I got my Flip Mino from Amazon yesterday, and I couldn't wait to play with it. It's part of my summer project to learn all about video, video editing software and camcorders. I first saw the Flip at the Sloan C conference and then talked to Lisa Young at GWCC who has one. Both owners absolutely love their Flip Ultra. My first impression then was, it's cool, but it's a little big for me. Then a month later they came out with the Flip Mino, a much smaller version of the Ultra with touch controls, better resolution and a rechargeable battery. I was in for that.
First impressions: HOT! This thing is tiny. It's smaller than my Blackberry Pearl, which I carry everywhere with me and fits nicely into my pocket. Dimensions are 3.94" x 1.97" x 0.63" and it weighs in at 3.3 oz. That's 2 oz lighter than the Ultra. All three Flip cameras shoot at 640 x 480 resolution, but the Mino has a little better compression using the Pure Digital Video Engine 2.5. It also has a omni-directional mic.Of course the best feature on any Flip is the flip out USB "thingy". I plugged it right into my MacBookPro first, and although I didn't like how it makes the camera dangle in mid air, it didn't seem to be a problem. It created a drive icon on the desktop and when I click on it I was able to open up the Flip installer and install the software. It first prompted for a 3ivx player to install before I could load the software. Surprisingly, things were even easier on the PC. Once I plugged in the Flip there, a dialogue box opened up and asked if I wanted to "View your Flip camcorder videos using the program provided on the device." Sure!
The program was installed and I was viewing the videos I'd shot just moments before. I was also able to make some quick edits, which included chopping off the beginning or end. I'm sure I could probably crop in the middle too, although I didn't try that.
Next I wanted to see what I could do with the video. The software makes it easy to upload your videos to AOL Video, YouTube and now MySpace. If you want to upload to other services, it will compress the video for you and put it in a folder on your hard drive. I tried YouTube on for size, and as always the compression really sucks. I'm not a fan of YouTube, so I tried it on Vimeo, but I didn't let the Flip program compress it. I just uploaded the video from the Flip directly to Vimeo. Vimeo also compresses the video, but for some reason, I think it looks better than it does on YouTube. What do you think?
YouTube Video:On Vimeo:
Yamaha V-Star Custom & Classic from Coop on Vimeo.
So far I'm pleased with my purchase, and although the price of the Flip Mino is much higher than the entry Flip's $100, I still think it was worth it. I'm sure you'll find a deal out there. I found the Flip Mino White for $20 less on Amazon ($157) just because it was white. You can also try out Creative's entry into this field for a lot less, the Creative Vado, but beware if you're using a Mac. The only knock on the Vado is it doesn't play nice with some Macs.
4 comments:
Hello, Alisa.
I just discovered your blog: I also teach online (60% of my load) out of American River College. Small world: though I have not had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Young, I started my teaching career at GWCC as an adjunct :-) GWCC and Coast CC as a whole have been very supportive of faculty using technologies to teach, and I have pleasant memories of the District.
Like you as well, I bought the Mino this summer--I am trying it out for the first time now, and discovered your site as a result of my Google search for "flip mino edit movie"
I'll let you know how I do if you're interested. By the way, I prefer Macs, but my laptop is in need of an upgrade as it is a G3 that my dept. was nice enough to purchase for me 5 years ago (no upgrade on the horizon); and I also have my own desktop PC at home, so I am trying the Mino out on both. I am rather pessimistic about it's ability to work on a G3, OS 10.3.9, but we'll see.
Looking forward to reading more about your summer project and I am pleased to meet you!
Natasha Fratello Breitenbach
Hi Natasha,
Your website link doesn't work, so hopefully you'll venture back and see my comment. Thanks for visiting the site. I'm not sure I know anyone who has worked in the district and then went somewhere else. Everyone usually loves it here and never leave. :-)
Good luck with your video project. I've heard from others that you may have to convert your video from the Flip on the Mac in order to edit it in iMovie. I didn't have any trouble but others have. You might want to try http://www.mediaconverter.org. I hear it solves the problem. Have fun.
Thanks for the entry. I'm interested in this camera.
P.S. Did you find the keys?
Hello, Alisa.
School has started, so I just now was able to venture back to your site :-)
I apologize for the typo in the URL I gave to you during my last visit to the site. Here is the correct URL for my web site: http://homepage.mac.com/natashaf/Psychology/index.htm.
I will check out the mediaconverter.org site--thank you for the suggestion.
So far, I have used the Mino on the PC to make introductory videos to my online students. Student feedback has been positive as they feel they know me better as a result of seeing and hearing me. Windows Media Player is needed for them to play the movies, and so far, no problems have been reported.
Once again, I appreciate your blog, and thank you for sharing your experiences :-)
Natasha
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