If you're curious about DV, or need some pointers to improve your DV experience, you need our step-by-step guide to shooting, editing and exporting digital video.

Originally introduced in the mid-1990s, digital video (DV) cameras now dominate camcorder sales. Why? Two simple reasons.

First, digital video delivers quality that's superior to that of analogue formats such as VHS, 8mm or even Hi8 and S-VHS. Second, since both camera and computer manufacturers have adopted the FireWire (IEEE 1394) serial port specification, it's now much faster and easier to transfer video to your computer than it was with analogue cameras, and the equipment to do so is much more affordable.

At the same time, broadband Internet connections and inexpensive DVD writers make high-quality video much easier to distribute. So what does that mean for you? You'll spend less for higher-quality video that you can share easily with your family and business associates. If you're considering joining the DV revolution, now is definitely the time.

Of course, you'll need to learn the DV basics before you dive into this tricky new technology. We'll walk you through the tools you'll need, the steps you'll take (shooting footage, transferring it to your computer, then editing and distributing video), and the basics of digital video technology and production. You'll be impressing the family in no time.

The dirt on DVD
What´s up with DVD-burning formats and compatibility? Let´s unravel the mystery.

Distribution deal
So you've shot, transferred, and edited your video. Now what?

Digital video glossary
Definitions for the most common DV terms, as well as a few uncommon ones.

Director's cut
Here's how to get your footage from camera to computer, with all the steps in between.

Camcorder talk
Pick the right hardware for your burgeoning digital video career.

Behind the DV technology
You've heard a lot about DV: now find out what it actually is and how it works.

The dirt on DVD

What´s up with DVD-burning formats and compatibility? Let´s unravel the mystery.

For years, the DVD industry has confused us with an array of standards that sound similar but actually differ dramatically. If you're thinking of getting into the DVD-burning game, you'll need to know the differences. Read on.

Plus, minus, or all of the above?
DVD-recording formats include DVD-R (write once), DVD-RW
(rewriteable), DVD+R (write once), DVD+RW (rewriteable) and DVD-RAM (rewriteable). DVD-RAM is primarily a data storage format, while the DVD-R/-RW and the more recent DVD+R/ +RW standards are effectively competing for dominance in the video recording market.

Recordable DVD media have different reflectivity characteristics, which means that standard DVD-ROM drives and players (particularly older ones) may struggle to read them. Until very recently, the fact that none of the writeable DVD formats were fully compatible with one another, and that no drive supported all of the popular standards, was also a problem. However, the most recent development has seen Sony's DRU500A support all four of the popular writeable formats (DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW), making it a great solution if you can afford it.

Obviously, the plethora of writeable DVD formats and capabilities is confusing. If you're looking to buy a new drive specifically for digital video movie-making and you can't afford a top-end multi-format drive like the Sony DRU500A, make sure that the one you're considering can write DVD-R discs. These are the most affordable writeable DVD media (around AU$10 each), and they are readable by the majority of newer DVD players and drives.

Distribution deal

So you've shot, transferred, and edited your video. Now what?

For years, video distribution involved rendering your production back to videotape, then dubbing (copying) the finished version onto VHS for distribution to friends, family or business associates. You can use DV cameras to dub video onto VHS, too, or just connect them to television sets and watch your videos that way. But these days, you can do much more.

Streaming and encoding
First, of course, you can burn video to CD or DVD. You also can post your video to a Web site or send it via email. In both instances, you'll want to compress your video to make it easier to download or transfer, which means choosing one of three streaming formats: RealVideo, Microsoft´s Windows Media Technologies or Apple´s QuickTime.

Most consumer video editors -- such as Ulead´s VideoStudio, Roxio´s VideoWave and Pinnacle Studio -- can output in at least one of these formats, and your viewers can easily download a free player. Unfortunately, encoding into these formats is a lossy process, meaning you lose quality as you compress the video for streaming.

Improving your stream
However, when you compress video to very low bit rates for streaming from a Web site or sending quickly via email, you have to use formats and compression speeds that may noticeably degrade video quality. To arrive at the best possible compression quality, you should experiment with the presets found in most editing software; hopefully, you can identify the best trade-off between quality and file size. For example, if you want to email a video to friends, you don't need to encode video at a jerky 56Kbps just to accommodate those who access the Internet via dial-up modem. Instead, you can choose a preset with a higher connection rate, but doing so will extend the download time for those with slower connections.

Web-based video
If you'd like to email video after you've compressed it, note that most HTML-based mail services, including Hotmail and Yahoo Mail, put limits -- usually about 1MB to 2MB -- on attachment sizes. Full-service Internet service providers typically allow up to 5MB. Your ISP simply won't deliver larger attachments.

