miniDV - is it dying? (100 posts)

jwilson Posted 3 years, 2 months ago Joined: 3 years, 2 months ago

Hi, I've got a question about the miniDV format. I'm reading in magazines and online that the miniDV format is dying and on the way out etc etc. Is this indeed the case? I teach Media at a school, so we do lots of computer editing using Premiere Pro. We've had one HDD camera, which we found to be a complete pain to use with computer editing, whilst miniDV just streams off the camera through Firewire and works beautifully. I'm looking at getting more cameras - should I be sticking with miniDV - I know it works. Or is there another format that works well with Premiere Pro?

James Hutchinson Posted 3 years, 2 months ago Joined: 4 years ago

miniDV is on its way out

Hate to break it, but in the consumer market, miniDV (and FireWire 400 with it) is dying. Unfortunately, you'll find most consumer-level cameras under ~$1500 are heading towards DVD and Flash for the cheaper models and HDD for the more expensive ones. It isn't all bad news, as they have improved the whole hard drive system so that it is slightly less painless to use, though I do concur with you over at least a hint of nostalgia for miniDV.

Since you're at a school you might have access to prosumer HDV cameras, in which case miniDV is still very much alive. Of course you're looking at the $2000-$10000 range, and even here it's being threatened by portable hard drives, straight-to-disk shooting and Panasonic's P2 flash based memory, but miniDV still has a bit of life in it yet for HDV use.

In terms of compatibility with Premiere Pro, you'll find that it's compatible with most available HDV, HDD, Flash and P2 formats. HDD and Flash tend to use AVCHD compression which Premiere Pro supports though I've found it's a lot more taxing on the system so you'll find yourself having to render the source footage a lot more than you're used to.

I'll always have that soft spot for miniDV, but unfortunately, that's the way the market goes.

Chris Jager Posted 3 years, 2 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Hi there. MiniDV is definitely on its way out, but that doesn't mean it's a dead format. Indeed, you can still buy old Super-8 analogue tapes in most supermarkets, and that format has been 'dead' for almost a decade. If you prefer to work with MiniDV, you should be able to buy tapes for many years to come - even after they stop making MiniDV camcorders.

With that being said, the future definitely lies in the HDD and flash memory formats, particularly when it comes to high-definition video. Out of interest, what version of Premiere Pro are you using? The latest versions should be fully compatible with pretty much all HDD video codecs, including AVCHD.

jwilson Posted 3 years, 2 months ago Joined: 3 years, 2 months ago

We are using Premiere Pro CS4. We had/have a JVC HDD Handycam that had movies in a weird .MOD format - we had to import them into the JVC software, then export them as .AVI, and then put them into Premiere. This was back in probably Premiere Pro CS2 (or whatever it was back then) but the process was so painful we gave up and went back to miniDV. Not sure if Prem Pro CS4 would play with .MOD files. Not sure if anything on earth would play happily with .MOD files.

Anonymous Posted 3 years, 1 month ago Joined: N/A

Hmm, I've not had much editing experience with .MOD files. That does sound painful! Can you not just rename the files to .mpg?

In any event, I would imagine CS4 would be able to handle this codec without much hassle. That said, I couldn't find any mention of .MOD files on the Adobe website, so who knows? I'd suggest contacting Adobe before buying any new hardware. (Sorry I couldn't be of more help!)

RandomAccessDJK Posted 3 years ago Joined: 3 years ago

Is MiniDV Dying?

"I've got a question about the miniDV format. I'm reading in magazines and online that the miniDV format is dying and on the way out etc etc.
Is this indeed the case?"

Well.. Uh... Yeah. this is indeed the case. It's not Dying as much as it is being replaced by Filebased recorders. you don't seem so sure that the reports you are reading are valid, so try this. Go to any local camera store or an online store, and compare the number of new Tape based Camcorders to the Number of Filebased recorders being sold as an indicator of how many are being manufactured these days. This should be concrete proof for you. Tapebased Camcorders will remain as "Alive" as we the owners, keep them alive. Brand new sealed boxed units will continue to be sold online through channels such as Ebay and other places but the Manufacturers are not going to invest in MiniDV production unless they come up with some feature that can't be applied to the newer Filebased units. Dead Technology No, Replaceable Technology? Absolutely.

How many New MiniDV Camcorders have hit the store shelves in 2009? Eventually no one will make them anymore, but that doesn't mean it is dead. Your current relationship to the Filebased camcorder as an instructor in Video Editing requires that you will need to make some decisions in your curriculum. Eventually (and I am not saying when) you'll need to decide if moving away from teaching on MiniDV format versus Filebased recorders is the way you should 'grow'. The Filebased approach is going to be more expensive in terms of hardware upgrades, the learning curve is much steeper and then the decision of do you want to stay with your current NLE or should you trade it in for something more tuned to your Teaching requirements. I think your best first step would be to contact the Developer of the software and ask them what direction they think you should go. They maybe working on a better release. As the education facility you can keep both technologies using MiniDV as the introduction to Video Editing and Build a more Contemporary Course employing Filebased Camcorders making the transition from Tapebased SD to Filebased SD. Then from there take them into Filebased HD.

Since Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is Red Laser Technology (Standard Definition) and BluRay is Blue Laser (and so HiDef technology) you as the instructor would be better off working on both sides of the experience rather than Pitching one in order to embrace the other. Getting into HiDef just because it's new is a waste of resources i.e. your time energy and money. Standard Definition is Great and has Lots of Advantages that you won't get by purchasing a bunch of Filebased recorders. Right now as you know the whole Filebase industry is in a State of Flux and nothing is Settled as yet. That's going to be awhile yet. Sony Panasonic Canon and everyone are still in the R&D Stage selling us stuff so they can get enough capitol to develop the next idea and so on, and in the mean time we all still have the Proven Success of MiniDV. But that technology is being replaced ever so slowly.

Anonymous Posted 2 years, 3 months ago Joined: N/A

HDD Weakness

Hi. I understand all the arguments made here. But for me it boils down to how effective and functional the device is for my use. I have personal non-top-of-the-line, simple mini-dv camcorder, it works fine- a panasonic. No problems, shooting and transferring of files to my PC. My office has a Sony with a HDD drive... I was shooting a scene... suddenly it just stopped and a harddisk pie image just sort appeared on the screen, as if it was re-booting or something. Bottom line, i did not get the shot.

Does this type of problem still exist with newer HDD and other filebased camocorder?.

I don't mind supporting or switching form one format to another so long as it works for me.

Thanks,

Nuls

Lenachienisig Posted 11 months ago Joined: N/A

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ByeBye

Heike

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slumbDuts Posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago Joined: N/A

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miniDV - is it dying? (100 posts)

miniDV - is it dying? (100 posts)

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