in iMovie. I know i need to have one with a firewire connection.

Anyone out there use iMovie to do recordings, if so what camera do you use. I'm trying not to spend more than $200.

iPhone 4. No, seriously.

Bo Eder · #3 02-22-2012, 07:57 AM

All of my videos were made with the Kodak Zi8 flash camcorder and I import it into iMovie for YouTube upload. However, the video straight out of the camera looks great. But something happens to it as I mangle it up in iMovie, because by the time it gets to YouTube it doesn't look as sharp. I think it may be a converter issue within the iMovie software. I may have to upgrade to Final Cut or something like that but I really don't want to have to learn how to use another program at this time.

I may invest in a better camera one day and also the software but in my last video of my Sonor Bop kit, I finally added those $35 work lights you can get at Home Depot and that made a big difference in the look of the video. Once I can get clear video out of the computer I'm sure it'll look even better!

ankaka · #4 04-24-2012, 05:38 AM

I really like my Canon 550D. It's called the Canon Rebel T2i in the US. It has an 18 mega pixel sensor and takes great photos. It also has 1080 HD video, with a choice of frame rates. The video quality is superb, it looks great on my high definition TV. There's a new Canon 600D/Rebel T3i coming soon, with a rear screen that rotates.

Tyger · #5 04-24-2012, 05:50 AM

save a bit more and get a Zoom q3hd, great audio and good video for youtube stuff.
search youtube you'll find tons of drum covers done with it.

*edit* crap just saw...old thread! hahaha

Bo Eder · #6 04-24-2012, 09:03 AM

I have an update from my previous statement below.

I discovered that when working in iMovie for uploading to YouTube, you have to set up YouTube in a way to take advantage of the video data you're working on in iMovie. Go to the Help section in YouTube, and if you're working in iMovie, YouTube tells you of the correct settings you need to upload nice clear video. Once you set up these parameters, your video will look good on YouTube. Of course, uploading anything takes alot of time, so be prepared to wait when you start an upload, but this has further proven to me that the camera doesn't really matter, just so long as it's an HD camcorder of some kind.

I'm so happy I discovered this - I kept thinking I was doing something wrong and that I needed to upgrade to FinalCut or get a better camcorder....imagine my glee when discovering that was not necessary ;)

GRUNTERSDAD · #7 04-24-2012, 03:04 PM

Thanks for the tip Bo. Now tell me why it took over two hours to upload 5 x one minute movies to Youtube last night. Got home from a clinic and it took forever.

keep it simple · #8 04-24-2012, 03:12 PM

I'm uploading a 7.5 minute clip that I processed in iMovie right now. Estimated time = 3.5 hours --- ACK! I dumbed it down from 1080p to 720 too, so lord knows what a 1080p clip of that length would take. Ok, I live in the middle of nowhere, but even so, that upload time sucks :(

Bo Eder · #9 04-24-2012, 03:29 PM

Long ago someone td me the Internet is for downloading. Not really for going the other way and I just kinda accepted this truth. But yeah, my last couple of really clear videos did take up to some 60 minutes of upload time. I'm wondering if this is a Mac-iMovie thing or if everybody else suffers from this as well. Any of our Windows compatriots care to comment?

GRUNTERSDAD · #10 04-24-2012, 03:47 PM

This was from my Mac but were movies taken with a small point and shoot Casio. I guess I'll live with it. Thanks Bo

Tyger · #11 04-24-2012, 06:42 PM

upload speeds are always slower, the higher the resolution the longer it will take obviously. You can further compress the video but that sort of defeats the purpose of HD video. I find with good lighting and a decent video camera 480p can turn out pretty good.

One thing you can do is connect via internet via ethernet cable instead of wifi, that helps out a little.

Bo Eder · #12 04-24-2012, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyger

upload speeds are always slower, the higher the resolution the longer it will take obviously. You can further compress the video but that sort of defeats the purpose of HD video. I find with good lighting and a decent video camera 480p can turn out pretty good.

One thing you can do is connect via internet via ethernet cable instead of wifi, that helps out a little.

Oh yeah, I'm on a desktop directly plugged into my DSL modem, so I can't go any faster unless I pay more, eh?

keep it simple · #13 04-24-2012, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo Eder

Oh yeah, I'm on a desktop directly plugged into my DSL modem, so I can't go any faster unless I pay more, eh?

Whew, it uploaded without any super annoying interruptions. The dreaded 99% - upload failed was avoided. I hope you guys appreciate the pain I go through ;)

Tyger · #14 04-25-2012, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bo Eder

Oh yeah, I'm on a desktop directly plugged into my DSL modem, so I can't go any faster unless I pay more, eh?

Pretty much...however!!! :)

Check out this software, it's free for windows and mac.
http://www.squared5.com/

Basically it takes you file and compresses it more with very little quality loss. For example I had an old video of my son that was about a 40mb file at 640 x 480, I used the software and got it down to 6.9mb. The video is only 51seconds but you get my point :)

Here's a youtube vid on how it works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub15u...feature=colike