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Posted by: Fre May 5 2010, 09:05 PM

Hi everyone!
I'm planning to buy something (webcam, recorder) to be able of participating in Mtp's, collabs,..
Because I really don't know anything about those things I'm consulting GMC.
Haven't done any research yet because I think you guys can help me more (hopefully) than other sources.
Thanks already,

Fre

Posted by: SirJamsalot May 5 2010, 09:20 PM

Not an instructor, so this only my preference, not what they prefer or allow for submissions :

That said, personally I'm not a fan of web-cams in terms of recording guitar - the framerate or something causes jumpiness when recording guitar playing, at least in all the vids I've seen - pretty obvious what is and what isn't a web-cam recording.

What's your price range pain threshold? If you can find a video recorder that has, in addition to the built in microphone, a jack for recieving audio, you'll have much better audio results since you can mic yourself. Otherwise, the Zoom Q3 looks pretty nice, but's yer lookin at 200 for that. You're also gonna need a tripod unless you have mic-stand you can duct tape your recorder to (I've done that before ).

Christian A.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 5 2010, 09:29 PM

Regarding video recording I can recommend two options.

1. Camcorder, MiniDV one will do job well too. Just make sure it has a firwire jack so you can transfer your video to PC (and that you have firewire interface in your computer). You can get other newer camcorders too that record on internal hard drivers, or flash memory etc...Just avoid ones that record on DVDs as you may have problems with that format and converting it.

2. Logitech 9000 pro webcam. That can works pretty good and has good frame rate. But the downside is that you will need a strong computer or else frame rate will be lower and can look choppy...

For both solutions you would also need some lightning. Cheap halogen work/flood lights will do the job.

Let me know if you have any further questions...

Posted by: Fran May 5 2010, 09:47 PM

To record video Logitech quiccam pro 9000 works really well. For audio some POD studio like GX is great too. Both together should be under 200$

Posted by: Fre May 5 2010, 09:49 PM

Thanks a lot guys!

My pricerange depends on what I need, if it's too expensive I'll save some more.
I doesn't have to be a webcam, but I tought maybe it would be better (for Mtp's or so). No?
How does it works with a jack? Is it guitar-amp-recorder?
If so I would prefer a sort of jack, for the reasons you mentioned Sir.

Posted by: SirJamsalot May 5 2010, 10:53 PM

Web-cams are geared for recording directly into your computer for things like live-conferences and chatting. Software like Skype have built in drivers/software that can communicate directly with web-cams for real-time video feeds. They generally reduce the framerate and compress as much as possible in order to be web-capable - transmit decent quality so that it doesn't completely wipe out your internet connection's band-width. This is the option to go if

1. Your instructors don't mind web-cam quality AND you want your camera to serve the added purpose of online video chatting (mtp?).
2. Your price-range is sub 150 dollars - you can get decent webcams really cheap.

Some of the more recent MiniDV camcorders might come with drivers to allow your miniCam to work with Skype like a normal web-cam, but you'd have to check. I did some basic searches and it doesn't look like there is much info on it, at least that I could find in 5 minutes of perusing. Perhaps someone here knows.

MiniDV is the best option in terms of overall quality, but expect to pay a base price of $200+.

Per your audio question: your miniDv will have an 1/8th inch jack that you can plug into. your audio interface should have a mic-in, and a line-out which you can use adapters to get the sound plugged in. I don't know your setup, but the basic gist is this:

mic->soundboard->(1/4" to 1/8" adapter) -> camcorder's 1/8" line/mic in.

or

guitar->audio interface->headphone out-> (adapter?)->camcorder's 1/8" line in.

or some combination like that.

My thoughts.
Christian A.

Posted by: Todd Simpson May 6 2010, 12:19 AM

Fran is dead on! Well said. Get the logitech and the pod and you are pretty much ready to go.

Practice!
Todd

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 7 2010, 03:21 PM

I mentioned firewire interface since many miniDV cams transfer material to PC (or stream it to) using that interface. So you need to have a PCI firewire interface card in your PC (or it came with that port built in). Now camcorders with mic input are very rare are more expensive. Usually people that use camcorders for recording, record separate video and separate audio and then in the video editing software synchronize two (which isn't easy to do).

Easier option would be to get a web cam like logitech (if you have a decent computer as its frame rate depends on it) + POD Studio ux1 (or even GX version).

You should be able in the video capture software (like Movie Maker in windows) select video from logitech and audio from that POD Studio interface and record both so that way they'll be in sync.

Posted by: Fre May 13 2010, 05:45 PM

Thanks everyone for the help.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 15 2010, 01:23 PM

Glad to be helpful! Let us know what you get in the end and if you have any more questions etc...

Cheers