I yesterday did my first test capture of video recorded with my new JVC GR-D295US MiniDV Digital Camcorder(through a firewire connection) and tried all my numerous(4) capturing software programs which all "recognized the signal coming and the model of my JVC camcorder). But Unfortunately I got unacceptably jerky recording with All the captures and I'm suspecting that the settings I used the camera video shutter itself are what makes things taped or recorded So very "jerky" when panning slowly. I WAS also using the "anti-jiggle" function. I guess my question is: My camcorder has quite a number of optional shutter speed settings in it's Menu. I chose 1/250(I think)...Should I have let the camera chose "automatically" which is best? And IF so, HOW do I set it to do that. There wasn't any "Automatic" setting, but I think one on the choices in the shutter speed Menu was "None"....Is That the one? Does That mean the camcorder automatically choses for itself based on the available light and circumstances, etc? HELP...I need to take a VERY important video recording soon, ans want to to pan smoothly, not in jerks, as it did with that setting!
Well, I don't think that the shutter speed is your problem. If it looks OK on the LCD of the camcorder itself, the recording is OK. I assume that you captured using Firewire an did not do any conversion (you can check: if it is an AVI and the size is around 2GB for 9 minutes). DV-AVI is not the best format to play back on you PC and I suspect that your "jerky" video is not a problem of the video file itself, but a problem of playing it on your PC. Depending on hwo you want to distribute your final result you will have to convert it to another format: MPEG-1 for videoCD, MPEG-2 for DVD, wmv or divX (or many others) for PC playback and/or Internet distribution.
The capture options I always chose were in MPEG-2 for DVD. Yes, they all were by firewire with no "conversion" that I know of.
That is not the right thing to do for two reasons: 1. If you capture directly to MPEG-2, the encoding has to be done in real-time while the video comes in. This means that low quality settings are being used for the MPEG-encoding. 2. Editing MPEG footage is quite difficult. It also results in the fact that it gets re-encoded, whic reduced the quality again. Capture in DV-AVI, edit your footage and when you're done encode it to MPEG using high quality settings.
OK, thanks I'll see if my software give me the option to capture in AVI...Hummm, don't remember that being a choice in my capture options. A "real time" option was listed and another about quality as compared to speed, but I don't recall AVI being listed as a capture option. I'll check. But also back to my original question. Is chosing in the camcorder menu for a certain (mid-range) shutter speed the best all around option? Or the "None" choice....would THAT let my JVC MiniDV chose the "appropriate speed itself?
There certainly is a DV-AVI capture possibility in almost every video capturing program. About the shutter speed: in general doing it "all automatic" will give good results. A higher shutter speed can be selected with very high dynamic footage (like fast sports games), a low shutter speed to create a more relaxed atmosphere (like a dinner under candlelight).
OK, thanks again. I'll look tonight for the DV-AVI option on my software. Here's a lame question. If you have similar JVC MiniDV...is the "None" shutter speed choice the same as "Automatic"? I think that is generally what I use because the "speed" of the objects filmed won't change much in my recordings(no race cars, usually). But there many time is a wide range of available light changes.
