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Digital Camcorder Incompatibilities Insanity!

27 Responses (Add) | Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 8:54pm

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One of our community members by the name of James sent a very well thought out email to me the other day. He has a rant about the proprietary software that must be used by each different camcorder manufacturer. He has some excellent points that I wanted to expand on.

Hello Chris. I must rant about something for a few moments.

I am extremely annoyed with the fact that corporations like Sony, Canon, and JVC (amongst others) feel the need to restrict users to a certain video editing application by utilizing a proprietary format. What is the point of forcing us to use a certain video editing software over another? Why make users go through the process of rendering out a video to another format only to edit it in yet another video editing package? Does anyone really benefit from this?

If I want to use Sony Vegas — then let me do that! If I want to use Adobe Premiere, then I should have a right to do that as well.This goes for all other video editing software. It is common sense. It does the consumers no good in my opinion, and it has been a problem that I have seen discussed in forums for years. Why do these companies fail to take notice of this?

Do you believe it is possible in the future to have access to a video format that will allow all amatuer and professional videographers alike to edit with any software of their choosing?

I just became an Uncle recently, and I’m really excited about it. I asked my brother if they’re taking videos constantly of Xander, and he said no… just pictures. I was like “WHAT? Why not video?!?!” He replied that it’s just really difficult to manage their camcorder, etc. That’s very telling, right there.

Most digital cameras today have the ability to take movies. It may not be “amazing” quality, but I find that it’s good enough for my needs. Most cams record in an .AVI or .MP4 format. The first universal audio format was .MP3. No matter how hard other developers try to introduce new formats to compete… MP3 will still be there. Anyone can play them, and use that format. The same holds true for video recorders. In my opinion, if a video recorder doesn’t support .MP4, it’s not worth buying.

I agree with James. This proprietary stuff needs to go. We need to be able to just use the hardware and software of our choosing, and be able to do the same thing. Why do companies do this? They want to lock you into their brand or products. History has shown us that this will fortunately not be the “norm” for long. Consumers demand that products be consumer-friendly.

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27 Comments

Windows Vista Torrent

March 10th, 2008
at 10:05am

Tech Interviews Why is the iPhone SDK Important? Stay in School Web Hosting Russian Food from MoscowDigital Camcorder Incompatibilities Insanity!Live Streaming Tips for you and your Community Jobs for Teenagers Identity Theft Food From Peru Buying Software

DavidDude96

March 9th, 2008
at 2:12pm

aww ur gonna spoil him with tech, hes so lucky

greenday052492

March 9th, 2008
at 2:12pm

did you get the name seven after that seinfeld episode where george wanted to name his baby seven?

davnes007

March 9th, 2008
at 2:25pm

I think it’s from Star Trek Voyager’s “Seven Of Nine”

ThievingSeven

March 9th, 2008
at 2:36pm

heh…7 chris must be a seinfield fan

PlatonicKamel

March 9th, 2008
at 3:15pm

Just stick to DVCAM… although these AVCHD (is that right?) cameras seem OK for consumers. Good software support & it can be put straight on to Blu-Ray without editing if you wanted to.

howdoiquityou2006

March 9th, 2008
at 3:27pm

yea most people like the flips and graphics on there video for youtube for one

SmiJa

March 9th, 2008
at 3:33pm

Actually AVCHD is used by multiple companies. Like you mentioned Sony, although Panasonic and JVC also use it. Programs like Sony Vegas, Adobe Premier, Apple Final Cut Pro, and the products from Avid that do support HD video, will all take in the AVCHD format. All of those programs will import the avi, mpg, and quicktime format. I don’t really know how it could get any easier then that.

wilsonacerSC

March 9th, 2008
at 3:37pm

which is exactly why something like sony vegas should be opensource

wilsonacerSC

March 9th, 2008
at 3:38pm

I thought it was Windows 7 but davnes has a point too

ariesram74

March 9th, 2008
at 9:45pm

emo? u mean like fugazi?

nyrjets225

March 10th, 2008
at 4:07am

i was a uncle the day i was born

Sparkygravity

March 10th, 2008
at 6:37am

damn chris I could hear you from my kitchen

nanciesweb

March 10th, 2008
at 10:17am

My digital camera records in .mov. It’s okay, except Io had to pay $55 for software to edit it, since Windows Movie Maker won’t accept that format.

mrdavidjames

March 10th, 2008
at 8:04pm

If you had looked around the internet(Google = .mov to .avi) you couldve found freeware.

Doni Langdon

March 10th, 2008
at 4:12pm

Interesting as it may be that the manufacturers need to supply their own software, it doesn’t apply to people like me. I have yet to run across a camera, or camcorder that either iMovie or iPhoto doesn’t immediately import. I love Macs.

ccubsfan94

March 11th, 2008
at 1:11pm

today i just bought software for my camera today. i have a jvc everio gz-mg130u and it records in mod files and it was mpeg 2 streamclip is the software and you also need the 20 dollar download of apples mpeg 2 playback and happily it worked! i can now use imovie hd with my camera.

nanciesweb

March 11th, 2008
at 1:17pm

I did, and then had some compatibility issues. I gave up after installing and uninstalling the fourth converter.

No prob, though. I did get more for my money on this particular software and it was the only other software I paid for. It’s certainly a step up from windows without breaking the bank.

BTW- the majority of software on my computer was either pre-installed or open source. The video software was only 1 of 2 I personally paid for.

mrdavidjames

March 11th, 2008
at 2:42pm

Sorry I didnt mean my comment to sound as though I was talking down to you. Tried to throw my 2 cents out as advice. I do understand the frustration of “compatibility issues”. I’ve had many “learning” experiences with codecs, file formats, filters, etc. etc. etc.

mrdavidjames

March 11th, 2008
at 2:44pm

I was an Uncle TWICE before I was born !! Have a Nephew 2 years older and his sister(my Niece) 1 year older. 11 total.

nanciesweb

March 12th, 2008
at 1:40am

No offense taken. It is difficult to say exactly what you mean in less than 500 characters – unless of course you resort to text messaging format (ugh!). :)

And of course, it’s difficult to know how a person is responding by the sound of text. :D

Jonathan

March 15th, 2008
at 2:08pm

I agree with James and you. I hate when camera companies do that. Most of the time, my friends have to do something that’s expensive to convert their video into another format

RocketCarProductions

April 9th, 2008
at 12:55pm

I couldn’t imagine Citizen Kain in one take

bluewiz20films

April 13th, 2008
at 6:19am

i wrote myself a program that converts some formats into avi and that helps alot. But the best thing to do is download a converter

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