Good evening all,
I pray this is the right place to post for what I am looking for since I am brand new here. Please be gentle. I have been tasked to make video (DVD's) and video that can be transfered to YouTube. My church uses 2 Canon GL2 camcorders to video church services on Sunday and other special events. I will want to transfer video from these camcorders to my Asus Computer then to CD's.

Is there a way to transfer video files from the camera directly into my computer in order to make a CD that will be used to make duplicate CD's for church members? As those with lots of experience, you will note that I am stumbling here because I really don't know if I am asking the right questions. I am not at all familiar with the Canon GL-2's.

I am wondering if a simple USB cable can be used to transfer video files directly to a computer to make a master CD? Thank you for your patience and time all. Any input will be greatly appreciated.

bob

When you say CD, I think you mean DVD. CD usually refers to an audio disc and it doesn't hold as much data. DVD's on the other hand typically refer to something you put video on and watch with a TV/DVD Player/computer. There are technical exceptons to both of these statements but sticking to the term DVD will make things easier.

Each camera records video and audio to miniDV tape or sends the video to a switcher where someone can choose which camera is used to project. If you want to record a service, that is the signal you want to record as you get the camera selection done for you. Lacking that, you need have each camera record to tape and edit it yourself. The camera operators need to press record and change tapes etc.

You will need a camera or playback deck that can play those tapes that hooks up to your computer. Most cameras/decks of that era use Firewire not USB. With a computer with Firewire, you then capture the video/audio on each tape.... aka you ingest the tapes. Once on your computer, you need a video editor that works with the DV format those cameras record. The video from each tape will be pretty large (3.5 megabytes per second). After you edit it all together, you need to export your masterpiece from your editor to a program for mastering DVDs. Maybe it's part of your editor, maybe not.

Macintosh computers with Firewire ports came with iMovie for editing and iDVD for mastering DVDs so you had what you needed on the computer side. Still need a camera/deck that can playback the tapes. Be forwarned, tapes recorded in LP mode are not guaranteed to be compatible with other cameras/decks. Only SP mode recorded tapes. SP tapes record 60 minutes.

Mr. Wilson I really appreciate your quick response. It will take me some time to digest what you are saying here. I had no idea getting the video from the Canon GL2 would require so much effort. You are right, I was referring to DVD's and not CD's for video transfers. This appears to be a more complex process than I thought. I am sure the church will not want to purchase any additional equipment. I've got to see how they have put videos on YouTube in the past.

Maybe a better questions would be, how would I transfer video recordings of church services to YouTube without having to add other hardware or is this possible?? Thank you very much sir.

bob

I imagine there's a computer somewhere that records the output of the switcher. That file is then trimmed/edited, compressed and uploaded to Youtube. If you get that file, you are left with the step of mastering a DVD and duplicating it. Of course your DVD software needs to accept the video format of your recording .....

Hi, Bob..............

Think you've walked into a bit of a snake pit on this one.

You say two cameras? How are they being used?

Is a switcher being used or is there some other mechanism involved?

Is there any editing of the tapes from both being done (are they even using tapes?)?

If it's a switcher, what type of feed is it switching? Firewire? Component? Composite?

This question is interesting:

......how would I transfer video recordings of church services to YouTube without having to add other hardware....

Rather than assume anything, I think the best answer I can give you is to suggest you do a thorough audit of the entire installation, the available equipment and editing software [ if any], operational practises, past procedures and expected future results, you may have to twist some arms to get the information (do you guys do that?) but you really need it.

A brief rundown on your experience/ qualifications for tackling this job would be in order, and "I was the only one stupid enough to put my hand up" isn't going to inspire shed loads of confidence.

With so many holes in the knowledge base here I'm not about to walk/ jump into the "but this should work" snake pit with you.

With all the above information gleaned, it may well be that there is a very simple solution, but, my crystal ball having run fresh out of batteries (bugger, just in time for Christmas too!) at this point I'm just going to have to do it the good 'ol fashioned "Sherlock Holmes" way, though there's just enough grunt from the 'ol CB to tell me you probably have a steep learning curve coming your way, how's that for a prediction?

