One of the very first goals I had in launching this blog was to include a video component to it. What is that called again? Video blog? Vlog? Video podcast? Vodcast? Whatever…I’ll call it a video blog. Part of creating good video is working with good tools, and to that end I recently got my hands on Final Cut Studio. Boy, is working with this software a blast! I’ve set up a poor man’s blue screen (good ol’ fabric store and thumb tacks!), got a couple of lights set up, and I’m off…oh, wait, I’m still stuck with a pathetic Sony Digital8 camcorder I got years ago. You can’t even imagine how much the image sucks on this (although it’s better than the old High8 or, God forbid, VHS!). Sure, it might work on a blurry YouTube video, but my internal sense of quality control won’t allow that.

So, with the anticipation that I’ll be selling some unwanted musical instruments in the near future, I threw caution to the wind and went all out on a Canon XH A1 high-definition prosumer camcorder. The image quality on this thing is staggering. I downloaded some sample clips from DVinfo.net that various users had supplied, and my jaw dropped so fast that it bounced when it hit the floor. I knew that HDV was cool, but I didn’t realize the quality was this amazing for down-to-earth prices. The gorgeous footage, the film-like 24p mode, and the XLR inputs for microphones or mixer output were the three main features that interested me, and IMHO Canon definitely beat out the competition with this model. Now I just have to wait until next week for the box to arrive…oh, the agony!

The reason I eschewed buying a more affordable, consumer camcorder is because in addition to video blogging, I’m extremely interested in trying my hand at some creative nature videography, music videos, and documentary work for Christian missionary efforts. I have no idea if I’ll succeed at any of those genres, but my philosophy has always been that you’ll never know if you don’t give it your best shot. So I just jumped on the HDV bandwagon, and, God willing, you folks will see some of the fruits of this effort here soon!