Help Making a good recording.

[Psywar]

I have been screwing around at work on my breaks lately with the Camcorder built in to the HTC Evo.

I have it currently set to record in 720p. I am kind of disappointed with the quality though. My videos are coming out pretty dang choppy.

I was trying to make a video recording of the Freezer I work in.
I installed a Subwoofer / Speaker system in their and I was trying to get footage of it.

It came out pretty choppy/jumpy.

Any ideas on how to fix this? Maybe another setting besides 720p?

Here is a link to the video.
YouTube - Freezer system at work.

 

[sitlet]

This has been talked about MANY times before.

The reason 720p recordings are so choppy is HTC uses a really old 3gp codec for 720p video. The froyo update enables h264 codec use, but only for 800x480 resolution and below. Honestly, 720p with 3gp and 800x480 with h264 look pretty much the same, due to h264 being a way better codec.

 

[Wadester]

I resolved this problem by replacing the stock 8GB Class 2 card with a 16GB Class 6 which writes 3x faster. Since then, my 720p recordings are pretty smooth.

 

[sitlet]

I resolved this problem by replacing the stock 8GB Class 2 card with a 16GB Class 6 which writes 3x faster. Since then, my 720p recordings are pretty smooth.

Really? I've heard it doesnt make a difference, because the phone will still encode at the same bitrate. Would you mind putting two test clips on youtube for comparison? If it really does work I will gladly get a new card.

 

[Psywar]

Yeah I would like to see as well Wadester!
Sitlet back to what you said above.
If I drop it down to the 800x600 but use the h264 codec will it be less choppy?

 

[sitlet]

If I drop it down to the 800x600 but use the h264 codec will it be less choppy?

Probably a bit. Your problem is the lack of light in your video. HD recording needs a LOT of light to look good. Since the Evo isnt a true camcorder, you cant just open the iris to let more light in. So the phone compensates by slowingn down the shutter, making it look choppy.

 

[Wadester]

Here you go...

YouTube - 720p MicroSD Class 6 Recording

... and no touching the Peanut Butter-filled Pretzels.

To me, it made sense that the write speed was the issue. If the data can't be written fast enough, a buffer is going to get full which would prevent the data from flowing thus the video would be choppy. The faster write speed is apparently enough to handle the video bitrate.