Over to you, and whatever you do - please, don't call me "Sir" or "Mr", it's Chris.


CS

I imagine there's a computer somewhere that records the output of the switcher. That file is then trimmed/edited, compressed and uploaded to Youtube. If you get that file, you are left with the step of mastering a DVD and duplicating it. Of course your DVD software needs to accept the video format of your recording .....

Good Thursday morning Les and thank you for your response. Yes there is a computer at church, but the secretary uses it for admin stuff. I don't know, but have to assume that since they use the Canon GL2 they also record church services to min tapes. That's all I know right now. I will be back with more info later. Thanks so much.

bob

Hi, Bob..............

Think you've walked into a bit of a snake pit on this one.

You say two cameras? How are they being used?

Is a switcher being used or is there some other mechanism involved?

Is there any editing of the tapes from both being done (are they even using tapes?)?

If it's a switcher, what type of feed is it switching? Firewire? Component? Composite?

This question is interesting:



Rather than assume anything, I think the best answer I can give you is to suggest you do a thorough audit of the entire installation, the available equipment and editing software [ if any], operational practises, past procedures and expected future results, you may have to twist some arms to get the information (do you guys do that?) but you really need it.

A brief rundown on your experience/ qualifications for tackling this job would be in order, and "I was the only one stupid enough to put my hand up" isn't going to inspire shed loads of confidence.

With so many holes in the knowledge base here I'm not about to walk/ jump into the "but this should work" snake pit with you.

With all the above information gleaned, it may well be that there is a very simple solution, but, my crystal ball having run fresh out of batteries (bugger, just in time for Christmas too!) at this point I'm just going to have to do it the good 'ol fashioned "Sherlock Holmes" way, though there's just enough grunt from the 'ol CB to tell me you probably have a steep learning curve coming your way, how's that for a prediction?

Over to you, and whatever you do - please, don't call me "Sir" or "Mr", it's Chris.


CS

Chris, good morning to you. My wife and I got a good laugh while I read your response because you hit my situation "dead on the head". In particular, I did volunteer to help out because I will be trying to move the videos away from YouTube with it's various commercials, to "My Video Talk". My Video Talk is a video program that will permit my pastor to broadcasts his services as well as send out video emails to members and first time visitors. My Video Talk will also permit him to do live conference calls. This program just became available to us. The idea as I see it, is to convert the video files from the GL2 to files that the My Video Talk program can use. Then it will also be my responsibility to make the DVD's for church members of each service. You all have laid out a set of questions I must have answered before I can proceed with this project. Thanks so much for all input. I will be back with more answers I hope later.

bob

Thanks for the feedback, Bob..............

I try to give the folks a bit of a laugh, it can get a bit intense here sometimes.

As I'm a lazy sod, would you mind throwing me a link to "My Video Talk" so I can get some sort of idea what it's all about, it's a new one on me?

I'll stay tuned for the next exciting epi.........ahhhhhgh, I could have sworn I took that damn 'gator out of the bath!


CS

You cannot connect the GL2 to your Asus computer via USB and capture video. That connection is just to transfer stills. You need a computer with Firewire and use that connection on the GL2. Your video editing software such as Movie Maker will do the capture.

As I wrote previously, if there is no recording device such as a computer or dvd recorder or tape recorder that is connected to the output of a video switcher, then you will have to capture the mini-dv tapes into your computer and edit together what you want. BTW, somewhere in this mess, you need to make sure the audio you want is being sent to the camera or other device that is actually recording what you are going to edit. DOn't depend on a great result if your audio is done by the sound guy on CD. That's 44.1K and video on the GL2 records audio at 48K..... more headaches.

