PE Exam videos

[TechMonkey]

Any one have a hand in sorting these out? PE teacher wanted to get all up to date and use their spangly DVI video cameras to produce Exam pieces on DVD. Easy I said. Little memory bobbed up that we had tried this before and the Exam Board had got arsey about it so got her to check. Yep I was right, exam board only accept VHS (WHY OH WHY!!! Exam boards are an FFS of their own). So teh current thinking is to edit the tape on a laptop transfer back to DVI and then record fromt eh camera on to VHS. Is laptop back to DVI possible? I thought it was but don't want to make a fool of myself! If it isn't can anyone think of a way to get from laptop to VHS?

 

EDIT: Just checked Movie Maker and it has a "Record back to DV tape" option so it may be all right just long winded. Any better ways then?

Edited February 6, 2008 by TechMonkey
Being a muppet

[laserblazer]

I'd do it to dvd and then copy from a dvd player to VHS. We've got loads of dvd/vhs combo players. The easiest way to get it back onto tape is using a digital camcorder with dv in but that seems a bit laborious to me.

 

Send them a copy of the dvd as well as vhs with a note underlining 2008.

Edited February 6, 2008 by laserblazer

[ICT_GUY]

DVI from laptop to camera is possible. BUT

 

Manufactures pay an added tax if they include this facility.

 

So most cheap cameras might not allow you to record back.

[torledo]

Any one have a hand in sorting these out? PE teacher wanted to get all up to date and use their spangly DVI video cameras to produce Exam pieces on DVD. Easy I said. Little memory bobbed up that we had tried this before and the Exam Board had got arsey about it so got her to check. Yep I was right, exam board only accept VHS (WHY OH WHY!!! Exam boards are an FFS of their own). So teh current thinking is to edit the tape on a laptop transfer back to DVI and then record fromt eh camera on to VHS. Is laptop back to DVI possible? I thought it was but don't want to make a fool of myself! If it isn't can anyone think of a way to get from laptop to VHS?

 

EDIT: Just checked Movie Maker and it has a "Record back to DV tape" option so it may be all right just long winded. Any better ways then?

 

DVI video camera ? never heard of one of them.....what was wrong with firewire and good old fashioned DV tape (i'm guessing his DVI camera *LOL* is a new fangled thingamy that records to disk or even worse, records to DVD)

[dhicks]

If it isn't can anyone think of a way to get from laptop to VHS?

 

Does the laptop have an s-video (TV-out) port? You can plug those straight into some VCRs. Or does the laptop have a video out port (small yellow connector)? You can plug those straight into some VCRs or via a SCART adapter. If the laptop doesn't have a video-out port you can get them on PCMCIA cards for around £20.

 

--

David Hicks

[gaz350]

DVI video camera ? never heard of one of them.....what was wrong with firewire and good old fashioned DV tape (i'm guessing his DVI camera *LOL* is a new fangled thingamy that records to disk or even worse, records to DVD)

 

i think DVI = DV just a mistake!

[TechMonkey]

i think DVI = DV just a mistake!

Yep sorry, too many acronyms!

 

Soooooo, looks like I need to check the camera. If that doesn't accept DV in then it could be a case of hooking the laptop to the VCR via s-video (which I'm pretty sure they have) and doing it that way.

 

What a faff! What with AQA e-testing, the promissor debacle and their general backwardness I'm really beginning to generate a dislike of exam boards.

[enjay]

Our DV cam came with a DV-to-red/white/yellow composite cable, so we can chuck it straight into the Line-In on a VHS recorder, hit 'play' on the camera and 'record' on the VHS.

 

If you want/need to go via the laptop for editing purposes, then I'd burn from the laptop to DVD and then use a DVD/VHS combo to transfer it from there.

 

LOL @ only taking VHS though! The music bits of the exam boards are equally picky about the formats they accept for composition performances, i.e. MP3, CD, cassette! i suspect that similar weirdness surrounds MFL oral exams too.

[laserblazer]

is a new fangled thingamy that records to disk or even worse, records to DVD

 

There's nothing wrong with Hard Disk camcorders. Great for teachers who will lose, wreck or overwrite a tape. But agreed about DVD cameras, avoid like the plague. With 32GB SDHC cards now available I'm sure this is the way things will go. No moving parts

Edited February 6, 2008 by laserblazer
Dyslexic!

