Tips for Shooting Video in the Snow

"Everytime I record videos of my dog playing in the snow, they come out looking washed out. What can I do to make my snow videos look better?"

Shooting movies of your pets outdoors, making nature videos, shooting outdoor sporting events, and shooting scenic movies all require special attention to the details, but one of the most challenging outdoor moments is shooting video in the snow. Here are a few tips (followed by a YouTube video from Videomaker magazine) to make shooting video in the snow a little easier. Follow the steps here and I guarantee your dog videos will look better.

Capture HDV Direct to Hard Drive

"I don't like spending time capturing high definition video from tapes I record with my Canon HV20, but I also don't like the video quality I get from hard disk camcorders. Can I bypass the tapes in my Canon HV20 and record direct to my hard drive?"

Any camcorder with a FireWire connection can be used to capture directly to a PC hard drive, as long as you have software that supports capture. As you point out, this is a great way to save a step and avoid capturing video from tape after you record. In some cases, this is also a good way to reduce noise your recorded audio, because you won't get bleed over from the tape mechanism.

Some of the commercial video editing apps, like Sony Vegas and Pinnacle Studio, offer support for this type of capture, others require you to do the capture using some other tool. If you primarily use Roxio Easy Media Creator or Windows Movie Maker to edit your videos, you'll want to follow the steps here for capturing and editing your video. As a side note, if you are currently using a hard disk camcorder, this particular capture method will not work.

Editing DVD Camcorder Movies with Easy Media Creator

Chris writes, "I have a Sony DCR DVD403. I purchased the camcorder with the understanding that video editing was, to say the least, more difficult that most other forms of media. At the time, however, video editing was a non-issue. Shooting footage of my new baby girl was priority and being able to pop the DVD out and take it to the grandparents superseded any need for video editing capabilities.

Now, however I wish to edit the content of some of the DVD(s). Tell me as much as you will. Is this possible, what's the best program, best connection type for the camcorder, etc. At this point, I can't even get the DVD content to my PC because "Picture Package" is the only program I have that came with the camcorder and it seems to be relatively useless, but it might just be me. Any help would be appreciated."

I've lamented the lousy experience in editing DVD camcorder movies for almost as long as the format has existed. Using the Windows XP version of Windows Movie Maker requires a third-party MPEG-2 decoder and lots of luck. Copying the video files from the camcorder DVD to your hard drive and re-naming the file works with several applications. But all of this requires too much guesswork to be efficient. Roxio Easy Media Creator finally provides the best solution I've seen so far.

Editing Sony AVCHD Files in Pinnacle Studio

Steve writes, "I have recently purchased a Sony HDR-SR8E with USB2 input/output. I have just purchased Pinnacle Studio v11 Plus (Ultimate). I cannot get Pinnacle to see the camcorder as a capture device, nor will it import the m2ts files generated by the camcorder. Any advice on how to resolve this so that I can maintain the 1080i (AVCHD) output would be appreciated."

It seems that some of the AVCHD files are more compatible than others with various video editing applications. After struggling with this new format for months, most of the kinks are worked out, but there are still steps you can take to get better results. One method I've found to be almost fool-proof is to take the Sony software that ships with these camcorders out of the mix completely.

Flip Video Camera

If you're in the market for an ultra-portable, highly affordable camcorder, the Flip Video and slightly improved Flip Video Ultra may be two of the best choices you can make. I was highly skeptical about the Flip even after reading rave reviews in places like the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. You can't possibly shoot decent looking video for under $150; at least that's what I thought.

At just thicker than an iPod, the Flip easily fits in your pocket meaning you have no excuse to not take it with you. The $120-$150 price makes it not the end of the world if you ever drop or lose your Flip. And for that price, the Flip shoots video I'd put up against any of the DVD camcorders on the market and some of the low-end MiniDV camcorders. I'm not about to replace my Canon HV20 (or a Canon GL2) with the Flip, but for many situations, it's the perfect camcorder for catching impromptu moments.

The people that designed the Flip have the novice in mind, integrating a USB connector right into the camera body and including rudimentary editing software on the camera's internal drive. You can even upload straight to YouTube without ever using other software. TV Out right from the camera over composite makes it easy to connect to the closest screen to show off your footage. The Flip Video cameras use 2 AA batteries for power, with approximately 2 hours of life for standard AA batteries and up to 5 hours using the lithium AA batteries.