Windows Movie Maker will work with the GL2 video but again, you need a Firewire capability. To be honest, you can save yourself a lot of headaches if you just picked up a used iMac with iMovie and iDVD (you can buy the iLife package if it doesn't already have them). That has the software and Firewire port you need. Then, you bring home a GL2, the recorded tapes and with a $5 FIrewire cable, capture the video and edit what you want. When done, you export your video for the web or iDVD or both.

Some churches record directly to a consumer DVD "recorder". This can be from firewire (if the DVD recorder has it) or from the 'S' connector for analogue.
The DVD files can then be brought into any computer video editor or go directly to the duplication machine.
I have no stake in the company, but they have always done me good regarding duplication equipment.
"Kingdom Tapes"
They are experts on every level from the starving church budget to the high end budget, and will know exactly how to set you up economically and with simplicity.
Try not to spend a lot of money buying a lot of gadgets, especially if there are few who can run or maintain the stuff.

If you just want to make simple DVD recordings without editing or switching between camcorders, a DVD recorder such as the Toshiba DR430 (Under $100) can do the trick. Only a bit more difficult to use than a typical VCR.It can record a DVD directly from the camcorder playback.

t

I want to thank everyone who has contributed to my knowledge base. You all are wonderful. I am sorry for just getting back and responding to your input. I will read you suggestions and recommendations and post my additional concerns if any. Thanks again and I hope all have a blessed and prosperous New Year. Thanks All.

bob williams

Hello again all,

I had an opportunity to actually see how the Canon GL-2's are used to record chruch services. There are 2 GL-2's recording the services. Both are separate from each other in that they are not connected to a console or central unit. What I found is that the tape from each GL-2 is removed, labled and stored. These tapes are waiting to be processed.

The church will no longer be placing their service on YouTube because of lack of control, commercials, etc, but will be using a new program called "My Video Talk". I will also be expected to put these services on DVD as well. My Video Talk will give us full control over what goes out and will be free of commercials. We will also be able to use "My Video Talk" to send out video emails, etc. I don't regret volunteering because I want to help my pastor move foward in this ministry but this may be a long learning curve for me. Here are my questions:

1. Are there any conversion programs sold at Office Depot, Staples, etc, that can be purchased to convert what comes out of the GL-2 so that it can be sent to "My Video Talk"? If so what are they? If not where would be a place I could go or contact for the conversion program?
2. Will I actually have to leave the tape in the GL-2 in order to do the conversion?
3. What would be the easiest way to get the signal from the GL-2 into a computer for conversion?

That's all for right now. However, I am sure I will have more questions later as I learn more about how my pastor and church operates in this area. I almost forgot. My pastor will also want to put some of his sermons on the church website. What are your suggestions? Thank you all for being so generous and giving. I really do appreciate.

bob williams .

Hello again, Bob...........

Question:

What computing resources do you have available and where is it/ are they in relation to the physical siting of the cameras?

I ask the latter as you could save yourself a whole heap of hassle fiddling with tapes if you simply connected each of the cameras to it's own laptop, say, using a firewire cable and downloaded the video data directly without using the tapes at all, by which I mean, you use the laptop as your immediate capture device, live.

Yes, you control the recording from the computer software.

That will save you 2 hours at least, assuming two 60 minute tapes.

If that isn't feasable, you could tether just one camera "live" and still ingest the tape from the other after the event.

If that isn't feasable you'll need one of the cameras with a mains power supply after the event to download the data from both tapes to the computer.

To get the data from the tape onto a PC hard drive, you'll need a firewire cable and a freebie download program like DVsplit, Google should turn it up in short order, though someone here is bound to have a link.

Once on the hard drive, you need something to edit the data to make sense of the two data streams.

(Here's where it starts getting interesting).

I'm not going to recommend anything as I'm not at all current with what's available, though as you go up the sophistication ladder the products do tend to get more and more difficult to use, well, to this simple soul anyway.

I got started with this: Ulead VideoStudio - Download (http://ulead-videostudio.en.softonic.com/) (that's NOT the Ulead site, BTW) but I haven't even fired that up in nearly two years, so I meant it when I said "not current".