[torledo]

is a new fangled thingamy that records to disk or even worse, records to DVD

 

There's nothing wrong with Hard Disk camcorders. Great for teachers who will lose, wreck or overwrite a tape. But agreed about DVD cameras, avoid like the plague. With 32GB SDHC cards now available I'm sure this is the way things will go. No moving parts

 

32gig SDHC cards are only really feasible with the newer AVCHD standard for consumer high-def. As a format and media combo i'd imagine that works a treat. Unfortunately first generation attemps at hard disk recording have given non-tape recording a very bad name. Unfortunately as i recall those attempts used proprieary formats or stored the clips in compressed MPEG-2. Not good for editing with.

 

DV tape is actually very reliable and very econonmical for shooting consumer HDV...as i said AVCHD is the new kid on the block and with solid state technology is very appealing.

[torledo]

Our DV cam came with a DV-to-red/white/yellow composite cable, so we can chuck it straight into the Line-In on a VHS recorder, hit 'play' on the camera and 'record' on the VHS.

 

If you want/need to go via the laptop for editing purposes, then I'd burn from the laptop to DVD and then use a DVD/VHS combo to transfer it from there.

 

LOL @ only taking VHS though! The music bits of the exam boards are equally picky about the formats they accept for composition performances, i.e. MP3, CD, cassette! i suspect that similar weirdness surrounds MFL oral exams too.

 

I agree asking for NEW work on VHS must be some kind of sick joke. The VHS player should be consigned to the dustbin as soon as people have moved their old VHS footage onto hard disk or DV tape.

[dhicks]

DV tape is actually very reliable and very econonmical for shooting consumer HDV...

 

It's somewhat fiddly to deal with in a classroom, though - it's way easier to simply pull an SD card out of a camera, bung it in a card reader and copy-and-paste it across to the computer.

 

I seem to remember being able to edit the MPEG-compressed files that come off our snazzy new HDD camcorder in Windows Movie Maker okay, too - I'll have to double-check that. I would have thought if Movie Maker could handle them anything could!

 

--

David Hicks

[torledo]

It's somewhat fiddly to deal with in a classroom, though - it's way easier to simply pull an SD card out of a camera, bung it in a card reader and copy-and-paste it across to the computer.

 

I seem to remember being able to edit the MPEG-compressed files that come off our snazzy new HDD camcorder in Windows Movie Maker okay, too - I'll have to double-check that. I would have thought if Movie Maker could handle them anything could!

 

--

David Hicks

 

what's fiddly about connecting to usb, pressing play and going off for a cup of tea while it captures to the timeline of the editor.

 

You'd be surprised how restrictive some of those devices were. Being able to capture in WMM didn't necessarily mean being able to capture in imovie or another editor of choice. I'd imagine that capturing and editing in highly compressed MPEG-2 oe MPEG-4 is extremely cpu intensive. Plus you're not editing in a high quality format with mpeg.

[SYNACK]

I'd imagine that capturing and editing in highly compressed MPEG-2 oe MPEG-4 is extremely cpu intensive. Plus you're not editing in a high quality format with mpeg.

 

You are kind if right about mpeg4 for very high quality files but mpeg2 is a very simple and comparatively cpu cheap format so is easy for any modern system to handle. The quality just depends on how much bitrate you are willing to use, for example the HDV standard uses mpeg2 to enable HD quality video to be stored on mini-DV tapes.

 

The new editing software for HD gets around cpu and hard drive limitations by creating a low def preview file that is sliced up and altered during the editing process. When you are finished it renders all of the effects and edits to the full HD footage ready for it to be output to whatever medium you prefer.

[torledo]

You are kind if right about mpeg4 for very high quality files but mpeg2 is a very simple and comparatively cpu cheap format so is easy for any modern system to handle. The quality just depends on how much bitrate you are willing to use, for example the HDV standard uses mpeg2 to enable HD quality video to be stored on mini-DV tapes.

 

The new editing software for HD gets around cpu and hard drive limitations by creating a low def preview file that is sliced up and altered during the editing process. When you are finished it renders all of the effects and edits to the full HD footage ready for it to be output to whatever medium you prefer.

 

sorry, forgot that hdv uses mpeg2 long GOP for compression on miniDV. I think it's a real bugbear for people who are doing more advanced video editing, mainly because of quality rather than any performance penalties....my understanding is they like to capture and edit in anything but HDV - because of the compression used. Uncompressed capture doesn't yield any significant benefit but DVCPRO HD is a very popular format for both acquistion, editing and subsequent mastering of the final edit.

 

I believe DVCPRO HD is the industry standard used by the broadcast industry for accepting documentary/ENG work.

 

But most interesting are the two relatively new techniques that could have a significant effect on how low budget editing is accomplishmed are the AVCHD format and the Apple ProRes codec in final cut pro.