Another alternative is to host your videos on Web sites such as SpotLife or TeVeo, which accept both streaming Webcam videos and previously encoded videos. Once you join (TeVeo is free, SpotLife charges US$2.95 per month after a 30-day trial), you can upload your videos to either site, then send links to your friends. Check each service's FAQ for supported formats and file-size limitations.

Of course, you also can post videos on your personal or corporate Web site. Unfortunately, HTML editors such as Microsoft´s FrontPage still don't make this task easy for beginners, and your ISP may limit or prohibit bulky video files. This makes SpotLife and TeVeo very attractive options for most casual users.

If you're determined to post videos on your own site, Microsoft offers free tools included in the Windows Media Encoder that help create the necessary HTML code, which you can copy and paste into your Web pages using any HTML editor. RealNetworks also offers wizard-based HTML-creation tools, but you'll have to upgrade from the basic Helix Producer Basic to Helix Producer Plus for US$199 (approx AU$400) to access them. If you'd rather use QuickTime, check the QuickTime site for a list of third-party products that simplify the integration of QuickTime content into your Web site.

Digital video glossary

Definitions for the most common DV terms, as well as a few uncommon ones.

The most daunting element of any new technology is its jargon. If the alphabet soup that is digital video argot baffles you, check out this glossary of DV-related terms.

8mm/VHS Analogue formats that store colour information in composite format with 240 to 250 lines of resolution and a signal-to-noise ratio, or measure of inherent noise in the signal, of around 43 to 45 decibels. In contrast, digital video stores image information in the higher-quality component format, with 500 lines of resolution and a much higher signal- to-noise ratio of 60 decibels.

Bit rate A measure of the file size or capacity associated with a particular unit of time. For example, a file compressed to 28.8Kbps contains 28.8 kilobits of data for each second. Similarly, a 28.8Kbps modem can transfer a maximum of 28.8 kilobits of data per second.

CCD Charge-coupled device; the chip onboard a DV camera that converts the brightness and colour information from the lens into digital data.

Digital8 A format that uses Hi8 or 8mm tapes to store digital video.

Digital video Video stored in a digital file.

Digital zoom The process by which a camera takes a small portion of the original captured frame and zooms it digitally with interpolation -- similar to zooming in on an image in an image editor. Generally causes image degradation above 2X to 3X zoom ratios.

Digitise To convert analogue video to digital video.

DV A digital standard created by a consortium of camcorder vendors, which uses Motion JPEG video at a 720 by 480 resolution at 29.97 frames per second, stored at a bit rate of 25Mbps.

DVD Originally referred to as Digital Video Discs, these high- capacity optical discs, now called Digital Versatile Discs, are used to store everything from massive computer applications to full-length movies. Although similar in physical size and appearance to a CD or a CD-ROM, DVD is a huge leap from its predecessor's 650MB of storage. A standard single-layer, single-sided DVD can store a whopping 4.7GB of data. But it doesn't stop there: DVD also has a two-layer standard that boosts the single-sided capacity to 8.5GB. DVDs also can be double-sided, ramping up the maximum storage on a single disc to 17GB. Unfortunately, to use DVDs, you must buy a new disk drive for your PC, but that new hardware also will read older CD-ROMs and audio CDs.

DVD authoring The process of preparing and copying audio, video, still images and navigational menus to a final DVD image, which can be burned to DVD-R or copied to DLT tape for reproduction.

DVD-R A write-once, recordable format. DVD-R drives can write DVD-R discs, which can be written only once, as opposed to a DVD-RW drive, which can write and rewrite to RW media.

DVD-RAM A two-sided, rewritable format introduced by Hitachi, Toshiba and several other manufacturers. DVD+RAM discs cannot be read by DVD set-top players, nor by many computer DVD drives.

DVD-RW DVD-RW (recordable/rewritable) drives can write both DVD-R discs, which can play back on virtually all DVD set-top players and computer drives, and DVD-RW rewritable discs, which can generally be read only by DVD-RW drives.

DVD+RW A 4.7GB, rewritable format pioneered by the DVD+RW Alliance, which includes Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi Chemical/Verbatim, Philips, Ricoh and Sony. DVD+RW discs cannot be read by DVD set-top players, nor by many computer DVD drives.

Electronic image stabilisation Image stabilisation compensates for slight movements of the hand during shooting. Electronic image stabilisation works by capturing an image larger than the ultimate target frame and shifting the actual pixels stored on tape to account for camera motion. Generally considered inferior to optical image stabilisation.

FireWire Apple brand name for the IEEE 1394 standard (also known as i.LINK), which enables the transfer of digital video between DV camcorder and computer at 400Mbps.

Generation loss The quality loss associated with copying an analogue video from tape to tape, similar to photocopying a photocopy. Does not occur with digital video formats.

MPEG The Moving Pictures Experts Group, which formulates standards for video encoding, such as MPEG-2 for DVD and MPEG-4 for streaming video.

