i have imove4. I want a cheap digital camcorder so my kids can play with it but want to make movies to play on the tv. I was looking at the flip 30 or 60 min one. but a review said editing on mac wasnt good (video format??) Also the RCA small wonder which has expansion with memory cards. havent got much farther and thought i should ask you guys, that may own one and work on a mac.
1. Some say they are tv quality. does that mean 640x480 30 fps??
2. Video format?? what format do i need to bring into imove?
Thanks for any help.
Kelly

1. 640x480 is VGA quality. It is higher resolution than standard TV quality.
2. DV camcorder. It will cheaper and less troublesome to buy a camcorder with a DV out capability (i.e., Firewire out). Otherwise you will need to purchase a Canopus ADVC-110 video converter, which adds more expense and more complexity.

The Mac is most reliable platform for video editing, because the software and hardware are more tightly integrated. It's not perfect - but more perfect than a Windows or Linux PC. Either iMovie8 or any previous version would be want kids need. It claims to be Mac OS X compatible - but what do Flip owners say on the web?

My sister has one of these which she bought about a month ago. She's been pretty pleased. She originally got it from Amazon and the first unit konked out right away. Amazon promptly sent out a replacement. She exchanged it for the most expensive model which is about $150. It does 640-480 at 30fps. This would be the model you would do best with, not any of the cheaper ones. It is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and the movie are avi format. they play in Quicktime on the Mac and she uploads them to a site affiliated with Flip. She hasn't tried editing. She likes it so much she is giving my daughter one for Xmas to take video of the new child.
You can google "avi to mov conversion Mac" to peruse programs for .avi to .mov conversion.

Not sure what your idea of "cheap" is. You can't go wrong with this Canon ZR800.

I would pop for the 199.00 Canon. As Chuck says it's firewire ready without having to buy a converter box. Canon makes a good product. It's a simple camera, and it works well with the Mac.

My 2 Cents

I have a Canon myself. However, it depends upon what you want to do with it. My digital camera takes movies at 640x480, so I have no need of a really small, easy to tuck into my purse or shirt pocket video camera that does the same thing. For my sister, this was perfect. For me, it is unnecessary.

im a little confused. the flip video (60 min. one) format is MPEG4 AVI can i open & edit that in imovie4? or do i need that Canopus ADVC-110 video converter?
it says that their editing software doesnt work on a mac so im wondering if i can use imovie.
Kelly

I don't believe iMovie 4 will edit MPEG 4 AVI's directly.

quote:

Originally posted by poobelly:
im a little confused. the flip video (60 min. one) format is MPEG4 AVI can i open & edit that in imovie4? or do i need that Canopus ADVC-110 video converter?
it says that their editing software doesnt work on a mac so im wondering if i can use imovie.
Kelly

Sp what formats does it edit directly? How about .mov?

.mov and .dv

You need a camera that records video in the .dv filetype. That is usually done on tape and connected to your computer by a Firewire cable. Those camcorders are more expensive, but much easier to use. You may want to buy a used one.
Most manufacturers websites are VERY poor when it comes to explaining what you're buying. It would be best to call Canon, Sony, JVC, and Panasonic to find out if they can meet your needs (i.e., MPEG-2 or .dv file output via Firewire, USB, or DVD-R/RW connections).

You should probably avoid "off brands" like Flip, Hitachi, RCA, Fisher, etc., etc.

Even if you could, you wouldn't want to edit an MPEG4 file anyway, if it involves decompression. MPEG4 is a lower quality video than MPEG2, the compression used in "true" DV camcorders. .dv and .mov filetypes are identical inside - Quicktime appends some data and calls it an .mov filetype. But with .dv, there's no compression-decompression cycle - which is death to good looking video. Bad video probably means bored kids who wouldn't play with it.

Poobelly: you only need the Canopus ADVC-110 converter to convert analog (composite) video that might also come out of low-end camcorders, like the Flip camcorder. I mentioned it previously because there are still analog camocorders available, but they're getting rare. You could buy a used analog camcorder for 10¢ on the dollar, and let the kids play with that. The Canopus converter costs about $225. The kids won't like it - it's just too complex to be fun.

