Go Directly to our MoreSalesWithVideo HardDrive Picks now!
Oh, the Joy of HardDrives over tape! Capturing Video on to tapes will soon become a thing of the past. I used tapes for years and still use them strictly for backup. But lets face it. The joy and speed of downloading your footage directly to a hard drive or memory card sure beats the heck out of downloading tapes at real time!
I encourage you when purchasing a camcorder, to consider our picks on the "Picking a Camcorder" page. All of our picks, except for one, are hard drive endowed. And if you are filming a show, conference, seminar or any long program, set up your camera station in the following ways so that your footage goes directly to your computer or a hard drive with plenty of space.
Capturing a long program with a camcorder with a built in HardDrive - The Sony camera that we have picked for you (the HDR-XR500V) has a 120 GB hard drive. But in standard definition, it can capture 83 hours of video as an MPEG 2!! That is certainly enough space for any program (10 days or more for a seminar). You then simply move the files from your camera to your computer. This may take some time, but only a fraction of the time that it takes to download tapes in real time! (Actual download time will vary due to the speed of your computer processor and the amount of RAM or memory).
Capturing a long program with an external HardDrive with a camera without a built-in HardDrive - If there is no built-in HardDrive, chances are your camera has a firewire port. Here's what you do:
- Attach the firewire cable to your camera (make sure the power of your camera is off)
- Attach the other end of the firewire cable to your laptop (power can be on).
Now attach your external HardDrive to your computer by a USB cable. Many hard drives have firewire ports and that can be used, but the problem is most laptops only have one firewire port and that is being used by the camera. - Power on the HardDrive, Your laptop should recognize it.
- Turn on your camera. Your computer should recognize the camera via the firewire connection.
- A dialogue box should pop up and ask you which application you would like to use to capture video. Choose Sony Vegas (Purchase Sony Vegas now).
- If Sony Vegas is not on the list, close the dialogue box and open Sony Vegas manually.
- In the Sony Vegas application, choose "Capture Video" from the "File" menu.
- Next you need to decide where your files are going. From the menu of the Sony Video Capture application, choose "options", then "Preferences", then the "Disc Management" Tab, then double click the path folder, and find the external drive you attached to your laptop. Click the "Make New Folder" button and name your folder where you want your video to go. Click the "OK" button.
- Assuming that your connections are correct, you should see your video image on the capture screen.
- When you are ready to film, hit the "capture video" button. When you are done, press the stop button.
- Depending on the size of your external hard drive, you should be in good shape for many hours of capture.
A word of caution - When capturing with your computer, turn off your internet and any applications running in the background. If any applications begin to run, (like an anti-virus scan) it may take up a portion of your computer's RAM and cause you to drop frames. Your final video will have empty gaps in it. This can be very frustrating for a couple of reasons. One it simply looks and sounds bad. And two, if you are synching up additional cameras or audio feeds, you will find that they don't match up perfectly. Yes, frustrating indeed!
Our Pick for an external hard drive
External HardDrives are getting cheaper and cheaper by the day. I uses to put tapes up on the archive shelf. Now I'm collecting quite the HardDrive archive.
Our picks are the Western Digital "My Book" USB Drives.
The truth is, there are many to choose from with different features and at different prices, but here are the MoreSalesWithVideo best picks from B and H.
Click the pictures for more info or to purchase.
Prices are subject to change
500 GB - $89.99
Western Digital 500GB My Book Essential Edition USB 2.0 External Hard DriveUSB 2.0 7200rpm Windows and Mac Compatibility
1000 GB - $119.99
Western Digital 1TB My Book Essential Edition USB 2.0 External Hard DriveUSB 2.0 7200rpm Windows and Mac Compatibility
___________________________________________________________________
More Training
More Resources
Picking a Camcorder
Vegas Editing Software Training
Lighting Tips
Lighting Picks
Should I go Hi-Def?
Beware of "The Gray Market"!
Cables
Get our FREE Report on "The Greatest Secret to Producing Great Quality Videos"
