using Movavi editing software with my Vixia HFR500 Video camera

[hiqserv]

I record our church service with a Vixia HFR500 camera on a tripod.  It is set for 30P MP4 17Mbs at 60hz. pixel count is 1920 x 1080.  the zoom is just slightly increased.  The service is about an hour long, I don't touch the camera during recording.  The file size is aprox 5-7 gigs and is usually broken up into three files automatically.

I load it into Movavi Viedo suite 22 in order to add text and zoom in and out of various parts of the service.  Also correct for sound issues.  Sound is fed into the camera mic port with a Wi-fi transmitter receiver unit from the sound board output.  

The quality of the initial file from the camera is great.  After editing and encoding the Movavi file into an MP4 file, I loose sharpness of the file,  the closer I zoom the more I loose.  The issue is, even without zoom editing, the file looses its sharpness.  I don't know if this is a Cannon thing or a Movavi issue.  

I ran across a term Im not familar with "CODEX"  (compression, decompression).  Movavi has three different modes available;  H.264, H.265, and MPEG-4.  other variables are frame rate: 29.97, bitrate: VBR, Auto, or Custom.  The custom setting is 18219kb.  Audio 44100

Reading about Codex is at best confusing, I'm wondering; is the Codex is mis-matched.  I cant find what the Codex used by my camera is.   This is my question!  What is the Codex and could this be causing my grainy output?  I can send the camera output and Movavi files if that helps.

i am the only member of our church that understands computers,  I have the system set up as simple as possible  so any one person can start and stop the recording without any experience.  We cant afford a PTZ camera or multiple still cameras.  Hope you can help.  I will send this same message to Movavi.

thanks,

Bob Cue, South Lyon, Mi. 

[phone number and email address removed for privacy]

[rs-eos]

A codec is short for "compression/decompression".  It's what logic (algorithm) is used to compress the video for recording it and then decompressing it for reading (viewing).

Consumer camcorders that capture HD footage usually only do so with zero oversampling.  Long and complicated story, but this leads to less crisp HD footage to begin with.  Then, due to the very agressive (and lossy) nature of compression in consumer cams, lots of color information is thrown away.   Trying to then zoom in to the footage in post has the same effect as enlarging a photo; it typically leads to poor results.   Re-compressing the footage (saving the edited version) will lead to further quality loss since the options you listed above are all lossy.

To capture very crisp HD, you'd want to look into camcorders that oversample.  e.g. Canon's Vixia HF G50 (and G60) do this.   You can also capture in 4K, and downsample to HD in post-production.   The advantage here is that you can then crop the image (25% areas would all have full HD resolution).

The con though of 4K capture (or higher-quality HD capture) is more space needed and more computing power to process.  When I had my Vixia HF G50, I captured 4K using its 150 Mbps codec (almost nine times larger file sizes as compared to your 17 Mbps footage).   I now use a Canon EOS C70 with its 410 Mbps codec which gives me amongst other things, double the color information as compared to typical consumer cams (less color information is tossed away during capture).

At the very top end, you can get video equipment to capture in RAW, but that generates massive data files.

In summary, I think the following would give you best bang-for-buck (in order of importance according to my own opinion):

1. Look at camcorders that would capture in 4K and oversample HD.
2. Look at camcorders that would capture more color information (e.g. at least 8-bit 4:2:2 instead of the typical 8-bit 4:2:0)
3. If you need to do lots of editing in post, 10-bit 4:2:2 allows more flexibility with the footage.

[hiqserv]

Ricky:

Thanks for your information.  the reply from Movavi was the same, which is good.  I recorded  at maximum resolution on my cannon visia hfr500 which doubled my output file size and used up the entire charge of my battery which was at full charge.  The video was about 45 min.  

The resolution after zooming is better.  My other problem is this is a lower light contidion, and i dont think this camcorder has a good enough lens to handle the exposure.  But with my limited budget it is ok. 

My final question is:  Is there a way to use a better battery pack or an add on pack that will have about double the watthour capacity.  I have some services that are an hour and half long.  Long term is of course, a better camcorder.  

thanks for your response, was greatly appreciated

Bob Cue

[Elizab3th]

That sounds like a cool combo you've got there – using Movavi editing software with your Vixia HFR500 video camera! Movavi is known for its user-friendly editing tools, and it should pair nicely with your camera.

If you ever need any tips or tricks for editing with Movavi, you might find this link helpful https://www.movavi.com/learning-portal/free-video-editing-software-for-mac.html It's always great to have some resources on hand to make the most of your video editing experience.