DV worth upgrading?

[yeast]

Hey folks,
Just wondering if I should change my Composite Video camera to a DV camera...will I see much increase in video production/quality?

-Ethan

[fluggo99]

Just a little!!

Price is the deciding factor, of course. Remember that nearly any camera can produce excellent results given good lighting conditions. If you don't need super-high recording quality, consider a Hi8 camcorder (which has enough quality for most home videomakers).

If you're talking serious videomaking, it's the way to go. Add in the price of a DV port on your computer to realize the full potential of the format. (the S-video port and your existing Matrox card will also handle the job quite adequately)

[This message has been edited by fluggo99 (edited 05 January 2000).]

[DrMordrid]

Not to mention that if you get an IEEE-1394 card and your editor supports DV you have an almost lossless editing setup.

DV can take up to 4 generations of recompression in the editor without showing artifacts. Perfect for those applying titles or graphics to their videos.

Dr. Mordrid

[yeast]

but is it ideal for me with only three 5400rpm IDE HD's (about 15 GIG's of video space if I actually clean up my downloaded files)?

-Ethan

[DrMordrid]

DV only runs at about 3.5 megs/second while delivering max quality and recompression resistance. It's about the most efficient codec in terms of quality vs. capacity going.

DV would give you about 71 minutes on a 15 gig empty drive.

min of video = (15000mb/3.5mbps)/60sec

Dr. Mordrid


[This message has been edited by DrMordrid (edited 06 January 2000).]