Richard Miller wrote:
Will these DV files coming right off the camcorder play in a Rev player object without being converted first?
If the camera records to tape it's probably using DV format, and that plays well with QT. It's uncompressed, though, or at least not very compressed, so you'll see a huge difference in size if your final output uses Sorensen, MPEG, or other good compressor.
But these days in increasing number of consumer camcorders record to flash memory, and few if any of those use the DV format because it's so large. The format such cameras use varies depending on model.
For example, one of my favorite pieces of backpacking gear is my Aiptek MZDV, which has a decent still and video camera along with MP3 player and voice recorder, all in a very small, lightweight package that can be found for less than US$150. Though listed as saving in MPEG-4 format, the MPEG-4 spec is really just a framework for codecs and not a specific codec itself. The actual codec used turns out to be a fairly rare one which is supported only by Microsoft's WMV architecture. Fortunately there's a utility for OS X which converts most WMVs (<http://www.easywma.com/wmv/>), including these, into MOVs for use on Macs (and in all fairness to Aiptek, their latest camcorders now record directly in a Mac-compatible MOV format).
Running the output from this camera through a converter hasn't been a problem for me, but if looking to support reads directly from the camera it's worth noting the range of formats digital memory-based cameras use. Some will be easier to deal with than others.
-- Richard Gaskin Managing Editor, revJournal _______________________________________________________ Rev tips, tutorials and more: http://www.revJournal.com _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list use-revolution@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
