I agree with Johnny if you like using tape. The HV40 is a steal right now. Time to buy before that model disappears too. I can't argue with tapes as the ultimate backup of your shoot. Picture quality is sensational too.

Personally I took the leap and went with Sony XR500V. I love it. Love the Stabilizer, separate audio input and fantastic low light (and no light) capabiity. . Yes. AVCHD editing can be a bear on slower machines (for slower machines you need to transcode which is a drag but getting easier) I'm having no problem on my i5-750 editing the files as they come off the camera. I think AVCHD is here for a long time (next 5 years anyway). I thought I'd be using the Flash memory feature in my camera to record on but I have not done it yet. Harddrive has been no problem. - Paul

I do have a quad core processor so my computer shouldn't be a problem. 8mm tapes had a very long run, I've been using them for almost 20 years, but like I said, they are becoming harder to come by so going into another tape based system has it's concerns. It seems that no one is thrilled with the AVCHD format, so is there anything else to look at now or in the near future? Are all the negative things I've heard about AVCHD about poor quality or just that trying to edit it is much more difficult?

I think AVCHD quality is excellent. Amazing for the amount of compression. This is what makes the edits hard -- the compression. Takes lots of CPU power to decode it. But if you have a Quad then things should be ok, especially if you transcode the AVCHD to MXF which Vegas seems to like very much. But hopefully you'd be ok without any transcoding. I think you need to see how this works for yourself.

The thing to do is contact me (click on xberk and e-mail me via my profile) .. I'll e-mail you back some raw AVCHD files from my Sony XR500V to play with in Vegas. They are small enough to e-mail easily. Maybe there's someone else who can contribute some HDV files from a Canon HV40 or the like? --- Anyone?

I am constantly amazed by the stuff I read on this forum. So much of it is flat wrong it's frightening. And it's easy to see how people new to this, or trying to learn new methods get steered onto the wrong track.

I am constantly amazed by the stuff I read on this forum. So much of it is flat wrong it's frightening. And it's easy to see how people new to this, or trying to learn new methods get steered onto the wrong track.

Ditto

Cliff Etzel
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Perrone, what specifically was "flat wrong" on this thread?

Mike

That's what I'm wondering also - what is flat wrong? If you claim something is wrong with the information please state what it is you disagree with. I appreciate people's opinions about what they have tried whether it be a function in Vegas or with the equipment they use. As far as information, I've always been greatly helped by the people in this forum.

Nothing that hasn't been discussed a million times here and elsewhere. And you can't correct people on this forum because everyone is a friggin expert. Even those who bought their first camera a year or two ago are somehow recognized experts in camera and recording formats and archival techniques.

I've argued the AVCHD stuff so much that I am not even bothering any more. Let people learn the hard way. Whatever.

The idea that HDV has excellent picture quality is laughable. It's the weakest HD format ever put forward and most broadcasters classify it as SD and not HD. Doesn't mean it's not viable, but the suggestion to a new shooter that it's a great format is a disservice.

But no one cares. And someone is going to get there feelings hurt so I'll just let it go.

Perrone, people do care.
A lot of folks here struggle to get by with the hardware and software they can afford, not what they wish they had (like your EX1 and Xeon Dual Quadcore).
In this thread, joejon asked a question and got what I consider to be very useful answers from JohnnyRoy and xberk.
joejon is free to take their advice, search this forum or go elsewhere for advice.
I've never seen anyone here force anyone else to take their advice.
Suggestions are made and it's up to the OP to do with it as he or she sees fit.

Mike

I appreciate your clarification about your first comment. I would love to hear your opinion about AVCHD. I've used Hi8 and Digital8 for so long that all the different formats are confusing to me, but my camera is starting to have issues with some of the controls so I need to start looking. Even though I've used Vegas since it was version 4 under Sonic Foundry instead of Sony I have so much to learn and I have turned to this forum many times for help. My concern is picture quality and ease of editing. I also need to be able to archive my videos so I will have them for a long time for future use. Thanks for your help. I appreciate everyone's input.

See,

This deflection is just unnecessary. Yes, I have an EX1, and an 8 core primary editing machine. However, I also have a DVX100, an SVHS camera, and formerly a hi8. And I also have 2 core2duo desktops, and a core2duo laptop.

Additionally, because I am an editor, I have to take in everything from HDV to AVCHD, to REDCode, to Cineform RAW. I don't get to choose.

No one here is forcing anyone to take advice. But people here ask advice and hopefully expect to get answers from people who know or have practical experience. When the pinnacle of someone's experience has been tape based HDV, it's hard to say that's the best format available because they haven't USED other formats that are vastly superior. It's like telling someone who's setting up a home theater that DVD is the top of the line for home theater viewing when they've never seen BluRay or digital 2k/4k.

We are all limited by our experiences somewhat, but some things should be incredibly obvious to anyone who's spent much time in online forums. Like the fact that HDV is an incredibly compromised format. Or that HDV Tape is probably not the best storage medium in the world. Tape CAN BE an archival level storage medium, but this isn't LTO we're discussing here. This is a weak magnetic structure on VERY thin tape stock. There are people who are already seeing degradation in their DV footage from just 5 years ago. What are these things going to look like in 20 years? Heck, even doing a playback to CHECK the footage causes further loss.

There are lots of solutions out there. I just hope the newbies here do their due diligence before settling on an answer.

Alright, let's dispel some rumors and misinformation.

1. AVCHD can be of EXCELLENT quality depending on how it's used. It is not easy to edit because it was never designed for editing. So the solution is to change (transcode) the footage into a format that was designed for editing.

2. Is AVCHD going to be around for a while? You bet. Until manufacturers are able to effectively utilize wavelet compression schemes, AVCHD is going to be as good as it gets for a while.

3. Hard drives in cameras were a bad idea in the first place, and thankfully have nearly completely been phased out.

4. Flash Drives are an excellent solution. And certainly can provide all the recording a person is likely to need. They are rather inexpensive as well.

5. This is an EXCELLENT time to be looking at cameras. For $1000 you can buy a camera that 10 years ago would have been unobtainable for 10x the cost. The changing of formats is immaterial. Unlike tape, when you record to files, those files can be converted with ease. With tape, unless you have a reader for that SPECIFIC format, you're never going to be able to read it again.

6. Editing HD is quite a bit more difficult than what you are doing now. Each frame of 1080p is 5 times the size of what you are editing now. And different compression schemes can add a heavy burden beyond even that. The best solution is to buy the best camera you can afford. One that does whatever you need it to do. Then transcode that footage into whatever format your editing software works well with. It's easy, and won't cost you any money.

I AGREE 100% with what Perrone just said, and I don't get along with him.