Tim: >> I'd suggest getting a HDD+DVD recorder, record to hard drive, break the >> recording into chapters after filming, then burn off a DVD. It's then >> an easy job to replicate that DVD, either burning off another copy from >> the hard drive on the same unit, or copying the DVD on computer. Bill Davidsen: > You can record directly to the computer and avoid one layer of copying, with > possible interface issues. Then break up the big file to as many parts as > needed, and edit out the bits you don't want to make public. With a hard drive / DVD recorder combination, the same sort of thing applies. Record to drive, edit out stuff, make disc. Only one generation is used. The system cuts apart MPEG streams, it doesn't re-render unless you change resolutions. Though, with a computer, it is possible to lose more than one generation. If you transcode from one digital format to another (any change, resolution, bitrate, format, etc.), you lose one there. You probably will, as the bitrate from a camera is generally higher than you'll use on DVD, so there's often a re-rendering at some point. And if you have to render a transition (fades, wipes, etc.), you lose one there, too. The hint, there, is stick to straight cuts. Another truly painful thing about editing on a computer is that the computer screen is generally different than a video monitor. It has a slightly different frame rate, different gamma, etc. That's a major problem, here, where video is 50 Hz and computers are usually 60 Hz and higher. You're never quite sure if jerks and flickers are just your preview, or how the end result will actually be. Likewise, if you mess around with video levels, the computer monitor is giving you a wrong preview. You'd need to learn how to read waveform monitors to get that right, or simply leave such things alone (take it as read that your monitor is wrong, the video is fine, don't tweak it). >> I find stand-alone recording equipment to be generally a lot less >> annoying that computerised video equipment. Professional video >> production is my career, and this is the easiest way to go, for low/no >> budget productions, in my experience. If you go the whole hog, you can >> easily spend hours and hours in post production, for no tangible >> improvement for the type of job you outline. > Most people don't find any match between "low/no budget" and "stand-alone > recording equipment" since Fedora users have a computer but may not have all > that other stuff. In the trade "no budget" doesn't mean zero money, it probably means you have little money, and that you don't have a preallocated budget. Putting a DVD recorder, even a HDD+DVD recorder, into a place is cheaper than putting a computer there. The rest you need regardless (camera, microphones, whatever else). > In particular the benefit of a separate CD or DVD burner escapes me, > since there are easy to use tools for creating anything from VCD, > thru SVCD to DVD, and audio CD formats are easily created. The benefit of standalone video gear is generally that it "just works". There's no fiddling around trying to figure out what to do with the software, which of the gazillion options you need or should never use. No time consuming importing and rendering. Record to hard drive - real time. Snip out the waiting around and goofs, maybe half an hour if you only have a few to deal with (find them at high speed, few minutes tweaking at normal speed). Burn your edit from HDD to disc, ten to fifteen minutes. My experience, as someone who does editing far faster than anyone else than I've watched, is that the computer adds an awful lot of time in editing (it's cumbersome without a decent edit controller), and so does rendering (it's not uncommmon for rendering to take half the time of the final production). But, if you're /that good/ at producing a recording, in the first place, that you don't need to edit. And you're an organisation that sells off quite a few copies of your recordings. Having a bank of five DVD recorders patched up to your camera means that you can record live, and distribute several discs straight away. I've seen churches that do that sort of thing. The operators need to know little more than how to start and stop recording. -- [tim@localhost ~]$ uname -r 2.6.27.19-78.2.30.fc9.i686 Don't send private replies to my address, the mailbox is ignored. I read messages from the public lists. -- fedora-list mailing list fedora-list@xxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-list Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Communicate/MailingListGuidelines