In Car Video - Download, Editing, Saving - Advice Wanted

[Oneball]

I have a Ghost HD cam set up in my race car to record races.

Currently I download the files to a laptop, convert to DVD format and save to disc. It’s very slow (15h) and tricky.

I like to have the recordings saved and watchable on the telly.

Any advice on the best way to do this, software, formats etc?

[HantsRat]

Just upload to YouTube and play via YouTube app on your TV. If you don't have a YouTube App, get a Chromecast or Firestick and plug into HDMI.

[untakenname]

Pretty sure the Ghost HD has a HDMI output so just plug it directly into the TV using a cable from the device bypassing having to downscale to DVD, the picture quality will be a lot better (Native 1080p vs 560p for DVD).

[somouk]

Most TVs will play from a USB drive, so if you want backups then I would write it to a drive and back that drive up somewhere.

Just see what your TV can do and save the writing to DVD step.

[Oneball]

HantsRat said:

Just upload to YouTube and play via YouTube app on your TV. If you don't have a YouTube App, get a Chromecast or Firestick and plug into HDMI.

I don’t have YT, uploading would take a long time and you still have to convert it to the required format I believe.

[Oneball]

untakenname said:

Pretty sure the Ghost HD has a HDMI output so just plug it directly into the TV using a cable from the device bypassing having to downscale to DVD, the picture quality will be a lot better (Native 1080p vs 560p for DVD).

Doesn’t allow me to save it though, unless I buy loads of memory cards.

[Oneball]

somouk said:

Most TVs will play from a USB drive, so if you want backups then I would write it to a drive and back that drive up somewhere.

Just see what your TV can do and save the writing to DVD step.

Mine won’t play from a USB. I’ve tried but it doesn’t recognise what’s on the stick.

[mmm-five]

What format are the files from the camera?

How are you downloading the files to the laptop? Direct from camera, or via microSD card?

Can you not simply keep the files on the laptop (or if there's too many then buy an 4TB external HDD), and play them via HDMI cable to the TV (via Windows Media Player, or VLC)?

[Oneball]

mmm-five said:

What format are the files from the camera?

How are you downloading the files to the laptop? Direct from camera, or via microSD card?

Can you not simply keep the files on the laptop (or if there's too many then buy an 4TB external HDD), and play them via HDMI cable to the TV (via Windows Media Player, or VLC)?

I download from the camera.

Files are MP4 but I can also record as MOV.

There’s too many to keep on the laptop and they’re huge.

I could get an external drive, but that’s got a high cost I think, how reliable are they?

Don’t think there’s a way to play to the TV from one though. My telly is quite old.

[mmm-five]

Oneball said:

I download from the camera.

Files are MP4 but I can also record as MOV.

There’s too many to keep on the laptop and they’re huge.

I could get an external drive, but that’s got a high cost I think, how reliable are they?

Don’t think there’s a way to play to the TV from one though. My telly is quite old.

MP4 format is fine.

How is the DVD player connected to the TV, is it via HDMI or SCART?

If the laptop has HDMI out, and the TV has HDMI in then you simply play from the laptop to the TV (the files are stored on the HDD, but the HDD is connected to the laptop...which does the playing).

[Oneball]

mmm-five said:

MP4 format is fine.

How is the DVD player connected to the TV, is it via HDMI or SCART?

If the laptop has HDMI out, and the TV has HDMI in then you simply play from the laptop to the TV (the files are stored on the HDD, but the HDD is connected to the laptop...which does the playing).

DVD player is scart but the tv does have HDMI and USB. I’d not thought of trying to connect via a laptop. I’ll try that and see if it’ll play a file from a stick.

Thanks

[andygo]

You can also use a bit of software called handbrake to alter the filesize. You might lose a bit of quality, but it's not really noticeable. You get sevral options anyway.

I also use Quicktime to trim the start and end of the video - y'know, the epic bits in the assembly area, outlaps, inlaps and parc ferme..

It's significant the reduction in filesize you can acheive. Possibly save them to an SSD drive, that will reduce your processing time as well, although if you have an old computer with little RAM, that will seriously affect processing time.

My Mac takes about 40 mins to download and convert a 4.5gb file.

[Oneball]

andygo said:

You can also use a bit of software called handbrake to alter the filesize. You might lose a bit of quality, but it's not really noticeable. You get sevral options anyway.

I also use Quicktime to trim the start and end of the video - y'know, the epic bits in the assembly area, outlaps, inlaps and parc ferme..

It's significant the reduction in filesize you can acheive. Possibly save them to an SSD drive, that will reduce your processing time as well, although if you have an old computer with little RAM, that will seriously affect processing time.

My Mac takes about 40 mins to download and convert a 4.5gb file.

Thanks. I do trim the bumpf off the start and end. Will have a look at handbrake.