Digital Video: It's All About Playback

Continuing their survey of MiniDV technology, Angela and Steve ponder the problem of getting a look at your recordings once you've made them. First, MiniDV may offer a solution for making fresh recordings of stuff you taped to VHS (remember VHS?) back in the day. Many MiniDV cameras will let you plug the video-out jacks from your old camcorder directly into them so that you can record digital versions of your old tapes, and some will let you pass that digital signal directly to a computer so you can edit it first.

And then there's the process of moving your freshly shot footage to ... something else. Ideally, your camera will have an output that matches one of the inputs on your computer so you can edit your footage and eventually make DVDs of it. There are two possible choices in the MiniDV category: FireWire (IEEE 1394, I.Link) and faithful old USB, with a slight edge given to the (faster) FireWire if it's available on your system. (Readers preparing to debate the Duo on the relative speed of FireWire vs. USB 2.0 are invited to drop it already.)

A number of specialized camcorder features involve shooting in low light. Some have lights built in--they're not terribly flattering, but they can help in really dark situations. Others have special modes that can shoot in almost any light, or have an infrared-light mode. Usually you lose color in the darkest situations, but the ultimate result can be a cool "special effect."

And the list goes on, since these cameras come with an almost unimaginable range of features that you will almost never consider using, even if you can figure out how. Depending on the model, you can shoot in black and white, sepia, or pastel, and do all sorts of fades, dissolves, and tints. But the Duo suggest you not bother. A good editing package has all these effects and more, with the added advantage of allowing you to undo an effect if it doesn't strike your fancy.

Playback is pretty straightforward: if you don't want to go to the trouble of editing your footage or burning a DVD, you can just connect the camcorder to a TV. Simple enough, but there are a couple of things to watch out for. At the very bottom of the market, some camcorders don't include remote controls. That can be a real nuisance unless you like sitting really close to the set. And a few don't offer an S-Video port, which forces you to use a standard cable (the one with the yellow connector). The result is that you can't see all the quality that's on the tape. But by and large, these cameras have taken the home video world by storm, and MiniDV is the de facto standard for digital video outside of the professional world. But, as the Duo note, it isn't the only game in town.