On 20 Dec 1998 03:10:10 GMT, "Dayalan Ramsey" wrote:

>Hi guys,
>
>I need your help in the following.
>
>I am interested in buying a Digital camcorder for my personal use during
>travel / vacation. Also, I need a PC and a video editing software to edit
>this. Can you offer some help in the following?

Wul, wee wil trie....! ;-)

>1. How about SONY's DCR-V900?

1st, 2nd, an' 3rd choice, if you can afford it...! ;-)
Excellent picture, excellent sound (and free of the usual
mini-DV camcorder "whine"), excellent stabilizer and AF,
small and light. Well, I prefer the VX-1000 for 1st
choice, actually, if size/weight are not issues, but
for travel/vacation shooting, the very minor compromises
made with the TRV-900 are compensated for by the more
modest bulk and heft of the TRV-900.

>2. Can I record the output from this camcorder to a VHS tape through a VHS
>VCR? If yes, should I need a convertor to convert digital signal to analog
>signal? If can be recorded, how is the quality of the picture in the VHS
>tape?

You can record directly both to *and from* an analogue source
(no adapters/converters are needed with this camcorder).
Mini-DV recorded to VHS is disappointing (since the original
is so much better...), but it is about as good as it gets
from affordable gear and simple technique (it won't look as
good as commercial Hollywood VHS tapes, but OK...).

>3. What could be the best / cheap Video editing software, for amateur
>persons like me?

Dunno... I learned-on/like Premiere 4.2, but there are other
choices... Bundled with a FireWire card, P-4.2/5.1 is reasonably
cheap - and it is versatile and "pro" grade (and easy to learn,
at least after the initial day or two...;-).

>4. How much amount of hard disk space is required (minimum) and how much
>amount of memory is required? How about Sony's digital studio computer?

Figure 4.5 minutes = 1 gig of HD space, one way (I prefer to capture
footage to one video-dedicated drive, render/save-to another [which
takes more total drive space, but playback is more reliable]).
64-megs RAM can work, but try for more... The Sony VAIO
looks interesting, but I would immediately add the largest
good UDMA drive I could put in it.

>5. Can I hook-up the digital camcorder to a PC, and the output from the
>camcorder to a VHS VCR?

Yes.

>Will the SONY's PC allow me to insert audio
>clippings or dubbing in addition to video?

If it has a sound card capable of (CD-quality...) recording
(most sound cards can do this). The FireWire will pick
up in the AVI file capture the audio tracks along with the
video. In the editing, any audio you want to add (captured
as seperate WAV files) is easily mixed with the original
sound (sound levels are controlled in Premiere and other
editing programs by shaping "rubber bands" in the audio tracks.