Setting up basic DV Home Studio.
DV Cameras are becoming more common than the 8mm and VHS-C formats. It is quite simple to setup a DV based home studio. The things needed for a home studio are :
1. DV Camera
2. Decently powered home computer
3. A Firewire port in the Computer
4. DV Editing software
5. DVD Writer / CD Writer + Burning software
DV Camera:
Most DV Cameras comes bundled with necessary firewire cable and basic video transfer software. If not, you can download some freeware or shareware video editors. Avid offers Avid FreeDV a 2 track-video editor for home users. It is absolutely free and easy to use. Those who are affordable can buy ULead's Video Studio which is wallet-friendly and offers industry standard toolsets.
Firewire cables : These cables comes in different socket types. The generic sockets are 6 pin based. Some DV Camera manufacturers bundle 4 pin based scokets. Ensure these cables connectors are free from dust and properly maintained.
Computer:
I will be more generic here and not too specific. Typically, a DV editor needs good computing power to handle the Digital Video. So make sure your computer has a processor like Intel's Pentium 4 or AMD's Athlon or Sempron. Celerons are not recommended for DV editing. Though they can handle normal editing works, they are not strong to handle advanced editing.
The amount of memory (RAM) is another important factor which can improve the performance. If you have 256MB RAM, it is quite enough. Add another 256 MB RAM and you can see the diffference. Using 128 or less memory is not recommended.
Firewire Port:
This is the place where you will plug in the DV cable from the camcorder. If your computer does not have a firewire port, then you can plugin a Firewire card (Rs.750 or US$30) and enable firewire access. This is similar to USB ports, but specifically meant for multimedia applications. You cannot plugin your USB devices in this port.
DV Editing Software:
There are lots of DV editing software available ranging in price and features. If you are not a serious video editor but need some basic functionalities, you can try Avid's FreeDV. It can edit DV in two tracks, add audio tracks and compile everything back to DV. The limitation is you cannot convert it to DVD format instantly. But you can transfer the compiled DV back to the camera or DV recorder.
If you want to create movies or home video out of your camera footage, you need to go for a better video editor. Ulead has a economical pack, Ulead Video Studio offering basic Video editing features and DVD authoring features. Using this pack you can capture your DV, edit, add music, add efffects and finally create a DVD to watch in your home theatre. Pinnacle offers Studio One, which is more user-friendly. It is upto you to select the software.
DVD / CD Writer:
You may need a DVD writer if you are planning to make a DVD out of your camera footage. DVD Writers are quite cheap today. So you can buy and install a good DVD Writer from SONY or PIONEER and burn your own movies into DVDs. Burning software is usually bundled with the DVD writer. So you dont need to obtain any other additional software.
Optional:
You may need to have some music or sound clips to add some professional touch to your movies. You can download some free music clips or buy some music clips from professional artists.
Thats it!
Tips :
- To capture an hour of DV Video, you need 2GB of hard disk space. So make sure you have enough space before starting the works.
- Use Windows 2000 or Windows XP or Mac OS X (if you are using Mac) as they offer better stability and large file support.
- Install a seperate sound card like Creative Soundblaster Live! or Hercules MuseXL. These cards will remove the computing overhead for audio handling, from the computer's processor.
- Use good quality cables and Firewire add-on cards as you are investing a good amount of money in your home studio.
|
