Post by Lee Smith on Apr 2, 2004 4:22:27 GMT -5
Here is a list of software I currently use to acquire, change, edit the files with my Xacti camera:-
ACQUIRE from Camera to PC
The Photo Explorer application that comes with the software is adequate enough but I opt to use Windows XP explorer to transfer the files as its much quicker and isnt as memory intensive on my pc.
PLAY the video files
The MPEG4 (.MP4) files that the camera produces can be played in Quicktime movie player
www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
The first time you try and play a .MP4 file within Quicktime it might ask to download the MPEG4 codec so that it can play the files - download this and it will automatically install it. Windows media player and Real player should also play these files but so far I have had no luck in getting them to work so only recommend the Quicktime player.
Also it is worth associating .MP4 files with the Quicktime Player to ensure that the files do open with the Quicktime Player.
CONVERTING the video files
The camera does come with Ulead Photo Explorer which also allows you to browse video.
You can easily convert .MP4 video into AVI or MPG format by firstly selecting the video you wish to convert,
then pull down the Video menu,
select Convert Video File,
select where you want to save and file name,
MOST IMPORTANTLY,
select SAVE AS pull down menu - there is a whole range of video formats to choose from.
Once converted to avi or mpg I found the files could easily be imported to any video editing program.
BUT
The Ulead Photo Explorer did convert the video as expected but it seemed to add some distortion to the audio portion of the video and was not as good quality as the original .MP4 audio track.
THEREFORE
I experimented and found a program called VIDEO EDIT MAGIC 3. This little program gives you the option of converting the video and audio separatley thus removing the distortion introduced with the Ulead software.
The settings I use are :-
Video Compressor - 'uncompressed'
Audio Compressor - 'MPEG Layer 3' ie mp3
The only other problems I have encountered with MPEG4 video files is that once converted to a usable format to edit with on your PC the file is exactly 100% larger than the .MP4 file stored on your memory card.
Therefore is you filled a 512MB card with MP4 video and converted it using this method you would end up with 51.2Gb of AVI video!
www.deskshare.com/download.aspx
Once I find a method of converting the video to smaller files I will post it immediately here!
Video EDITING
The video editor I use is not your traditional video editing program but infact an MP3 arranging program!!!
www.magix.net
I use Magix Music Maker 7 deluxe and it is fully equipped to make videos aswell as music arranging.
Rather than use the traditional method of editing where you have ONE timeline and go from left to right selecting fades/mixes/transitions between two bits of video - this editor allows 24 tracks of video and or music to play at the same time!
You can resize video, stretch it, distort, add loads of real time effects like pinch, punch, twirl - you know all those effects that are available in most photoshop applications.
There are also features to rotate the video, mirror it, or even have it as a kaliedoscope.
Also you have full control over brightness, contrast, colour and hue of each clip individually.
My favourite feature is the ability to do CSO(colour separation overlay) the blue screen effect that is used to make weather forecasts (for example) With Magix you can select the colour, intensity and fading ranges to superimpose any video ontop of another - upto 24 times!
The MAJOR feature that got me addicted to making video with Magix was that you can import a music track (wav/mp3) and it can beat-map the track and produce a grid on screen at the BPM of the track and so when editing the video you can easily select where to cut (on the beat) and it makes videos look really nifty cutting EXACTLY on a beat of the music!
MP4 conversion
To make the MP4 files editable in most popular video editing packages the files need to be converted to a format that the applications understand. Previously this might have meant converting to uncompressed AVI files but alas! NO MORE!
There is a great little application called "mp4cam2avi" and is a one click operation to change some file header information. Available from:-
mp4cam2avi.sourceforge.net/
This converts video without actually converting the video but just adjusting the container the video information is contained within - I am right in saying that?
ALSO the website states "MP4Cam2AVI is a .MP4 to .AVI converter and joiner for digital MPEG4 cameras, such as Sanyo Xacti C1/C4 (Fisher FVD C1), Olympus C770 Movie. It doesn't re-encode video, audio is converted from AAC to PCM or MP3, target AVI files are compatible with video editing software and hardware DVD-MPEG4 players.
