Total newbie trying to learn a few things
 

I currently have 3 kids in high school with all of them in sports, freshman twins and a junior, so you can guess what I am shooting and working with. My goal is to learn how to best transfer this footage and keep my quality up while being able to get it uploaded to the web for viewing by players and parents. I know this will be wordy but I will do my best to describe my current process and would appreciate any viewpoints or suggestions so I can read up on it and learn how to film better.

Current hardware: 2 - Sony HDR-CX500v and 1 - HDR-CX520v cameras
Tripods - 1 better one with a Manfrotto 3130 head and a Sony VCT-60AV

Right now I am filming football and using 2 cameras. The 520 for tight and a 500 for wide using automatic settings. After the game I copy all files directly to my drive for processing. First I use "Bulk File Renaming" to make all the tight shots odd numbered and the wide even numbered, merge them into one folder so each play is tight - wide for the entire game. I then use multiAVCHD to merge that folder into one file using the "Join MPG/M*TS/JPG" button. I use the eac3to selection so that my audio does not get screwed up in the merge. I then grab that file and use Handbrake to create my MP4 file for uploading to youtube with the basic settings found in "HD Video for the Web -Guide for the Sony Vegas Users". I skip using Vegas since it takes so long and doesn't seem to make any real difference in the quality of my end result.

The game I shot last night was 5.43gb and after Handbrake I got it down to 832mb using a CQ of 26. I split out the offensive plays for a coach and that file went from 2.75gb to 835mb using a CQ of 22. I posted both of these on YouTube and I really don't see a big difference in quality.

Long run goal is to improve the quality of my videos by upgrading my cameras and other hardware. Like I said, right now I am looking for direction on how to learn and make my current situation better. Any suggestions on process, hardware, camera settings, anything so I can read up and learn would be great. I have read a lot of posts here over the last month and it got me going in a much better direction than I was but I have so much to learn.

Thanks

If anyone wants to take a peak at finished product they can find it here:

CQ26: McAllen Memorial Freshman Football v Donna Oct 27, 2011 - YouTube
CQ22: McAllen Memorial Freshman v Donna Offense - YouTube

Re: Total newbie trying to learn a few things
 

If you're not happy with the quality, it's not your camcorder or other hardware. It's most likely what you are doing to your footage after. Your cams are great and produce some of the best footage anywhere at any price for what you are doing.

I'd really suggest adopting a more conventional workflow with normal tools like Vegas or Premiere and simply importing, editing and exporting using YouTube HD presets.

I don't know Handbrake or mulitAVCHD or what CQ is, but any time you radically reduce file size you're going to lose quality. It's just math and physics.

Your footage looks fantastic. What sort of quality improvements were you looking for? Short of having 19 cameras and 2000mm lenses, I mean? If your workflow works for you, I don't see any reason to change.

Re: Total newbie trying to learn a few things
 

Looks good to me.

The only thing I see is the work flow.

As previously stated if it is working for you then don't change it.