Questions about camera stuff.

Jokke

Hi!

First off, I guess this section is related mostly to taking pictures, not shooting video, but I figure these are closely related subjects.
I just bought a camcorder (are they really called that?), a Panasonic HDC-TM60. It seems to be working OK, but I have a few questions:

1. It's apparently shooting in Full HD (1920x1080). Any way to set this to Standard Definition? Reason I'm asking is that playback on my computer is really choppy and jumpy, and the sound sync is way off. Don't know how related these things are, I just think it could be the HD. Manual doesn't say if it's possible or not, so I'm guessing it isn't.

2. It has a weird file format called .mts. No problem, I just use Total Video Converter, which will convert to most any file type. My question is: are there filetypes better than others? What is the consequences of converting a video, or rather, what does the file type really have to say for the playback of the video?

3. In playback (as seen on the last posted video here) there are some faint, but visible "waves" across the video. These show up in both the .mts and .avi videos, so I don't think it has something to do with conversion. Could it be interference from my computer, or the indoor lights, as suggested in the manual, or could it be settings on my camera? You will also note the sound is not in sync with the video.

I hope you will be able to answer my questions, feel free to ask if you need clarification on some points.

Thanks in advance
Regards
Jokke

mertesn

There may not be a way to force it to standard definition, but you can most likely turn down the quality and that may help. It looks like your quality settings are (in descending order) HA, HG, HX, HE. Try one of the lower settings and see if your laptop can handle it better.

.MTS files are MPEG-2 Transport Stream files. This is the only file container your camera uses for video recording. If you want to skip the conversion step, you could use VLC (http://www.videolan.org). It is able to read the files without any extra software or conversion required. A much better program to use to convert the video is Handbrake (http://build.handbrake.fr for the most up-to-date version).

I'm going to take a guess on the third problem and say it could be an issue with your shutter speed. Maybe try changing the scene mode. It shouldn't be a problem with your computer. If the audio is out of sync on both the original .mts and the converted .avi, it may be that your computer can't play the file back at the recorded settings. If it's just the .avi it was likely a problem with the conversion process (again, I recommend Handbrake).

Hope this helps
Nick

Jokke

Thanks for your speedy and informative reply Nick!

I tried decreasing video quality to the lowest, HE, and shot a test video. No improvement in frame rate, still choppy on my laptop IN .MTS FORMAT! when I encode/convert the video using Handbrake, the chopping disappears. That, plus I can't upload .mts to viddler makes it almost a necessity to convert, IMO. I also fiddled around with shutter settings a little, but I must admit I have no clue what I'm doing or what is better. I understand shutter speed has something to do with how fast the camera open/closes something, but what is better; 1/50, 1/100, and upwards. What do those numbers mean? I adjusted it to 1/125, which seemed to make the "flickering" worse (or I'm just a terrible filmer). Keeping the camera steady doesn't give any flicker, but when moving it around, it starts. Again, the flickering disappears after conversion.

Jokke

Jokke

I played around a little and so far the best result is with quality set to HX, shutter 1/125, and converting the video. No chopping, no flimmering, good audio sync.

mertesn

Using the .m4v container when converting your videos will work just fine for viddler uploading. Glad to hear the settings helped!

Jokke

Yeah, thanks again, Nick. There are so many setting to mess around with, and I have no clue what half of them do. Well, guess that's what manuals are for!

Trumandrummer

Hey man,

I have the same camcorder. Sorta

I have the Panasonic HDC-SD60. Its the same exact camcorder only yours had built in memory and take SD cards. Mine only takes SD cards (no built in memory)

I don't think there is any way to set it to record in Standard Definition.
But did you install the HD Writer software that came with the camera ?
Also try VLC media player if that don't work.
When I play my videos back on a few other programs, like Nero, they look bad, and skip.

HD writer, and VLC media player seem to work flawlessly for me with playback of videos even at the highest quality settings.

Also are you using a memory card, or the built in memory?
A lot of these new HD camcorders require faster memory cards, otherwise it can mess up the video. Its recommended that you use a HC-SD card at a speed of at least "Class 6". Amazon has a "Transcend 16gb Class 10" for $25 bucks, very good deal. Card works flawlessly, just as good as my name brand San Disk which can cost 3x more.

When I upload videos to the net. Youtube etc. I use Adobe Premier, it can save the videos in .mpeg format, without loss of quality or resolution.


As far as the shutter speeds. It is a video camera so you don't have nearly as many shutter options as a DSLR type camera. But basically if your shooting video and it seems to dark, you lower the shutter speed to let more light in. Same goes for it its to bright.... turn up the shutter speed. I think 1/30 is as low is this camcorder will go.

This camcorder tends to do GREAT in day time. But in the dark the video gets a bit grainy. To compensate for that, use manual shooting mode. Set the IRIS settings to a lower number. Instead of "18db" try "9db" or lower.

This will darken the video, so to compensate for the darker video, turn the SHTR lower like 1/30 instead of 1/100, which should lighten the video back up.

The settings will vary on how dark it is... So it will take some playing around with. But this will remove SOME of the grain from those darker videos.

I hope this helps a little.
Its a very nice little camcorder that produces some very nice video. It has amazing zoom capabilities. It just gets a bit grainy in low light.

Jokke

Thank you, Trumandrummer, very informative. I do use VLC for playback, and I don't use the memory card. For converting I use Handbrake. The video skips during playback on VLC, and there are some weird "waves" across the screen, especially noticeable when I move the camera around. I have been messing around with the settings, but I have no clue what's causing it.