buying a Sony DCRHC42e

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I don't have one of these, but it SHOULD work perfectly well with iMovie. Perhaps the person saying they had trouble was trying to connect it through the USB port ..that's just for still photos, or for using it as a 'webcam'. All camcorders have to be connected to iMovie via a 4-pin-to-6-pin FIREWIRE (..also known by Sony as 'i.Link', or 'DV'..) cable. There's never one in the box with a Sony camcorder, so you'll need to buy one yourself - available at any decent electronics shop.

This model appears to have DV/FireWire/i.Link both OUT and IN (..so that you can save your edited movie back to the camcorder). But note that some European models - that's what the 'E' on the end of the model number means - have only DV OUT, and not back IN, as there's extra tax in the European Union on models which have DV IN (..because they're classed as 'video recorders').

Note that, having an 'E' on the end, this model records in European PAL video format, not American NTSC format, so its video - although perfectly editable in iMovie, and giving superior resolution to American NTSC format - will NOT play back on American TVs. 'E' is for Europe, and 'PAL'.

P.S: The HC42(E) is excellent value, by the way - inexpensive for what it does!

giving superior resolution to American NTSC format

That's not very nice....

It is very nice, if you've seen it, Sue. NTSC looks soft and very fuzzy by comparison.

But even PAL doesn't look as sharp as it could, when seen on very large screen TVs - hence the move to HD (High Definition) TV, which surpasses PAL ..so in America you now have higher resolution (cable) broadcasts than we get in Europe ..at least, until next year, when HDTV broadcasts start in Europe.

maybe I like soft and fuzzy.. 😉

But yes- the HD TV broadcasts are very nice indeed!

Sue

David

How does HD shape up as a replacement for celluloid in Cinema projection. Any idea what bandwidth would be required?

I have a SONY DCRHC32e camera and I have horrendous problems importing into iMovie.

Everything is connected correctly with the right cables and iMovie always sees the camera the moment it is switched on. I can control the camera from iMovie (forward and backward) but as soon as I use Play the camera plays but nothing appears in the iMovie window. Similarly when I try to Import, the camera plays but nothing gets imported and nothing shows in the iMovie window.

So far I have always eventually managed to get it to work. It seems to involved a couple of restarts, switching off and on the camera, disconnecting all the cables and then trying again. It seems to be a totally hit and miss affair and I have not worked out what combination I need to get it all to work, it seems to be random.

Obviously this is not how it's supposed to work but I have seen no solution to this problem and there are several others posts indicating the same or similar problems.

Well, David, "celluloid" was abandoned long ago ..the last flammable films were phased out at the end of the fifties to early sixties. Films are now based on other non-flam plastics.

Unfortunately ..as I'm so romantic and nostalgic!.. HD is a pretty nigh perfect replacement for plastic films. (..sob!..)

That's partly because although video still doesn't have the resolution and range of contrast of the light-sensitive chemical emulsions on film, projecting film has a big impact on how clear and sharp the image on the screen is!

Film is transported through the projector (..and camera..) by a mechanism pulling down on 'sprocket' holes in the edges of the film. Film guidance through the projector is never perfect (..nor through the other mechanisms which are used in making the various prints and inter-negatives before the eventual cinema-shown film is put onscreen..) so the eventually-projected film generally has a little "jitter" (..up and down wobble..) and "weave" (..side to side wobble..) as it runs through the projector.

[..You can even see this on many DVDs: watch the Warner logo at the beginning of a film, and it oftens wobbles about slightly..]

This wobble - like the entire film - is magnified by the projection lens, so that a film onscreen generally bounces up and down slightly, though you don't normally see that while moving - as distinct from static - images are onscreen.

But digital projection, using a DLP projector, is rock-solid. There are no moving parts - apart from the teeny flip-up mirrors on the chip - to produce 'jitter & weave' [..sounds like a firm of solicitors/lawyers..] so the apparent resolution certainly matches film, especially in large cinemas, where the 'bounce' can be more pronounced in some seats, due to the greater magnification.

So digital projection is being rapidly introduced into the States - when it's agreed between distributors and 'exhibitors' (..i.e; cinema owners..) who will pay for the installation of the equipment.

So film, as we know and love it, will disappear from 'films' and from cinemas just as it's almost disappeared from amateurs' snapshot cameras. The huge spools of film, delivered round the country by vans and lorries, will be (..are being..) replaced by hard drives, either delivered by van or by satellite download.

"I - I - I can't go on, any more" (..turns to look at 4 years' worth of trailer spools stored in cupboards around him..) "What will become of all my darlings?" ..Answer: they'll be transferred to video, and film will waddle off to museums.