BTW, if you buy any of the current editing packages on offer you should NOT need DVsplit, they all come with their own ingest systems.

At this point I'll leave it to someone more au fait with what's out there.


CS

As I understand it, what you want to produce is a DVD and a video that can be streamed over the Internet from a specific service provider (My Video Talk) that is based on a two-camera shoot of church services.

As you can draw from the above,discussion there are many ways to do this, some low cost and some quite costly and elegant.

My first question is what related video and audio resources to you already have in addition to the GL2s? This would include the soruces of the audio for the DVD (camcorder tapes)

Are there any parts of the existign produce that need improvement (e.g., is the sound on your current recordings poor)?

What budget ($$$) do you have for additional equipment, audio, video, computer, and software?

How long does the service run (longest and typical case)?

Are the cameras manned to focus and/or zoom on different scenes in chruch and follow service participants, or lockdown to focus on a fixed area? What are they seeing.

Do you need more editing of the service than simple cuts from one camera to the other and back? E.g., do you need titles, captions, menus, transitions, special graphics effects, alternate sound tracks, etc, on the DVD? Do you need a video inset of a person signing for the hearing impared? Do you need to add additional material to the DVD (e.g., bulletin and/or newsletter type content, printed or spoken)?

How much time do you have available to devote to producing the DVD and video?

How long after the service do you need to have the the DVD ready (8 hours, 3 days, etc.)

And lastly, how computer literate are you?

In general, the more time you have to devote to the process and the simpler the final product, the less equiment and software you need.

Good afternoon all,

What a great forum and group of experts helping those of us who really need it. I am so pleased with every bit of input you all have provided. I am moved by how quickly and ably you all reach out to me and others who could not prevail other than your assistance. I am going to read every comment offered and move foward in my new quest. By the way, the church will want to stream vidio/audio to the web using Home - MyVideoTalk (http://www.myvideotalk.com/238778)

My Video Talk is a medium that is similar to YouTube except it is purchased by the church and therefore has no commercials or other such problems. It will provide a means of our church providing all sermons to video on our church website. We pay monthly for this service which permits us to send video emails out to members and will permit us to develop a website using various banners, logos, etc. We are pleased to be able to have this service. I just have to figure out how to interconnect it all (smile) and I can do it with the information you all are providing here.

I feel free to post any additional questions I may have. For me, this is a process I must learn since I was quick to want to help our church and pastor. I just celebrated my 75th birthday but am one who does not belive "you can't teach an older person new stuff". (smile) Thanks so much again all.

bob williams

To all who have replied to my request for help so far, is this a possibility? Can I purchase a DVD recorder and feed the output from either of the GL-2 camcorders to the DVD recorder to make a master. Then put the master DVD into a DVD duplicator to make final copies to give out to church members? What am I missing here? Is this process too simple to work?

In other words I don't want to use a computer now if I don't have to. If I can just run the signal directly from either of the 2 Canon GL-2 cameras to a DVD to make a master that would be ideal. We only use 2 cameras to make sure one of them has a good recording of the actual events that took place that day. These GL-2 cameras are totally independent of each other and any other apparatus. By the way, we must have 100 plus tapes of preachings waiting for (me?) to make sense of it all.

Finally, it looks like I will still require a computer to get the output from the camera onto the internet and church website. Thanks again all.

bob williams

75 eh? Hmm, this is going to be interesting.

OK, yep, the "direct to CD" thing will work, but..........it's going to be exceedingly clunky, as you still need to get that data onto a computer to complete the rest of the process.

Soo, you would be best off performing all computer related tasks on a reasonably grunty laptop, remembering that IT MUST have a Firewire port and a DVD writer.

Do specify plenty of memory, the biggest hard drive they can shoehorn into it AND make it a 7200 rpm drive to boot.

Once you have said laptop, download the free trial of Ulead VideoStudio and any other software that may be suggested, it's FREE for a limited time period with all of those products.

