Just got a canon hv30 and I have a software editing question for all you experienced editors?

Question

Im finally making the upgrade from my Hi8 cam that I got 6 years ago. Now on my hv30 I plan to edit on my friends apple imac its a new computer so what software should I get for that?

as I understand you have to have a program that supports HD right?

so if I wanted to do stuff on my 4 year old hp PC what software can I get to support the hd

so my question is what software should I get to support hd for

mac

and one for pc

Answer 1

If the Macintosh is that new, the only REQUIRED software is already installed - iMovieHD. The current version is iMovieHD08. The HV30 does HDV and DV. iMovieHD07, iMovieHD06 and (I think) iMovie05 would also work. Your friend needs to have the Mac's system discs available. They need to do a "custom" install of a QuickTime component, "Apple Intermediate Code". Without this, the HDV data stream will not be recognized by iMovieHD. If a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire cable was not included in the box with the camcorder, then someone needs to buy one of those. You will use this to connect the HV30's DV port (4-pin) to the firewire400 port (6-pin) of the Mac. ALL Macs made in the last 10 years have a firewire400 por (there is one exception - the MacBookAir does not have a firewire port - this computer was not designed to edit video and the internal drive is small).

If your HP pc does not have a firewire port, then you need to install one. This is possible only if the computer has an available expansion slot. You also need to get a video editor that can deal with HDV - Microsoft MovieMaker cannot deal with HDV. Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere are the video editing apps that float to the top.

So, for the Mac, you don't need to buy any software and you need to buy a cable; for the HP, you need software the cable and possibly a firewire400 card to install.