Great bit of software - recommended!!!!
Lee
www.xacti.co.uk
ACQUIRE from Camera to PC
The Photo Explorer application that comes with the software is adequate enough but I opt to use Windows XP explorer to transfer the files as its much quicker and isnt as memory intensive on my pc.
PLAY the video files
The MPEG4 (.MP4) files that the camera produces can be played in Quicktime movie player
www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
The first time you try and play a .MP4 file within Quicktime it might ask to download the MPEG4 codec so that it can play the files - download this and it will automatically install it. Windows media player and Real player should also play these files but so far I have had no luck in getting them to work so only recommend the Quicktime player.
Also it is worth associating .MP4 files with the Quicktime Player to ensure that the files do open with the Quicktime Player.
CONVERTING the video files
The camera does come with Ulead Photo Explorer which also allows you to browse video.
You can easily convert .MP4 video into AVI or MPG format by firstly selecting the video you wish to convert,
then pull down the Video menu,
select Convert Video File,
select where you want to save and file name,
MOST IMPORTANTLY,
select SAVE AS pull down menu - there is a whole range of video formats to choose from.
Once converted to avi or mpg I found the files could easily be imported to any video editing program.
BUT
The Ulead Photo Explorer did convert the video as expected but it seemed to add some distortion to the audio portion of the video and was not as good quality as the original .MP4 audio track.
THEREFORE
I experimented and found a program called VIDEO EDIT MAGIC 3. This little program gives you the option of converting the video and audio separatley thus removing the distortion introduced with the Ulead software.
The settings I use are :-
Video Compressor - 'uncompressed'
Audio Compressor - 'MPEG Layer 3' ie mp3
The only other problems I have encountered with MPEG4 video files is that once converted to a usable format to edit with on your PC the file is exactly 100% larger than the .MP4 file stored on your memory card.
Therefore is you filled a 512MB card with MP4 video and converted it using this method you would end up with 51.2Gb of AVI video!
www.deskshare.com/download.aspx
Once I find a method of converting the video to smaller files I will post it immediately here!
Video EDITING
The video editor I use is not your traditional video editing program but infact an MP3 arranging program!!!
www.magix.net
I use Magix Music Maker 7 deluxe and it is fully equipped to make videos aswell as music arranging.
Rather than use the traditional method of editing where you have ONE timeline and go from left to right selecting fades/mixes/transitions between two bits of video - this editor allows 24 tracks of video and or music to play at the same time!
You can resize video, stretch it, distort, add loads of real time effects like pinch, punch, twirl - you know all those effects that are available in most photoshop applications.
There are also features to rotate the video, mirror it, or even have it as a kaliedoscope.
Also you have full control over brightness, contrast, colour and hue of each clip individually.
My favourite feature is the ability to do CSO(colour separation overlay) the blue screen effect that is used to make weather forecasts (for example) With Magix you can select the colour, intensity and fading ranges to superimpose any video ontop of another - upto 24 times!
The MAJOR feature that got me addicted to making video with Magix was that you can import a music track (wav/mp3) and it can beat-map the track and produce a grid on screen at the BPM of the track and so when editing the video you can easily select where to cut (on the beat) and it makes videos look really nifty cutting EXACTLY on a beat of the music!
MP4 conversion
To make the MP4 files editable in most popular video editing packages the files need to be converted to a format that the applications understand. Previously this might have meant converting to uncompressed AVI files but alas! NO MORE!
There is a great little application called "mp4cam2avi" and is a one click operation to change some file header information. Available from:-
mp4cam2avi.sourceforge.net/
This converts video without actually converting the video but just adjusting the container the video information is contained within - I am right in saying that?
ALSO the website states "MP4Cam2AVI is a .MP4 to .AVI converter and joiner for digital MPEG4 cameras, such as Sanyo Xacti C1/C4 (Fisher FVD C1), Olympus C770 Movie. It doesn't re-encode video, audio is converted from AAC to PCM or MP3, target AVI files are compatible with video editing software and hardware DVD-MPEG4 players.
Great bit of software - recommended!!!!
Lee
www.xacti.co.uk