For day to day running I would just use one (1) camera tethered to the laptop and record the service direct to disk, no need to transcribe tapes etc (do run the second cam though in case you get a system crash or other problem on the tethered camera).

With products like Ulead you can pretty well go from close of service to producing a dvd in about 3 mouse clicks, as long as you don't need to do any editing.

Once you have your dvd you can do any file formatting required to work on your web site and to upload to MVT.

As for your back catalogue, well, guess you have 100 X x hours of batch ingesting to do (do put a couple of DV cleaning tapes on the shopping list!).

The question then becomes "what are you going to do with all that data after the event"?

If you wish to have it to hand in a usable form I would invest in a seperate external USB 3 or e - Sata (if the laptop has that interface) 1 TB hard drive and simply dump it off the laptop, you don't want it clogging up that precious main hard drive.

As you get more practised in the use of your chosen software you will find all sorts of amazing stuff it does that you didn't even imagine, and you'll start sprucing up the output accordingly.

Take your time, play and tinker, you'll suprise yourself.

Now I'll yield the floor for other suggestions.


CS

Good evening Mr. Chris Soucy,

YEH! 75 and still very much active. The path you are leading me down sounds like something a little easier than I had imagined. What if I purchase a card for my desk top computer (I have no idea now what kind of card that would be) that can accept the signal from the Canon GL-2 directly. I also don't know, but I am sure this camera has an output that would go directly to the computer. What kind of computer card should I be looking for?

I would purchase a seperate 1 terabyte hard drive that would be mobile. I can take this to wherever I need to. However, it would be the primary holder of the files from the GL-2 camera. I would only need to put the conversion program on the computer. Do you know if the GL-2 is also a digital camera? That would certainly make it easier to do what I need to do. I think the hard drive should be "Fire Wire" Capable" or does that matter??

Once I get the output from the GL-2 into the computer as a digital file it should not be difficult to then get the files onto the church website. What do you think sir? Am I traveling along the right road or have I verred off along the way? Thanks much.

bob williams

OK, if you have a desktop system without a Firewire port, you would need either a PCI to firewire OR a PCI Express ditto, you'll need to pull the side off the case to check what slots are available and what type they are.

PCI Express slots are quite short. Google for a piccie.

If the system is more than about 10 feet from the camera I can't see any other way to get the data than taking the camera and shot tape to the system - it's too far to get the data as it's shot, which would have saved you the slow pain that tape ingestion is.

Keeping the files on an external is fine, preferably a 7200 rpm beast on a fast interface, USB 3 or e Sata if available, you can get PCI cards for either interface if you don't already have one available, just make sure you have spare slots on the mobo.

I honestly don't know if the GL 2 has a photo facility, someone here will though.

Nope, I think you've pretty well got it sorted, you just need to choose you particular video editing poison and away you go.


CS

The GL2 is a digital camcorder but it stores that digital video on digital tapes. Modern camcorders store it on memory chips like SDHC, Compact Flash etc. The data that is stored consumes 12.6 gigabytes per hour. You can do the math and calculate how much space you need to hold all of those tapes (i.e. 100 tapes of one hour takes 1260 gigabytes which is 1.26 terabytes).

Even after you ingest the tapes onto the computer, it isn't ready for the web. The digital data from the GL-2 is roughly 28 megabits per second. For the web, you need to compress it to about 1.5 megabits per second.

Buy a used iMac for around $600. Think of it as you are buying a video editing appliance. This will save you time and headaches. Get any Intel based one at dvwarehouse.com. This is a great one:
iMac 2.6Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo 1GB 320GB DVDR/CDRW 20" - Pre Owned - $595.00 (http://www.dvwarehouse.com/iMac-2.6Ghz-Intel-Core-2-Duo-1GB-320GB-DVDR/CDRW-20---Pre-Owned-p-36152.html)

Add the $35 memory upgrade they offer for it. Then add iLife for $35 to your order:
Apple iLife '11 - MC623 - $34.95 (http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Apple-iLife-'11---MC623-p-39022.html)

Along with your external drive, you'll need a 4-pin to 6-pin Firewire cable to hook the GL-2 up to the iMac. Your external drive can use the other Firewire port on the iMac.