As with anything at the low end of the price spectrum, there are a few tradeoffs: no optical image stabilization and no optical zoom are two missing pieces; the microphone isn't the best at filtering out noise; there's no tripod mount on the original Flip Video (the Ultra has one). There is a 2x digital zoom, but quality deteriorates fast. Still, if you recognize these limitations in advance and want a camcorder that you're not afraid to take anywhere, you won't go wrong using the Flip.

You can see some sample footage online. If editing with the onboard software is too limiting, most other video editing apps also work, including Windows Movie Maker.

Capture HDV on PC

"I unintentionally recorded in HDV mode on my Canon XH-A1 on DV tapes (instead of DV) and now cannot transfer the videos into any software I have. Is there a way of overriding the software? If not, which program will accept the HDV."

Most of the HDV footage I've seen from the XH-A1 looks amazing, so hopefully you'll be pleasantly pleased with your unintentional results. If you recorded in HDV mode then what's on your tape is HDV, not DV (the tape doesn't matter, the HDV and MiniDV tapes are the same with different packaging). HDV is reasonably mature as a format, with widespread support from most of the major video editing packages. Here are several options for capturing your HDV footage.

Sony ECM-HW1 Bluetooth Wireless Microphone

If you have a Sony camcorder, one of the best things you can do to improve your home movies is to invest in the Sony ECM-HW1 wireless microphone. People are much more likely to watch video with great audio than they are video with mediocre audio. The biggest limiting factor in getting great audio for video is the proximity of the microphone to what you're trying to record. The ECM-HW1 solves the proximity problem for Sony camcorder owners because it's a clip-on solution that puts the microphone where the action is - not where the video camera is. The actual microphone body is just larger than the two AAA batteries used to power it, which makes it a little clunkier than a traditional lavaliere microphone. The bulk of the microphone body is more than made up for by a lack of wires you need to run through someone's shirt. What makes the microphone interesting is the wireless used is Bluetooth, which seemingly translates to better range and less noise than I get from traditional radio frequency wireless microphones. Another key advantage is the integration of the receiver with the camcorder. Normally a wireless microphone receiver is a bulky affair involving a power pack that gets wired into the microphone line in on the camcorder. The wireless receiver for the ECM-HW1 fits neatly in the hot shoe found on most of Sony's camcorder line, with no additional wires required. I picked up one of these microphones around the same time I got my Sony HDR-SR1 hard drive camcorder and find it to be indispensible. The wireless microphone works both for stereo audio and the 5.1 surround touted on many of Sony's camcorders. The only word of caution here is that the 5.1 surround on most of these camcorders is typically AC3 audio, which isn't supported by several of the consumer video editing suites. List price is $199.00, but you can typically find the ECM-HW1 for less with some thrifty shopping.

Editing DVD Camcorder Files

Rosa writes, "Students recorded a movie project at home with camera using a DVD as a recording. Now they want to edit at school in Windows Movie Maker. They cannot import their movie to Movie Maker."

There's no guaranteed method for importing DVD camcorder movies into the Windows XP version Windows Movie Maker and editing them. Windows XP doesn't include the required DVD decoder software by default. Many of the consumer DVD software solutions available don't consistently work with every camcorder because some of the software packages don't include both the necessary video and audio decoders. The most reliable solution I've found for editing the files created with DVD camcorders in Windows Movie Maker is Elecard MPEG Player. Even if you already have another DVD playback solution on the computer, this method may fail without installing the Elecard software.

Using MiniDV Tapes in an HDV Camcorder

"Do I need to buy tapes labeled HDV for my HDV camcorder, or will the MiniDV tapes work in my HDV camcorder too?"

While people have differing opinions on the quality of various MiniDV and HDV tapes, in general, the tape cartridge format and the tape used in MiniDV and HDV tapes are exactly the same. Putting the HDV label on the packaging is a marketing gimmick. You could buy tapes labeled HDV and use them in a MiniDV camcorder. Or you could buy tapes labeled MiniDV and use them in an HDV camcorder. The one thing you want to be careful about is consistently using tapes with the same type of lubricant.

Windows Vista Sony Camcorder Driver Support

"Is there a place to download a driver for my Sony camcorder for Vista? I upgraded to Windows Vista, and found that my Sony video camera no longer works. I need a new driver in order for my computer to recognize my video camera."

Some of the Sony camcorders support transferring video from tape over USB or iLINK. The USB connection requires a special driver for each version of Windows. The iLINK connection conforms with the standard FireWire transfer common to most digital video cameras. If you were previously using the USB connection to transfer video from your Sony camcorder to your computer, that feature no longer works with Vista because Sony doesn't have an updated driver for the USB support. Since Sony has not announced a timetable for updating the USB drivers, the only current solution to this problem is to use the iLINK connection instead.