Video Newbie - off topic

[V Mad]

I just bought a JVC Everio camcorder, and I found it really easy to use to shoot pictures, but when I came to download to PC I realised how much more there is to it than still cameras. My PC would not handle it automatically and when I looked in the files I could not work out what was what. There were TOD and MOD files, but nothing recognisable. So I spent the last hour reading about all the different file formats and what you can or cant do with them. I seems that JVC use TOD and MOD as their own file extensions but they are actually MPEG, MPG or MP2 types or something like that, which I have heard of. I will need to edit the files later to make some videos for upload to youtube. I have previosly played around with Windows Movie Maker and edited video clips from my camera, but I dont know if I will be able to do that for the camcorder.

My head is now buzzing and I dont think I will sleep much tonight. Is anyone else into amateur video? Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

[redstag]

Is anyone else into amateur video?

Try Googling it - I think you may find it quite popular

Pete

[V Mad]

Try Googling it - I think you may find it quite popular

Pete

Ah, I see what you mean Pete. It wasn't what I had in mind, but now you mentioned it...................

[GDPR]

I have an Everio. Some say right click the file, and rename it .mpg and it'll work but it hasn't for me. The disc that came with the camera helps, but I have used Allok video converter to make it an avi, or Nero Recode to convert to MP4....

[RogerP]

There is a free download called handbrake that converts some extensons.

Roger

[Tdm]

[QUOTE=V Mad;212507]
My head is now buzzing and I dont think I will sleep much tonight. Is anyone else into amateur video? Have I bitten off more than I can chew?[/QUOTE]

Chris - I do a fair bit of video creation & editing (as an amateur), and have just created a DVD of my recent trip to the other side of the World which is a mix of still images (from a Canon Digital SLR camera), video clips and still images (from a Sony Handycam), and music tracks from my collection of music on cassette tape and CD.

To create a DVD to play back on a widescren TV via a DVD player minus any black lines (ie. full 16 X 9 format) I go through 6 stages as follows :-

Stage 1 - Import camera images into "Picasa3" on my PC and use the convert to video option.
Stage 2 - Import video clips & images from Handycam using the "Import" Sony software that came with the camcorder.
Stage 3 - Do some "basic" editing (simple trimming) of the video clips using Sony's "Picture Motion Browser" software that also came with the
camcorder.
Stage 4 - Use "AVSVideoEditor" to import all of the above and add transitions and text etc. ("Windows MovieMaker" is too limited
in what it does).
Stage 5 - Use Windows Media Player to "Rip" the music tracks I want to add to my video, and then use "GoldWave" Audio Editing
software to trim it etc.
Stage 6 - Use "AVSVideoEditor" again to import the music tracks and place them where I want them on the video, sometimes "mixing"
the video soundtrack with the music soundtrack.

All the above software is free except for the "AVS" Video Editing software, and the "GoldWave" Audio Editing software, but you can try them both out "free" before purchasing. AVSVideoEditor is not the most "User Friendly" Video Editor, but I am used to it by now, although there are loads of others in the Market Place.
You don't necessary need any Audio Editing software, unless you want to "trim" (ie. change start & end points) on a music track,
or do something clever, and again there are lots of Audio Editors on the Market - some free. Go to CNET Download.com & type in Video Editors or Audio Editors to see everything available that you can download.

By the way Google's free "Picasa3" has an option to upload directly to You Tube.
If your TV is connected to your Hi-Fi system, then you will get much better sound playing your DVD back through the TV and using your Hi-Fi speakers instead of the TV speakers.

Don't know if the above helps or further confuses you.

[V Mad]

"Don't know if the above helps or further confuses you."

Thanks for the 'enthusiastic' reply Terry. The feeling I get is that there are many options and pathways to go down, and I that there may be many blind alleys. But I guess there are no short cuts or quick answers.

As a start point, I have a camcorder that, like many similar makes produces a fle format (AVCHD) that is not directly readable by some of the popular media players such as Windows Media Player although there is a codec available to make this possible. But I think Quicktime can do this so I might change to that.

AVCHD seems to conform to MPEG-4 which is compatible with Youtube and apparently the best format anyway, so maybe for the time ebing I will not convert files, and instead look for better tools which can work with MP4.

Do you know if AVSVideoEditor can work with AVCH/MP4? (apparently AVCHD use the H264 codec).

[Tdm]

"Don't know if the above helps or further confuses you."

Do you know if AVSVideoEditor can work with AVCH/MP4? (apparently AVCHD use the H264 codec).

Chris - Google "AVS4You" and you will see AVS Editor listed with a comprehensive list of formats supported if you click on more details
Like I said - it takes some getting used to, but that is because it offers a lot more facilities than some of the more basic editors such as Windows Movie Maker.
I have just had an email from them saying there is a new release due in a few days, I am currently using AVS Editor version 6.3.
Regards