Abstract
Arelatively new aspect of aviculture
is the ability of the average
birdkeeper to document and record bird
behavior - a realm once rese1ved exclusively
for the scientist and researcher.
With the constant advances in video
technology and the blurring of lines between
consumer and professional
equipment, it is now possible fo r the average
person to afford and make professional
videos. In our experience, birds
which are frightened by a 35mm camera
remain at ease, canying on their normal
activities, in the presence of a small camcorder.
!Iowever, when setting out to
buy equipment, one is suddenly caught
in the dilemma of deciding in which of
the various formats to invest. If you do
nor choose wisely from the beginning,
you may be stuck with a dying format or
one that is inadequate for your purposes.
The formats available are VI-IS , SVHS,
Smm, and Hi-8mm. Beta and UMatic
are professional formats, but we
e liminate them due to the prohibitive
cost and the bulky size of the equipment.
VHS is the standard consumer format
and the o ne you are probably most familiar
with, as it is the most likely the
kind of VCR you have connected to your
television. We discou rage the bird
videographer from investing in this fo rmat,
as it delivers only about 225lines of
resolution and deteriorates quickly after
o nly a few generations. The VI IS camcorders
on the market contain o nl y o ne
CCO (charged coupling device). By
generations we mean the process of
making a copy of the ta pe from the o riginal,
then a copy of tl1at copy, etc. A CCO
is responsible for the capturing of the
light and turning it into magnetic signals.
S-VHS (Super VHS), 8mm, and Hi-8
provide about 400 lines of resolutio n,
which makes these good formats in
which to invest. Smm was meant to be
the standard of the indust1y. However,
many companies in Japan broke away
from this in favor of their own particular
format. lli-8 is an improvement over
regular 8mm, providing better picture
quality. Our first video "Breeding
Fi11cbes- Parts 1 and 2 "was shot entirely
on 8mm. 'Tbe Cuban Melodious"ancl
''E1y1bura - The Parrot Finches" were
shot with a mix of both 8mm and Hi-8.
"The Red Strawberry Finch "was shot almost
entirely on Hi-8.
The choice you really have to make,
then , is between S-Vl IS and I li-8 equipment,
as both offer you high resolution,
acceptable loss of quality gene ration after
generation, and the availability of
professional equipment. They also otler
what is now known as '' pro-sumer"
equipment - a crossover between consumer
and professional. Also important,
both of these formats provide you with
professional tape formulations, as you do
not want to play back that once-In-a-lifetime
shot to discover it is little more than a
smudge. Make sure you use true professional
tape, which is generally not available
through consumer retailers. So be
cautious if your local retailer sells you
"professio nal" tape. Just because it says
professional on the box does not necessarily
make it so. Generally the true professional
tape is available to only those in the
trade. Make it a point to seek out those
sources which will sell to the pros as well
as to the "pro-sumers"who are serious and
willing to buy in quantity.
!!ere is where other crite ria have to
be taken into account. If you plan on
making and releasing your own videos,
another factor becomes important -
the narration track. Jf you choose SVHS,
:tft:er you have edited your master
video with the footage in the seque nce
you desire you will have to record the
audio narration separately, probably on
audio tape, synchronize that with your
video, and record yet another generation
with the narration mixed with the
master, resulting in a third gene ration
video.
With each subsequent generation
you will naturally lose some quality.
You now see the majorf1aw of the S-VHS
format. Another drawback is the size of
the camcorder equipment. Most of
these are large shoulder-mount models.
As anyone who has worked with small
birds knows, it is very difficult to look inconspicuous
with a large growth on
your shoulder. The manufacturers of SVHS
have countered this problem with
the introduction of S-VHS-C. The drawback
here, however, is the smaller cassettes
provide shorter running times- a
definite drawback if you are recording
that once-in-a-lifetime nest-building or
chick-feeding sequence.
Hi-8, on the other hand, is a miniaturized
format, the videocassettes being
about the size of a standard audio cassette,
and provides the same standard
recording time as S-VHS- two hours.
Also, the smaller size ofthe camcorder is
a real plus, enabling you to move
quickly and effortlessly between cages
with a hand-held model.
Here is where the term "pro-sumer"
really comes into use. What basically
separates consumer from professional
camcorders is the number of CCD's. Professional
models contain three- one for
each of the primary colors of the spectrum.
Consumer models contain only one. Both
S-VHS and Hi-8 have hand-held models
that contain three CCD's, giving you a superior
picture and one of broadcast-quality
resolution.
Since we have already eliminated the
large shoulder-mount models for our
purposes, the choice comes down to a
hand-held 3 CCD S-VHS or a hand-held
3 CCD Hi-8. The S-VHS models currently
available have fewer pixels,
which determine sharpness of pictures,
than the Hi-8 model, which leads us to
the crux of the matter. And the winneryou
guessed it - it's a Sony Handicam
model CCD VX 3 - lightweight, small,
professional quality. This is the camcorder
we currently use in our video production.
Now for the bonus on the Hi-8 format:
it provides an additional audio track
(digital, no less). When youhaveyourfinal
video footage edited up, you simply
play back the master on your editing
deck and over-dub your narration onto
the PCM track. This way you saved an
additional generation and you can easily
correct or augment your narration.
Now that you are delighted that you
have the answer to your video dilemma,
here is the Hi-8 drawback. Due to the
small size of the cassette, it is much more
susceptible to wear and tear than S-VHS.
After producing a Hi-8 master, we make
an S-VHS sub-master and, from this, we
run off the VHS copies. The major loss of
quality occurs when you start making
your VHS copies.