You can then ingest a batch of tapes directly to the iMac, produce them for the web and DVD then move (not copy) them to your external drive archive. Rinse and repeat this for 10 or so "teachings" at a time.

The iMovie program that's part of iLife will let you trim/edit your raw GL-2 ingested files and then export the version for the web (Share to Web) right from iMovie. While you are at it, iMovie also has a Share to iDVD which puts the video into the DVD mastering program that's also part of iLife ... push a button and about 30 minutes later, out pops a DVD.

I don't recommend uploading video to your website. Instead, create a free account on Vimeo and upload it there. Your webmaster will know how to embed it on your website.

Of course, if you can't suffer learning the computer trick you could create DVDs of the tapes, by just dubbing them from GL-2 camera to DVD recorder for each "teaching" and leave producing them to the web for someone else.

Bob,

You really need to address the questions in my last post to get a solution that is tailored to your requirements. Otherwise people will give suggestions that may go well beyond your needs and be more tailored to their own experience and uses and the apprach they woud take based on limited information.

The following is a simple, low budget approach that may meet your needs at a minimal level.

If the two GL-2 are recording the same thing and there is no need to "mix" them, just select the better recording to create the DVD. And if there is no need for any menus, captions, and other "fancy stuff" than playing the video tape to a DVD recorder can work well to make a DVD. The DVD can be copied on almost any reasonably current computer. It will take a bit over an hour to make a DVD of a 1 hour service, It will take less thatn 10 miinutes to make each additional copy on PC.

Many moderate cost Epson ink jet printers can print nice labels on the appropriated printable DVD and CD media. They come with label printing software too.

You can use almost any current computer with a DVD drive to "rip" the program marerial from the DVD you created for conversion and upload to your on-line service. I am not familiar with that service, but I am sure they can provide you with alternative workflows to convert and upload video that meets their format requirements. Software to do this ranges from free to modest cost (well under $100). The service might even provide a package to help you do this.

The DVDs (and tapes) can become your library/archive copies. There is no need to store it on a large computer hard drive if you do not plan to go back to edit the video later, or use the computer as a rapid access viewing system for past services. (A one hour DVD worth of files uses less than 4.5GB of space at the higher DVD resolution.)

Similarly, converting your past services is a matter of creating the DVDs as above. Using a DVD Rcorder is about as easy as using a VCR, but with an added step or two to make the recorded DVD usable on other systems (finalizing the disc).

The above is a minimalist apprach.

Good Friday Morning Mr. Palomaki,

Thank you so much for this assistance. You are right on the money when you note that even though our church uses 2 Canon GL-2's, I would only be looking for the camera that has the best showing of our pastor during a preaching session. He is very timely and norally does not go over One Hour.

Since I can't anticipate furture use and needs of the church I am trying to look ahead as best I can. The assistance here from everyone has been wonderful. That is why I am looking at purchasing an RPM 7200 external high speed 1 or 2 terabyte hard drive with USB 2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800 interfaces. I assume I can use this hard drive with my PC (I don't have a Mac) and not only back up my own PC but can also store a number of videos for church services. I am also thinking that this hard drive with WireFire will enable me to transfer right from the Canon GL-2 directly to my PC. I can't say now if I will be asked to go back and retrieve certain Sunday or other special services.

I understand that I will still have to transfer from my hard drive to a DVD recorder and than to a DVD duplicator. However, I am hoping that will not be a difficult thing to do. I do hope I am on the right path with this thinking. If not I am hoping you all will stop me from going over the cliff (smile). Thanks again for taking the time to keep me moving in the right direction.

bob williams

Since I can't anticipate furture use and needs of the church I am trying to look ahead as best I can.
The best you can do to future proof is to have the data in a good, secure format that can be read at the time it is needed and well cataloged. Even today tape appears to serve that purpose well. The DVD serves for a time when finding a tape player may be difficult. The key here is both were distribution media.