Optical image stabilisation Image stabilisation compensates for slight movements of the hand during shooting. Optical image stabilisation works by using gyros and prisms within the camera to compensate for camera motion. Generally considered superior to digital image stabilisation.

Optical zoom Also called telephoto or true zoom, optical zoom is produced by the optical lens itself, as with a traditional film-based camera, producing enlargement without degradation.

Resolution The size of a video frame, measured in pixels. Digital video has a resolution of 720 by 480, which means that every complete frame (two fields combined) is 720 pixels wide and 480 pixels high.

Streaming A low-bit-rate encoding format intended for use over networks and the Internet. Streaming files match the encoded bit rate to the connection speed of the user, so the remote viewer can play audio or video with minimal stoppage without first downloading the entire video file.

SuperVideoCD Another CD-ROM-based format that uses MPEG-2 video instead of MPEG-1. Both VideoCD and SuperVideoCD were popular in the Far East, but never achieved momentum in the United States or Europe.

S-VHS/Hi8 Analogue formats that store colour information in S-Video format with 400 to 420 lines of resolution and a signal- to-noise ratio of around 45 to 46 decibels. In contrast, digital video stores colour information in a higher-quality component format, with 500 lines of resolution and a much higher signal- to-noise ratio of 60 decibels.

VideoCD A predecessor to DVD, VideoCD is a compact disc (CD-ROM) format that can use MPEG-1 video for playback on computer CD drives or dedicated VideoCD players.

Director's cut

Here's how to get your footage from camera to computer, with all the steps in between

Now that you have your camera and some footage, you'll need to prepare your PC for its role as a video editing platform. To get the video onto your computer, you'll need a FireWire port or card and video-editing software. If you're using a Mac with a FireWire port, Apple iMovie will more than suffice for simple editing and output. Unfortunately, Microsoft's Movie Maker, bundled with Windows XP, is much more anaemic, so you're better off looking elsewhere.

Put it on your card
Although you can purchase your FireWire card and editing software separately, many low-priced video-editing or authoring packages, such as Pinnacle Studio DV, include FireWire cards. Interestingly, all FireWire cards, no matter what they cost, copy files from camera to computer at exactly the same speed.

A card bundled with a simple program such as Studio DV will simply transfer video to your computer for editing. More expensive cards offer real-time previewing, which means that you can see your editing changes (transitions, titles, and special effects) without having to first render the changes. That makes for much faster editing. But these higher-end cards ship with only Adobe's Premiere, which is way too advanced for newcomers to digital video.

The software story
Most beginners are better off with programs such as Ulead's VideoStudio, Roxio's VideoWave, or Pinnacle's Studio DV, which offer most of the same basic features in a much easier- to-use interface.

Basic video-editing software lets you use transitions such as dissolves and wipes, smoothing the flow among multiple sequences. You also can add titles, brighten or darken under- or overexposed video, and insert still images (a company logo, for instance) over your sequences. Many programs let you push the creative envelope with special effects that convert your videos to black-and-white or sepia, or that introduce simulated film noise, making your videos look like productions from the '30s and '40s.

These basic video editors make it simple to add a narration track, rip a CD-ROM for background audio, or even create a custom background music track. By contrast, higher-end programs, including Adobe's Premiere and Pinnacle's Edition DV, offer greater configurability and more complicated effects, such as video overlay, image panning or three-dimensional motion controls.

Conversely, we're starting to see features on consumer-oriented editors that may never appear in Premiere. Roxio's VideoWave Movie Creator, for example, can apply a template to your individual clips. You then might select the 10 best shots from your child's last birthday party, pick the Birthday Party template, and let VideoWave choose introductory animation, background audio, festive transitions and special effects.

My author, my editor
More and more consumer video editors now include DVD-authoring capabilities. Briefly, DVD authoring is the process of building interactive menus that link to your videos, then burning the videos themselves to DVD. Of course, you'll need a DVD writer, such as Sony's DRU500A to actually produce the DVD, which should play in most computer and set-top DVD players.

For years, DVD authoring and video editing were separate processes. You would create your video files and export them into the required MPEG-2 format in your video editor. Then, you'd import the files into an authoring program, build the menus and burn the disc. But the lines between these tasks are beginning to blur now.

For example, VideoWave and VideoStudio currently offer DVD authoring as a separate step after you finish your video projects. Even better, Pinnacle Studio 8.0 creates DVD menus during the video-editing process for more integrated, intuitive operation.

Of course, you can still buy standalone DVD-authoring programs that simply compress and prepare video for DVD burning, with little or no editing. Pinnacle Express DV, for example, lets you capture DV footage to disc, select scenes and create simple, sequential menus for viewing them. For a step up, Sonic Solutions' MyDVD offers easy conversion of DV to DVD but includes more menu-production capabilities.