The .avi format would get Poobelly's kids in trouble most likely, so the Flip is not the best camera. .avi is a Windows format, and 95% of all editors cannot edit .avi files directly. They must be converted to another format - which is BAD always. I don't know the capabilities of Premiere on the Mac, but on Windows machines it edits .avi files without conversion. However, buying more software (Premiere) and hardware (a converter) would defeat the purpose of a cheap setup for the kids.

Wow thanks for all the info. i make little movies of all my mini movies that i get off my old canon SD110. i import them into imovie then make one big movie. will i be able to do that with the flip video files? i dont have much time to edit and now that i think about it i dont do any. i just link them together. i really wanted something small, with AA batterys as a back up for in my car. im a mom of two young girls and love to always have a camera.

There seems to be quite a selection of .avi to .mov format. As to how well the output would look, I cannot say. My sister does the same kind of thing you seem to want to do. She says the movies look fine on her computer. The small size would probably mean you would keep it easily at hand, even in your purse, to capture those "moments". It does not sound like you need exotic editing, just linking. Having something that is actually small enough to put in your pocket has merit.

Quicktime can play these movies. Perhaps Quicktime Pro (it costs about $30 to upgrade) can link and export them. There is a menu item for New Movie, and another for Add to Movie, so, since QT can play those movies off the Flip, perhaps it can capture them and link them. Maybe you can find someone who has one that you can try. My sister said she saw Oprah using one recently on her show taking a video of a guest which she said she was going to put up on YouTube immediately.

A good site with lots of reviews and specs is http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

As was stated, you need a camera that will do DV format to use with iMovie 4.

To capture in iMovie 4, I believe you need Firewire. USB will not work in iMovie 4, but I think it does in iMovie '08.

I would recommend the camcorder that Terry mentioned above. Amazon has about the best price. ABT has it cheaper by $10, but you pay $11 something in tax in Michigan.

Terry said iMovie would accept both .dv and .mov. For small 640x480 a Canon digital camera would do. Mine does .mov 640x480 at 30fps. For spur of the moment flix I use my digital camera, since I usually always have it in my purse. I keep it charged up and I have the largest SD card in there that it can take. For pre-planned things I use my regular Canon video camcorder, but it is certainly much bigger and I don't carry it unless I have pre-planned to do so. They go right into the computer in iPhoto, and of course you can get them off the card separately also and put them in your Movies Folder if you want and do anything you want with them, even in iMovie.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Donna,

Yes, but that has nothing to do with CAPTURE. iMovie 4 uses Firewire devices ONLY for device control and capture. If you want to go through some other method of getting the video off the camera/device and then convert it to .mov or .dv then you can import the video into iMovie.

The SIMPLEST solution is a camcorder that has a firewire port and captures in DV.

quote:

Originally posted by Donna:
Terry said iMovie would accept both .dv and .mov.

I don't know if the original poster is still evaluating her purchase decision, but my sister just pulled in the video from her Flip into iMovie and it imported fine, audio synched and all. I asked her to try out of curiosity. She says "It works just fine playing directly from the flipvideo camera to the TV. I played it on my smaller tv and it was not bad at all. Also transfered video clips to imovie, added sound too, but having never done anything like this before I don't know how or if a movie can be edited and burned to a dvd." I assume if she can get the video into iMovie, she can make a movie, even combining clips, and write it out with iDVD. Correct? The reason I am asking is that I know she is buying one for my daughter as a "new baby" present and I hope it will be usable on the Mac.

There are a number of websites which indicate that various Flip camcorders work with various versions of iMovie.

More info is listed here. Another possible workflow is listed here, using Flip4Mac, Microsoft's Quicktime plug-in. It's a download.

Therefore, .avi-.dv conversion software is necessary for editing, and that will degrade the video. The Flip conversion software also includes a Flip advertisement at the end of every conversion. Shameless self promotion.

So, depending on your budget and expectations, choose the appropriate camera. Hopefully the kids aren't going to get involved in Internet problems by posting inappropriate videos. Also, if their needs don't require a moveable camera, you can use a USB webcam, which is even cheaper than the lowest cost Flips. Or maybe you have one somewhere already?