..'Scuse me while I pack my bags for another visit to Bradford..

Thanks David

My interest is that I spend a lot of time working for our local Theatre and Arts Centre which also runs as an independent Cinema with recent releases 30-35 weeks a year. As Treasurer I have for a while counselled against further investment in projection equipment as I see the end coming.

What we can't predict is whether it will be the end of the small cinema if all sorts of locations can install a digital system and films are reproduced in bulk or downloaded. At present we have a certain exclusivity because there is only a (small) finite number of prints in the country and they are moved around every Thursday night.

Thanks again for the information.

The figure I would like to know is, taking dv as 2GB for 9 minutes, how many GB per minute would be equivalent to a contemporary projector?

If you have an interest make contact next time you have your boat in Dorset.

For an independent cinema with your own catchment area - oh, hang on; what's this topic? " buying a Sony DCRHC42e"..?

Well, here's a short reply, a bit off the main topic, but it may be of interest to other iMovie users (..I hope..)

Briefly: with your own catchment area, or clientele, not in severe competition with a multiplex, you may be assured of customers continuing to come to your cinema. I don't think that digital projection will oust film prints in the next 10 years, though by then I'd guess a majority of multiplexes will have switched to digital.

Rank/deluxe (..the warehouse which holds most UK films..) is bidding for the contract to store hard drives, so they'll continue storing films for the present - but their costs are paid by the major distributors, and if the distributors say "we won't pay film storage costs any longer" a problem will arise. (..I'll post a video soon of the warehouse, if you like..)

The BFI (British Film Institure) may be coerced into warehousing more films, or another party may store reduced numbers of prints till the 35mm copies get so worn that they're taken out of circulation.

35mm projection should still be viable for you for 10 years. I wouldn't invest now in digital projection (..too expensive, and insufficient films available in digital format..) but I'd make sure that your 35mm equipment is up to scratch. [..I put 5.1 surround sound in mine using a stereo head for the normal optical track, and then ran that through a pre-amplifier and a domestic surround decoder, thus saving many thousands of pounds which 'proper' cinema surround equipment would have cost. And it sounded fantabulous!]

Digital projectors (..by Christie and Barco..) deliver only the equivalent of about 2048x1080, or 1280xsomething, pixels - at present - but the throughput or storage or whatever figure you're looking for depends entirely on the compression that's used for the film data. (..Just as the higher resolution 1080i HDV video - compared with standard definition 720x576 [PAL] - doesn't use any more space or 'bandwidth' on the recording tape, because it's packaged as higher compression MPEG-2, compared with lesser-compression DV..)

So you may be able to improve your presentation with (a) cleaned, or newer, lenses if you use old or dirty ones; (b) 5.1 surround sound instead of ordinary stereo - or mono! - if that's what you currently have; (c) a new screen from Harkness Hall (..quite cheap if you hang it yourself: easily done..) - or several other simple and easy upgrades ..nicer seats, for instance..

But I'd advise against buying digital projection right now: I'd say stick with 35mm and 16mm at present for your kind of cinema.

..And, er, the French coast next summer, I think..

/back to the Main Topic..!

Paul, I have a DCR-HC42E ... 2 weeks ago I purchased my new imac G5, and so far imovie still wont recognize my camera!!! {never had a computer prior to this to compare.] Phoned apple support, rather vexed to be told "you need to speak to sony". Of coarse i have tried all ideas and comments mentioned on support/discussion pages, and STILL it wont have it! My next move is to try camera out on friends mac's ... anyway keep you posted if you so wish !
regards Cooper

Hello All:

Read this discussion regarding a similar camera. The last thread from David Babsky tells all of the troubleshooting methods

John Powell3, "Sony HDV HDR-HC1=Apple's problem, not my problem", 12:20am Nov 9, 2005 CDT

Sue

Many thanks David, yes a little off topic but interesting and informed.

As a final point is it you in the list of interviewees in the Screen Digest Report on the Implications of Digital Technology for the film Industry?

Er ..thinks back.. yes, I believe it was. I spent a day talking with Ben Whatsisname of Screen Digest, back in, er, 2001..?

I can't remember much about it ..oh: I just re-read it (..there's also a link to the easier-to-read PDF version at the top of that page)..

It's is an old (2002) Report, and - like everything produced by consultants - is a mixture, or cobbling-together, of many people's ideas, and is just, really, a resumé of late-2001/early-2002 thoughts. It's not necessarily a way forward, master plan or clear indicator of anything. Progress is generally driven by commercial considerations, not by pie-in-the-sky dreaming.

So it's a collection of concepts, but not a policy!