Black Friday looms...

BobMoyer wrote on 11/22/2012, 10:48 AM
Well, it is that time of the year again and my wife wants my Christmas list. I have been thinking of a "HC-X900M " but since this is a whole new world for me (I have only worked with standard definition and only on personal vacations and the grandsons' adventures.), I have a simple question for now: Should I install the "HD Writer 4.1 CD-ROM Software" that is included? Currently, I am using VP10/Win7 and I don't want to mess up anything.

Thanks,

Bob

Comments

Kimberly wrote on 11/22/2012, 11:26 AM
What does the HD Writer do?
Often the software they give you at no charge with the device is lame. In my experience, it seldom hurts anything, but it does add barnacles to your system when you realize you don't really want it : )
BobMoyer wrote on 11/22/2012, 11:40 AM
Thank you for your reply. I really don't have any idea what it does. I didn't know if it was needed to get the files imported into Vegas properly or if Vegas can do it alone. If it is not needed, then, "if" I get the camera, I won't install the software. Thanks again.

Bob
john_dennis wrote on 11/22/2012, 12:01 PM
Given my past experience with included applications, I would avoid it. Try dragging the files from the SD card to your hard drive using Windows Explorer. That's how I manage the files from my son's AVCHD camera.

It's possible you may have a glitch stitching together files that cross the FAT32 file size boundary, 2GB?, 4GB?. Most people don't shoot scenes that run that long, however.

Do a full image backup of your system prior to the installation of the software, then if you don't like it, restore the system image and forget it ever happened.
BobMoyer wrote on 11/22/2012, 1:49 PM
Thank you both. If Santa delivers, I probably will not install the additional software.

Bob
JohnnyRoy wrote on 11/22/2012, 2:08 PM
> "Try dragging the files from the SD card to your hard drive using Windows Explorer. That's how I manage the files from my son's AVCHD camera. "

I would use View | Device Explorer if it supports your camera. Simply dragging the files from the SD card does not stitch together shots that exceed the 4GB FAT32 SD card limitation but Device Explorer does. It also avoids name clashes.

~jr
ushere wrote on 11/23/2012, 4:47 AM
+1 jr's suggestion
Chienworks wrote on 11/23/2012, 7:06 AM
Files from my JVC AVCHD camcorder stitch together perfectly on the timeline doing nothing other than dragging them over from the memory cards. Maybe JVC does a better job of creating the 4GB breaks.
Chienworks wrote on 11/23/2012, 7:10 AM
"Often the software they give you at no charge with the device is lame. In my experience, it seldom hurts anything, but it does add barnacles to your system"

I think Kimberly is being way too kind here. Not only have i found every piece of software that came with a camera to be utterly useless, but in many cases they have grabbed and taken over other system functions and reimplemented them in far worse ways, insidious ways that you may not realize for a long time. It seems every camera manufacturer assumes that your computer is nothing more than a tool for them to accomplish their own agenda, and anything else you may have wanted to use your computer for is immaterial. I've never seen camera software add any feature that you couldn't accomplish better without it.

Pretty much the same thing goes for manufacturers' printer drivers. Always instal the generic Microsoft driver instead.

The best use for these CDs is skeet shooting.
Peter Riding wrote on 11/23/2012, 5:37 PM
Oh dear. There is some very unscientific advice in this thread!

The software is very useful and will not take over your system.

Its use is not necessary for downloading the files though you can use it for that. If you do so and play them using the software it will play several 4gb clips as one big clip.

|'ve been using it with the X900's predecessors the TM900 and TM700 and with Vegas Pro 9, 10, 11, and 12. I'm currently running Windows 7 64 bit.

You can drop the files straight into Vegas without using the Panasonic software.

So why would you use it?

Well you can trim bits out of the original without having to re-render and without any image quality loss. So you can start your cam running earlier than you might otherwise and stop it later without getting stuck with enormous files the start and end of which you don't want or need. I use it all the time for this function.

Pete