converting for dummies

[cbb15]

Somebody give me the synopsis on converting files from .m2t to something useable.

I need links explaining all this file formatting to me. What types are the best for what purposes?

I have downloaded HDVSplit, captured my files, and now I don't have a clue.

I have Windows Movie Maker, and Ulead 6.0. Do I just need to buy Vegas or some other software?

Also, how can I capture my HDV recorded video as regular DV through Movie Maker? What settings do I need to put my camera on?

I was on the phone with canon for ever last night. Nothing solved>

Remember, I am nupid when it comes to this stuff. I am learnign though.

[Ivan Fuentes]

1.- why "to something usable"? m2t's are pretty usable

2.- if win movie maker doesn't recognize .m2t's, change their extension to .mpg

3.- to use DV mode, go to "play" mode on the hv20, press "func" button, select "menu" item -> "play/out setup2", then change "DV output" from "HDV/DV" to "DV locked".

4.- next time please, PLEASE do some searching in the forum, it's full of this very same info

[SenorKaffee]

Only Vista Movie Maker has HDV support.

[bluegrass]

I know that unless you have Windows Vista the free NLE - Windows Movie Maker only supports capturing DV. This is a downside because if you shoot HDV, which is why most people bought the 20, you need to invest in the best NLE (Non Linear Editor) you can afford. Many of us or happily capturing and working with HDV files with an investment of not much more than $130 for an NLE such as Adobe 4 ?????, Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate, Sony's low end Vegas Studio. Google these vendors and study the specs for their NLE's and read some of the feedback here on this forum to decide which one is appropriate for you. I know nothing about Ulead 6. I wouldn't even bother with it if it doesn't support HDV though. That's were you want to be even if you down rez it to SD in your NLE. As for as HDVSPLIT, I'm a strong believer in using your NLE to capture your video and it's right there ready to drag to your timeline and edit. Some folks think otherwise but that is my opinion.

If you knew where you were going to go with your video - home HDTV, regular TV, the Internet, make DVDs for home, family & friends, it would help us to make appropriate suggestions as to what file format to go with for your NLE output. I would say the majority of us probably downrez or outputs to standard DVD with our NLE, but that is a personal thing. I create some SD DVDs with my captured HDV and some of it I output to a 640 rez for posting on my website for people to click and watch. If you're brand new to using video camcorders and capturing and outputting video, I understand how daunting all of this is. It was for all of us in the beginning. Sometimes it takes months of research, trial and error and talking with others before you accomplish putting a nicely edited video onto a DVD to watch with your TV and DVD player. Don't expect for everything to fall into place without a lot of hard work and study.

To start out with, keep things small & simple. Shoot a nice 1 to 5 minute video of people, places, & scenery outdoors on a nice day. This will allow you without a whole lot of hassle to shoot some good video in HD and also not be a fairly small project to work on with your computer. You will soon find out that some things you may have imagined would go very quickly on a computer will take a long time. If you work with a 1 to 5 minute video the first couple times, it won't be so daunting to work with.

Ivan's walk though on setting up your camcorder to output an HDV tape in SD mode is one you can follow. I have never done that and I think the consensus has been that you will create a better looking SD file capturing an HDV file to your NLE and than downrez it to SD. You might experiment with both methods and see how you feel about the process and the results.

Good luck and do some research with Google, Wikipedia, and forums like this. Find out how to use the search function on all of these that I mentioned. When I find something useful but I don't want to spend all my time immediately reading the info, I like to either bookmark them or send a link to my desktop or my email address. This way I build links to some good references. In the highly sophisticated information age we live in, the secret is how to develop ways to get to useful information your searching for int the shortest time possible. Laziness is not a good attribute when using a computer to obtain information.

[DaFireMedic]

3.- to use DV mode, go to "play" mode on the hv20, press "func" button, select "menu" item -> "play/out setup2", then change "DV output" from "HDV/DV" to "DV locked".

Just a note: Make sure that you do not have the firewire cable hooked up to the camcorder, or you will not be able to access this function.