Compuer storage media is more problematic. it is not easy to conenct a RLL or MFM drive from the 1990 to a computer today. And good luck finding a new PC with a floppy disk drive or for that matter a ZIP drive, Bernoull, or even a parallel port. IMHO used computers are, well, used computers, a product designed around a 5 year useful life. They may work when you get them, but often are unsupported (both hardware and software) and can be problematic for folks who do not have a technical bent.

My observation is that few people are interested in reediting old video. Even weddings,how many comback a year or more later for more tahtn just an additional copy of the final edited copy. About the only time that happens is if one of the participants gains some sort of notoriety (usually unwanted) and the media beast is seeking some salacious sound bites for the evening news.

Unless you organizationis well funded and prone to going to great administrative and records keeping lengths, the likely case for using the old material may be when the pastor retires or moves to a new calling someone wants to do a "10-Best Lessons" video as part of their farewell party or celebration of their life.

If you have the time, and a community college near by, maybe audio a course in video, read some basic how-to books (is there a Video for Dummies book?) and visit a library to read back issues of magazines like Videomaker (if you can find them).

Note that there are copyright ownership, rights, and control of use implications with content loaded to "free" sites. Be sure you and your organization are satisfied with what ever ownereship rights you surrender in exchange for the hosting of your video.

Also, some other churches in your general area may be doing what you want to do. Visit them to see what their experience is and how happy they are.

Hello and good Friday Afternoon,

Here is my immediate concern all. I will also be responsible for getting the pastor's sermons onto the internet. Won't it be easier to do that if from a computer/hard drive with wirefire? I am just asking. Of course I am looking for a way to do this easy. I am looking for a way that will encompass making DVD's as well as going on the internet weekly with each Sunday service and any other special video shots the pastor might want. I hope what I've just said here is not too confusing. Finally, I can use the hard drive for my own purposes. But, my main purpose is to help my pastor and our church. Is it possible to put stuff on the church website other than using a computer with hard drive and wirefire?

bob williams

Hi, Bob..............

The reason I didn't like the standalone DVD writer option was because of the "getting it on the web" aspect - you'd simply be replacing one system with two, not exactly user friendly.

OK, lets go back to the software package I mentioned, it's no longer Ulead BTW, but Corel.

Link here: Superior Video Editing Software - Corel VideoStudio X5 Ultimate (http://www.corel.com/corel/product/index.jsp?pid=prod4760101#tab3)

Just in case it isn't obvious, I'm talking of Video Studio Pro X5 Ultimate, it's not the only system out there by any means, but it's the only one I know anything about.

So, once you have the data, this allows you to do pretty well anything you want - burn a DVD, format for the web, multi device, the whole box of dice at the click of a mouse.

Want to get fancy? It's got goodies everywhere if you can be bothered to learn how to use them.

The hardest part is sitting there watching it load tapes, one by one, for hour after hour, now that's a pain but has to be done no matter WHAT system you plump for..

Not much you can do for the back catalogue, but get the computer within 10 feet of the camera and future sessions can be loaded "live", meaning the tape is simply a backup, just in case.

As long as your system has a DVD writer, a Firewire port, whatever you're going to use as an external drive interface and a reasonable processor and memory, you're good to go for $50 worth of software.

Can't see see how you beat that.


CS

Is it possible to put stuff on the church website other than using a computer with hard drive and wirefire?

The easiest way to get video of the service to the internet for sharing is to have some 17 year old with a video capable smart phone do it for you.

The Firewire port (more properly IEEE 1394, also knows as iLink, and Canon calls it a DV port) is mainly used to move video from the camcorder to the computer at the highest quality level. There are other options available, such as using an analog video capture device, but that is beyond your requirement. IEEE 1394 has other uses/purposes as well, but they are less common, and use of of it is fading as new camcorders using tapeless formats dominate the market and USB use spreads..

