Hi all,

I'm a newbie, to the forum and to making videos. I've been reading the forum adn I must say I'm impressed, even though I feel at this stage it's a little advanced. There are evidently a few pro's around here.

As you've read, I have a Canon HV10 and I'm using Sony Vegas to edit. I'm not sure what I'm doing, and RTFMing is proving ineffective. I am off on holiday tomorrow adn I have not had enough time to play with the gear. I have the following question:

Is it safe to film in HD standard (HDV) or should I film in DV Wide or DV normal?

I ask this because so far I have only managed to import content from the tape that was shot in DV. I wouldn't want to get back from holiday and not be able to edit my files.

Also, does anyone have a basic walkthrough/tutorial for first of all importing content from the tape. I can't reproduce what I've done.

I continue to read the forum as I'm slowly picking up valuable information.

Thanks and regards,

Alex.

Yes, you can shoot in HDV. Capture in HDV requires shifting the capture software. You should have that option when you select File/Capture. A dialog box should open and ask you to select either DV or HDV.

Is it safe to film in HD standard (HDV) or should I film in DV Wide or DV normal?

Yup, it's safe.


Also, does anyone have a basic walkthrough/tutorial for first of all importing content from the tape. I can't reproduce what I've done.

Assuming a recent version of Vegas, you simply select "File/Capture Video" from the menus, and you'll get a choice of capturing DV or HDV/SDI. For an HDV capture, choose the latter. When the capture tool pops up, give it appropriate directories for captured files, and a tape name. You can control your camcorder with the control panel; press the record button to start the transfer.

If you don't have Vegas 6 or 7, this probably won't work... HDV support didn't really exist much before HDV actually existed. That's no worry; you can capture using the freeware tool HDVSplit (http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/hdvsplit.htm), which may actually work better than Vegas, depending on your camcorder and system. When capturing via Vegas, your imported files show up in your current project Project Media window. If you capture externally, you need to bring them into Vegas... try dropping them on the Vegas timeline.

Thanks for the replies. I have an hour or so of footage from my holiday and look forward to editing. I'll try the HDVSplit, thanks for the tip.