1. Why Flip?

At the risk of appearing to gratuitously promote my other books, The iPod & iTunes Pocket Guide and The iPhone Pocket Guide, I’d like to cite those titles to help explain why a book like this one is necessary. After all, like Apple’s iPod and iPhone, the Flip cameras couldn’t be much easier to operate. The FlipShare software that accompanies these cameras can be used without a lot of background in video editing. And it’s not like Pure Digital has cornered the market on pocket camcorders. (As I write this chapter, some perfectly fine high-definition pocket camcorders are for sale from companies such as Kodak and Creative Technology. And because high definition in your pocket is so popular, it’s likely that we’ll see more of these kinds of cameras before too long.)

So, as this chapter’s title asks, why Flip? Because, like the iPod and iPhone, the Flip camcorders are about more than just functionality. Like Apple, Pure Digital understands the notion that personal technology can be personal. In the case of a pocket camcorder, it can not only serve perfectly utilitarian purposes such as shooting a birthday party or a night on the town, but also reflect the personality of the owner. Unlike any other company that makes pocket camcorders, Pure Digital pushes this personality angle in a couple of interesting ways:

• It allows buyers to create custom case designs for the Flip Mino at no extra cost, thus transforming the camcorder into a fashion accessory (see Chapter 3 for details).

• It lets you extend your personality to the world by sharing the contents of your camera via the Internet. (The FlipShare software included with every Flip camcorder makes that easy to do; I show you how in Chapter 7.)

What else do Flip camcorders have to offer? Let’s take a look.

Old School, Meet New School

If you’ve been shooting video with a full-size camcorder, you may wonder what makes Flip cameras so special. They don’t have image stabilization, so video can be shaky if you’re not careful. Although the MinoHD and UltraHD shoot in high definition, its 720p HD output isn’t the best HD standard available. (I provide more details on HD standards in Chapter 2.) Its digital zoom feature enlarges the image’s pixels, creating some pretty blocky video when you zoom all the way in. It has no white-balance or manual focus controls. The lens wasn’t designed by a leading German optics manufacturer. And on and on.

Although these concerns are perfectly legitimate, they demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of what pocket camcorders are for and the areas in which they have an advantage over traditional camcorders. Allow me to bring some clarity to these concerns.

A bird in the hand

Not long ago, pulling together video gear for a day of shooting was just slightly less arduous than packing for a 2-week trip to the Grand Canyon. You needed a camera slightly larger than the typical elementary-school lunch box, a handful of tapes, a charger, a battery, a spare battery for when the first one pooped out, a remote control, a tripod, and a bag to put everything in. When it was time to shoot, you flipped on the power, removed the lens cap, extended the viewfinder, pressed Record, cursed when you realized that you didn’t have a tape in the camera, shut down the camera, loaded a tape, and started the whole process again. Is it any wonder that after the first month of “Cool, I’ve got a camcorder!” excitement wore off, you got the camera out only on Christmas morning and—oh so briefly—that one time in the hospital delivery room?

This is where the Flip has a distinct edge. When you can shoot video only with a bulky camcorder and its entourage of parts, and when that gear is stuffed away in a closet somewhere, you’re likely to miss capturing life’s most spontaneously memorable moments: your roommate stumbling into a telephone pole after quenching a too-powerful thirst at the frat party, that totally cute guy dancing at the club, or your daughter demonstrating her first clumsy cartwheel on the playground.

Sure, the Flip camcorders can’t capture the same quality footage as full-size HD camcorders, but a fat lot of good that does you when something great happens and your big ol’ camcorder is sitting on a shelf somewhere. Because you can take a Flip with you anywhere you go without fuss or bother, you’re likely to capture something—which, last time I studied the matter, is vastly better than nothing.

True point-and-shoot

How many times did you hear your dad say this when he was huddled behind the camcorder? “Wait, wait—don’t move. I’ve got to adjust the framitz and refocus the dippulator. I’ve almost got it!” Right: often enough that whenever he could pull it together to actually shoot some video, he got a lot of sour faces from his family. The beauty of the Flip cameras in this regard is that recording is a two-step process. Turn on the camera. Push the big red button. Done. There just isn’t anything to fiddle with, so in many cases, you’ll shoot more quickly than you would with a full-size camcorder.

The intimidation factor

Try this experiment: Grab your cell phone and point its camera at your best friend. No big deal, right? She either ignored you or mugged for the camera. Now find a big camcorder and try the same thing. My guess is that you got a completely different reaction, along the lines of “What are you doing with that!? Put it down!” People (younger people in particular) are increasingly comfortable with having small image-grabbing devices shoved in their faces, and because they are, it’s not a great challenge for them to carry on as though the camera wasn’t there. Big camcorders are intimidating. The Flips, not so much.

Edit anywhere

Each and every Flip camcorder has FlipShare editing software planted on its storage medium. When you jack that camcorder into any Windows PC or Macintosh with a USB 2.0 port, you can not only transfer the video from the camera to the computer, but also install FlipShare on that computer. This software allows you to edit and upload video from just about any computer you come into contact with. Try that with a full-size camcorder.