If you have a CD-R/RW drive, most of these programs can create VideoCD or SuperVideoCD titles that, at least in theory, should play on many DVD drives and players. Unfortunately, inconsistent support for these standards makes compatibility hit-and-miss. With DVD-R drives dropping in price at an alarming (but welcome) rate, DVD is the increasingly preferred option. Of course, you can do much more than burn video to CD-R and DVD-R. Read on for different ways to share your video.

Camcorder talk

Pick the right hardware for your burgeoning digital video career

So you're ready to buy a digital camera. When you're shopping, pay attention to the number and size of CCDs (Charge-Coupled Devices), since that information relates directly to video quality. Specifically, three CCDs are better than one, and 1/3in. chips usually deliver better quality than 1/ 4in. or smaller ones. For this reason, most camcorder specification sheets prominently note the number and size of CCDs.

Photos to boot
If you want your DV camera to perform double duty as a digital still-image camera, be sure to check out its maximum still-image resolution. If you really want to capture stills with your camcorder, you should also look for a USB terminal, a flash memory slot and a pop-up flash. But be warned: the stills you get from a camcorder will never equal the quality of those from a good dedicated still camera.

Nuts and bolts
Next, be sure to differentiate between optical and digital zoom. With optical zoom, optics in the lens magnify the image. In contrast, digital zoom increases resolution through a process called interpolation, which adds pixels to those the CCD sensor has collected. In essence, a digital zoom makes an educated guess about what information additional pixels would have contained if more had been collected. If you're taking a picture of a Rothko painting, you'll see little to no degradation. Images that contain a lot of fine detail, however, may not look as crisp.

If you like to tinker with video settings or plan to use your camcorder in a wide range of settings, choose one that offers manual adjustments for exposure and/or a variety of programmed modes for conditions and settings such as night, sunlight, sports and snow. Many of the cheapest DV cameras offer only fully automatic shooting modes, although manual focus is essential for anyone doing serious work.

Also, make sure to check the camera's lux rating, which determines its ability to shoot in low-light settings, such as in museums or at parties. The higher the lux rating, the lower the camera's ability to capture high-quality images in low-light settings.

Although it's easy to love compact cameras, tiny devices deliver notoriously poor audio quality. To achieve a good balance of audio and video quality, you may be forced to pick a bulkier camera. Of course, you can also plug in a microphone if audio quality is important -- most cameras feature a mini-jack that allows you to do so.

If you plan to edit your video on a computer, ignore on-board digital special effects such as sepia, black-and-white and mosaic, or inter-scene transitions such as fade or dissolve. You can produce these effects much more easily and accurately using video editing software on your computer. And unless you're into videotaping the nocturnal habits of animals, you also can safely ignore infrared capabilities, which produce video with a green pallor.

Behind the DV technology

You've heard a lot about DV: now find out what it actually is and how it works

So, what is digital video? Technically, the DV format is a sequence of frames compressed to a data rate of 25Mbps, using a technology called Motion JPEG. Despite the format difference, however, DV cameras work like analogue cameras to a certain degree. They use lenses to focus on an image, then use charge-coupled devices, or CCDs, to convert the image to electronic signals.

Demystifying DV
Here's the difference between digital and analogue cameras: rather than storing a video frame on tape in analogue format, as a VHS or Hi8 camera would, DV cameras convert the image to zeros and ones, compress it to DV format, and then store the digital file. This compression method greatly reduces the generation loss associated with storing an image on tape, which means that digital video offers higher quality both when you compress the video and when you copy it later. In addition, DV stores a higher-quality signal than most consumer analogue formats (500 lines of resolution compared to VHS's 240), which further improves comparative image clarity and detail. Translation: you see crisper images and more accurate colours.

FireWire: camera to computer, in a jiffy
Digital video also makes transferring video to your computer much simpler. Virtually all DV cameras come equipped with FireWire (IEEE 1394) compatibility so that you can easily transfer DV files to any computer with a FireWire port and the appropriate software. Most video-editing software can detect scene changes by analysing the time- and date-code data included on DV tapes and can automatically break your video into different scenes, making it easier to find specific segments of your finished video.

DV flavours
As with any burgeoning technology, digital video comes in several styles. MiniDV cameras store data on a tape cartridge that's about the size of a box of matches. Digital8 cameras store DV-formatted video on DV Hi8 tapes and can read analogue Hi8 tapes as well. You'll also see names such as DVCam and DVCPRO, which are higher-end formats used in professional cameras. A more recent format called MicroMV isn't digital video at all but an MPEG-2-based format stored on even smaller cassettes than those used by MiniDV cameras. In this article, we'll focus on MiniDV and Digital8 cameras, since those formats comprise the bulk of the cameras sold into consumer and corporate markets.