The software that came with the dcr-hc42 is a bit depressing, seems to me it is only for making music videos. I would like to edit my home movies / and send them to the inlaws via the internet but the 1min 30secs of video that I did manage to copy to my computer is 600mb in size and they have a dial up connection. Also the only file transfer software I have is through yahoo messanger and they only allow transfers under 100mb. Is there somthing I'm missing with the software that will let me edit my home movies (i don't have a memory stick yet and no i-link either), and how can I make my videos smaller without making them shorter so I can send them. The default file type is avi. Thanks in advance!
You could set up your own ftp site for about $10 permonth. The best way is to put your stuff on a DVD and mail it for a buck twenty five. Movie files are just too big. Hei lung 11/7/05
One of the best formats to distribute movies over Internet is currently wmv. You can convert any type to wmv using the free wmv encoder from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx By setting different parameters in the encoder you can make your own trade-off between quality and file size. There are several options to distribute your movies. E-mail, use a service like dropload (http://www.dropload.com) or put them on a a free hosting website like http://www.vidilife.com but if your inlaws only have a 56k dial-up, they are going to spend a lot of time downloading the movies... If you're interested to learn a bit more about video editing, look at the site, mentioned in my signature below.
I use a software program called Pinnacle Studio and even though a lot of people say bad thigs about it, I have enjoyed it without any problems. I have burned about 10 DVDs and sent numerous videos in e-mail and all have worked great!! You can convert the transfered video to about any format that you need for various projects.
How is it that I can preview clips of movies and the such and they only show up at around 10-30mb and mine is over 600. What is the difference with streaming video and am I able to do it? Also does anyone know anything about editing normal video with the hc42 or do I need to get another program. I will check out the site in your sig also. Thanks again.
The difference is the compression that is used. The higher the compression, the smaller the file but also the lower the quality. Check this article http://www.digitalvideoclub.com/basics/encoding.php There are many different prgrams that you can use for editing. In chapter 6 of this page you will find a number of programs http://www.digitalvideoclub.com/basics/editing.php