Can someone make a decent promo video using a standard VHS camcorder, if it is remixed after uploading it to a computer using a good editing progroam like Vegas Movie Studio or such.

The audio feed will be synced to the video later, as it is being recorded straight into the laptop as a sound file.

At this point in time, I'm going to say no. Why? While you may be able to get something out of it, everyone else has graduated to DV or, most recently, HDV and getting sparkling results. It is this standard that your video will be judged against.

VHS was the standard of the 1980's. If you go http://www.BuskerAlley.com, you can see what you can do with HDV vs Hi8 which was the standard of the 1990's.

I'd suggest buying a refurbished HDV cam for a whopping $400...or simply renting one

I am not sure if this will work cause I have not tried it, but my photographer uses a 1000 dollar plus NIkon Digital Cameara that also records video, you might wanna check and see if the reslution on it is good enough to film as a lot of cammeras including his can record video in hidef. So I have heard

Ok I checked with my photgorapher. He said his camera will film in hidef, however at the maxium resloution it can only get 5 minutes of footage.

I would sugest if you are going to use VHS, take these steps.

1. Uplaod it to a quality editing softwear, and tweak it till it looks good.
2. Use good naration and sound.
3. Do as much shooting as you can in high light situations.
4. Get close ups, as long shots will loose quality drasticly.
5. Have a few testimonals.

if you use these steps, you might be able to pull off a fairly decent promo video. Then after you get three gigs or more from those promos, invest in a high deff camera, I know $2000 seems expensive, but is a small investment, when a good video could double your bussiness.

I have acctuly come by a few promos filmed with VHS, and their quality, when done right is excelent. If someone is not viewing your promo on a high deff tv, chances are they may not notice.

Just my input

Don't bother with VHS. The HD cams you can get for pennies on the dollar for what they used to cost makes VHS absolutely obsolete.

Plus the newer 3CCD & HD cams have firewire which is nearly the standard for video transfer. (ScottSullivan may correct me on that, but I know firewire is very good)

I'd spend the money on a newer camera. You can by HD camera for $500 or so at Best Buy. This is not the rocket science it used to be.

I see VHS cams for free on Craig's list...

You can put about 25 or 45 minutes of HD on a DVD, depending on method and resolution, but the DVD will only play on a blu-ray player...just more to consider.

And you're right...it's not rocket science...it's much much more difficult. Even the billion dollar networks can't get their digital media to play properly.

hahah I'll give you that one.

Robert's exactly right. Just get a mid-range camcorder at BestBuy. They are all good, for the most part.

Personally, I'd shy away from HDV, but that's just me. There are already better things on the market. But HDV is still good enough.

After all, most magic promo videos will be seen on the web, in very not-HD quality.

HDV was created to find a solution to compressing HD video so much that it could fit onto the already standard miniDV tapes.

In the pro world, we've seen a shift over the past few years to hard drive and solid state media (like memory cards). In fact, at the studio in which I work, for the last two and a half years we've shot entirely to solid state media.

Do a search for NAB. This is the big pro video convention going on in Vegas this week. All sorts of companies are releasing their newest technologies this week out there. You can get an idea for the direction things are going.

This means you can pick up some really good stuff on the consumer level. Thanks Robert and Zoobini!

Good luck!
Scott