Hey everyone, I have a quick question if anyone can help me- I have Avid 4.0 on my PC- and am looking into this camera to shoot my video on for class:

Sony - MiniDV Handycam Camcorder - Silver

Model: DCR-HC52 |

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8661959&type=product&id=1196470790863

Two things- I know this camera uses Dv's, but, is it possible to upload the footage directly onto my computer into Avid?

And, is this camera going to get the job done? I'd like to purchase a camera in the morning- any advice would be appreciated- I want to get the best quality for the price (preferably under $400), and have the camera be compatible with Avid 4.0- and easily uploadable as I am new to editing.

I have a little HC90, bought a couple of years ago, it has always served me well and works well together with Media Composer, I am sure of that the HC 52 should work well for you

If you haven´t used tape based cams before, you have to think of a couple of things so that Avid will be able to work well.

The tapes are total empty from the beginning without any timecodes, the cam will create that timecode whilst recording and your Avid will use that timecode when it capture your tape for the first time and also searchs for that timecode if you are doing a batch capture in the future to restore old projects.

Avid also needs to be able to rewind to a point before where you want the capture to begin, because of that, I always shot 10 secs of my feet or the ground before starting to recording.

Also, don´t remove your tape from your cam before you have recorded the entire tape and if you have to do that, be sure to rewind to a point with created timecode before starting to record again, otherwise, the timecode will start at zero again and you will get the same timecode on more that one place on your tape, your Avid will not like that.

Finally, at the end of the tape, shoot 10 secs or so to the ground so that your Avid is able to stop on a place with timecode when it has finished capturing.

good luck