[peterace]

Hi,

I just bought the above camcorder and wish to edit using Windows Movie Maker 2. Unfortunately, I get an error saying I don't have the right codec!

I can't seem to find out which codec I need. Can anyone point me to somewhere where I can download one?

Thanks.

[DigiStuff]

Hi, I am guessing slightly that you get an error message when you try to capture in video footage to the PC using Movie Maker. Can you tell us please how you have the camcorder connect to the computer and what settings you are trying to capture the footage with. It might be you are trying to capture to a video file format that is not support in movie maker and this is why it is asking for a codec
CODEC = COmpression, DECompression.

Once we on the forum have more information then we can help you out!

Cheers

DigiStuff

[senu]

Have you installed Picture motion browser?

That will( should) install an appropriate codec on your system

Also I dont really rate Movie Maker high although it is far from useless.
The copy that comes with Windows Vista is rather more advanced than WMM2 with XP
Nonetheless most modestly priced third party Editing software would be far more capable for not much dosh.
Mpeg editing is now more " mainstream" than it used to be but you would struggle with WMM TBH

[peterace]

I'm downloading my movies via USB, and then attempting to use the files in WMM using the 'Import Video' function. That's when I get the error.

I have installed the motion picture browser which lets me view my movies, so i guess there is a codec on my system. Shame WMM doesn't seem to know about it! Is there a way to manually point WMM to it (if I can find it myself, of course!).

Finally, what low cost editing software would you recommend? I do not need anything flash.

Apologies if my questions seem simple - this is my first foray into this kind of thing.

Regards,

Peter.

[marian99]

Hi
I plan to buy this cam. How is the PQ, handling etc ? Would you recommend ?
Thanks

[MarkE19]

Originally Posted by peterace

I'm downloading my movies via USB, and then attempting to use the files in WMM using the 'Import Video' function. That's when I get the error.

Your camcorder is a HDD model that records the video (I think) in the MPEG-2 format. Therefore you will have trouble importing it into Movie Maker as this can only work with .AVI & .WMV video formats.
I would therefore suggest that you buy a better program to do your editing. I would suggest that you go for a program that offers 'smart rendering' as this will help to maintain the PQ of your video. AFAIK there are only a few programs that offer this and the ones I know of are Ulead Video Studio, Womble Video Wizard & Video Redo.

Mark.

[peterace]

Thanks. I'll check out those apps!

[peterace]

Originally Posted by marian99

Hi
I plan to buy this cam. How is the PQ, handling etc ? Would you recommend ?
Thanks

I've had it for a couple of weeks now and I'm very pleased. The PQ on the HQ setting is great - very sharp and good colour. As the drive will still record over 7 hours on this setting I doubt I'll lower the quality. I haven't tried the LQ setting yet.

The touchscreen makes it so easy to use, too. A doddle. I barely refered to the manual at all!

The only dissappointment is the software supplied. I wish it had more functionality that just viewing and cropping clips. But I guess for another 50 quid or so I can solve that issue.

[Battlestar]

If you have nero premium you can export the files to AVI and then import them in to windows movie maker

[MarkE19]

The trouble with converting a compressed video file is that you will loose PQ. You are therefore better off keeping the video in its current format and working with it as best you can.

Mark.

[Battlestar]

Originally Posted by MarkE19

The trouble with converting a compressed video file is that you will loose PQ. You are therefore better off keeping the video in its current format and working with it as best you can.

Mark.

Oh , yes defeintaly agree with that, I was just suggesting an option that I used tp solve the problem