Digital camcorders and Rev

[Richard Gaskin]

Richard Miller wrote:
> Will these DV files coming right off the camcorder play in a Rev  
> player object without being converted first?

If the camera records to tape it's probably using DV format, and that 
plays well with QT.  It's uncompressed, though, or at least not very 
compressed, so you'll see a huge difference in size if your final output 
uses Sorensen, MPEG, or other good compressor.

But these days in increasing number of consumer camcorders record to 
flash memory, and few if any of those use the DV format because it's so 
large.  The format such cameras use varies depending on model.

For example, one of my favorite pieces of backpacking gear is my Aiptek 
MZDV, which has a decent still and video camera along with MP3 player 
and voice recorder, all in a very small, lightweight package that can be 
found for less than US$150.  Though listed as saving in MPEG-4 format, 
the MPEG-4 spec is really just a framework for codecs and not a specific 
codec itself.  The actual codec used turns out to be a fairly rare one 
which is supported only by Microsoft's WMV architecture.  Fortunately 
there's a utility for OS X which converts most WMVs 
(<http://www.easywma.com/wmv/>), including these, into MOVs for use on 
Macs (and in all fairness to Aiptek, their latest camcorders now record 
directly in a Mac-compatible MOV format).

Running the output from this camera through a converter hasn't been a 
problem for me, but if looking to support reads directly from the camera 
it's worth noting the range of formats digital memory-based cameras use. 
  Some will be easier to deal with than others.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Managing Editor, revJournal
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