Easy off

So you’ve just spent the past 5 minutes pointing your Flip at a friend who swears he can jump 12 vintage Ford pickup trucks with the aid of his skateboard and a homemade rocket pack. Finally, in an unanticipated moment of clarity, he chickens out and tells you to turn off the camera. Now you’ve got 5 minutes of him hemming and hawing and you calling him a wuss. YouTube viewers are pretty forgiving, but not that forgiving.

If you were using a full-size tape-based camcorder, imagine trying to delete that bit of video to free up some room on the tape—completely possible, but also a complete pain in the neck. With a Flip you can just press Play/Pause, locate the clip, and press the Delete button to delete the clip. Then you can go back to calling your friend a wuss as well as a chicken. With luck, he’ll succumb to the peer pressure, and you’ll have something memorable to shoot (and, possibly, something to show to his parents when they ask him, “What happened to your teeth?!”).

Express yourself

Unless you’re very careful about how and what you shoot, you’re not going to get results from a Flip camcorder that look stunning on a big-screen TV or DVD. But that’s not the point. The ideal destination for video shot with the Flip is the Web: YouTube, Vimeo, MySpace, Facebook, and similar video sharing sites where you can document your doings.

Also, because you’re shooting for public consumption, you’re going to shoot content that’s different from what people normally shoot with “real” camcorders. Your content can include newsworthy events like political speeches and rallies, your band’s rehearsal, or a cat on a trampoline.

Share and share alike

Find someone you know who’s been shooting video with a full-size camcorder for a while. Ask her to tell you, as honestly as possible, how many tapes she’s pulled from the camera and tossed into a drawer with the promise that someday, she’ll get around to editing her work. Unless she’s obsessive about her video, she’ll sheepishly admit that she hasn’t touched at least half of it.

Shooting hours of video is great, but it does you little good if you don’t do something with that video. Most people charge a Flip camcorder by plugging it into a powered USB 2.0 port. When you do the same, your video editing application launches, be it FlipShare or a different application you’ve chosen. Heck, you’re most of the way there! Just import the camera’s clips and share them via a burned DVD, e-mail, or Web-based video sharing service, and you’re one giant step ahead of the guy who’s “getting around” to editing his video.

Experiment

The Flip camcorders invite experimentation. They include no moving parts and are a cinch to use, so you can safely hand one to a 7-year-old to see what she comes up with. (You may be amazed by what comes out of a camcorder when the operator has no preconceived notions of how it should be used.) Also, the Flips are really small, making them perfect for strapping to the handlebars of a bike, a snowboarder’s helmet, or the tail of a kite. And if you want to be more ambitious and create a Webcast with one, that’s easy to do too.

What to Do with Your Flip

You just point at things you want to shoot and press the red button, right? Mostly, yes. But here are a few ideas you may not have thought of:

• Take notes.

They say that a picture’s worth a thousand words. What’s a video of your Chem 101 seminar worth, then? Beats me. But if you’re in a class where capturing audio and video is as useful as taking notes, haul along your Flip and start shooting when the professor opens his mouth.

• Catch someone in the act.

It pains me to suggest that there are people in this world who aren’t as ethical and upstanding as you, dear reader, and me, but it’s the regrettable truth. If someone’s doing wrong by you, and if capturing that wrongdoing (harassment, bullying, blackmail) on video will help stop this behavior, feel free to place your Flip in an inconspicuous location and press the red button.

• Catch something in the act.

I have a fair number of feral cats that I’ve adopted, and because they’re feral, I’m forced to feed them outside. They have dinner as the sun goes down, and coincidentally, shortly thereafter is just about the time the local raccoons and skunks like to have breakfast. They, too, enjoy cat food.

I enjoy the antics of these critters, but their sometimes-too-easily-offended nature prevents me from observing them close up. Thanks to my Flip MinoHD, however, I can enjoy their every sniff, chomp, and growl vicariously. I just take the camera with me when I feed the cats, place it on a short tripod, press the Record button, and disappear. A couple of hours later, I return to retrieve the camera and transfer what it’s captured to my computer.

• Catch some act in the act.

Some performers have no objection to your capturing bits of their work as long as you do it discreetly. A full-size camcorder is not discreet. A Flip camcorder is.

• Watch yourself.

How’s your golf swing? Your backstroke? Your demi-plié? You’ll get a better idea if you can watch yourself in action. Set up a tripod, switch on the Flip, and do your thing. Watch. Review. Try, try again.

• View the unknown.

You say the engine knocks when you step on the gas? Something behind the water heater is groaning? It sounds like there are zombies in the attic? Use the Flip as your eyes when your eyes can’t be there. If necessary, attach the thing to a stick and position it so that it can record what you can’t see.

• Store your stuff.

When you plug your Flip into your computer, your PC or Mac views it as both a camera and a removable storage device. On a Windows PC, you’ll see it listed in the My Computer (XP) or Computer (Vista) area. On a Mac, it appears as a removable drive on the Desktop. You’re welcome to copy items from your computer to the Flip camera, unplug the camera, and take it to a different computer where you can access the files you copied.

• Amour.

I’ll leave this one alone other than to mention that among the pocket camcorders, the Flip cameras perform reasonably well in low light.