Today's computers all have hard drives, or an equivalent storage device (e.g., a solid state drive/memory). Even smart phones (which happen to be a somewhat specialized computer with a 2-way radio connection to the phone system).

You need some form of computer to get stuff on the internet, or have a service do it for you.

Speaking as another who is past retirement age (and still active in Scouting): Seriously - check if there is a young person in the church that does this sort of stuff for fun, seek their help. Working with them can make you feel younger, and give them accomplishments of which they can be proud.

Mr. Don Palomaki,

Good morning to you and yours sir. Thank you for this input. It is not often that people like yourself and others reach out to help those of us seeking information and guidance. Thank you so much.

bob williams

Thank you for this input. It is not often that people like yourself and others reach out to help those of us seeking information and guidance.

Bob, it sounds like you have the technical stuff more or less under control. Among the options mentioned I favor buying a $12 firewire card and an $8 firewire cable and using whatever desktop computer you already have but never mind that. I wanted to mention an surprising legal aspect of this project: If you are the one who digitizes the tapes and uploads them to the internet, then you are the one legally responsible should any issues of copyright infringement arrise. This most often happens with music. Performance rights are different than recording and internet broadcast rights. Be especially careful with prerecorded music and video lectures. It is theoretically a big difference whether the music on the video is incidental or plays a central role, but realistically it is expensive to determine the difference in court either way. Good luck with your project. It sounds like you have at least a couple months of work with 100 tapes!

I had good luck with the following mail order company:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166033
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200731

Mr. Eric Olson,

What a pleasure to hear from you and many others who know when a person needs the assistance of great people. I am learning so much about the computer I did not know. For instance, I just learned that the drivers (whatever they are) can become outdated? I've been using my computer since 2010 when I purchased it. I thought surely it would be good for another 3 years without me having to worry about retiring it. Actually, I just planned to increase the memory to it's maximum 16 Gbytes, I have 4 now. I am trying to get this done the least expensive way without sacrificing too much quality. If I can get videos that equal what's on YouTube my pastor and I will be happy.

I am now attempting to find out what's on the inside of my Asus desktop and the particular ports, bays and in/outputs it has. Thank you so much and I do appreciate.

bob williams

If I can get videos that equal what's on YouTube my pastor and I will be happy.

How did your pastor decide on MyVideoTalk? Have you read the following posts?

Corporate Frauds Watch: New fraudulent company MyVideoTalk on the Net (http://corporatefraudswatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-fraudulent-company-myvideotalk-on.html)

I think you will have better luck moving the YouTube videos to a Vimeo Pro account.

Vimeo PRO (http://vimeo.com/pro)

One more thing. The cable I suggested in my previous email is too short. The following would be more reasonable (and cheaper) if you don't already have a suitable firewire cable:

Newegg.com - Rosewill Model RC-6-1394-6M-4M-BK 6 ft. IEEE 1394 Cable (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119242)

Again, good luck with your project!

How did your pastor decide on MyVideoTalk? Have you read the following posts?

Corporate Frauds Watch: New fraudulent company MyVideoTalk on the Net (http://corporatefraudswatch.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-fraudulent-company-myvideotalk-on.html)

I think you will have better luck moving the YouTube videos to a Vimeo Pro account.

Vimeo PRO (http://vimeo.com/pro)

One more thing. The cable I suggested in my previous email is too short. The following would be more reasonable (and cheaper) if you don't already have a suitable firewire cable:

Newegg.com - Rosewill Model RC-6-1394-6M-4M-BK 6 ft. IEEE 1394 Cable (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119242)

Again, good luck with your project!

Good morning Eric,

Thank you so much for this information and your time. I went to the link above (fraud watch) but found the page not available. This prompted me to go to the BBB and they have no complaints. Thank you for the cable and VIMEO information sir.

bob williams