[blicky_1]

Hi all,

Just purchased the above camcorder as a cheap entry level into miniDV camcorders. I have a Nikon DSLR for stills so this was just to have a play with and to capture some family footage now and then (nothing pro/serious) Most playback will be through PC & my streaming to my original Xbox (XBMC)

I have only had a quick play and so far seem to be getting on OK, using windows movie maker atm but have downloaded the trial of Vegas but I think I need more time to work Vegas out as it seems a bit to complex for me!

I have a few q's for the experts on here!!

1. When importing the video (via firewire) do you do this as raw or compressed?? or import as raw then edit and then compress?? I plan to mainly keep videos on one of my PC drives (plenty of HDD space) but to now and then burn to DVD for family.

2. I have noticed from posts on this forum that my cam does not do true 16:9 but I have it set in the menu to this setting (I know its not true 16:9) do you think I should record in this or put it back to the original 4:3 and let my TV do the stretcing??

Any advice from fellow forum members would be much appreciated

[redsox_mark]

1. You want to capture in the original DV format - I guess that is what you mean by "raw". If you capture in Vegas this is the way it will work. Note DV itself is compressed (in the camera), but far less compressed than MPEG for DVD. 1 hour of DV will take up approx 12 GB.

2. It is true that the HC35 isn't "true widescreen", in that you lose some quality.. but you don't really want to stretch on your TV either. If you want to watch in widescreen, I would shoot in 16:9. The other option is to shoot 4:3 and watch it in 4:3. Letting the TV stretch it loses resolution AND distorts the image... if you shoot in 16:9 on the HC35 you will still lose some resolution, but at least the image won't be distorted.