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Landro Frequently Asked Questions
This document lists answers to frequently asked questions about Landro Personal Edition.
What is Landro Personal Edition?Landro Personal Edition is our premier video play analysis system for laptops and personal computers. Landro allows you to record (capture) video digitally, tag just the plays (play segments) you care about, optionally catalog the plays, and then instantly retrieve just the video you want to watch. Laptop computers let your video be easily portable to wherever you need it. Landro stores your games as digital video files. You capture the video into your laptop at an event while it's happening. As you pause the camera between plays, Landro marks the beginning and end of the plays electronically. You can also tag plays yourself, and rapidly mark essential details of the plays for later retrieval. Immediately after your event, the plays are all available for instant access and indexed according to any catalog information you entered. You can quickly and easily view games and plays, and can easily present plays with slow-motion, forward and reverse, as well as restarting a play or jumping between plays. What will I need to get started?You probably won't need everything on this list, but we've attempted to set down a shopping list of all the things you might ultimately want to have for a complete Landro play analysis system. First, you obviously need the Landro Personal Edition software. This can be purchased or licensed on a subscription basis. (There is also a Landro Basic version, sufficient for some users; see our version comparison for the differences.) You need the laptop computer to run the software. (Actually, a desktop computer would work too, apart from the fact that you can't really take it with you.) This computer might be yours personally, or it might come from your school or business... as long as it meets our system requirements. You need a Mini-DV camcorder for recording your games. Read over our camera requirements if you are considering purchasing a new camera to use with Landro. You will also need some Mini-DV tapes to use with the camcorder. You will need a FireWire cable (also called an IEEE-1394 cable) to connect your camcorder to your computer. FireWire cables come with two different connectors on the end, so make sure the cable you purchase matches the connectors on your camcorder and laptop. (Most inexpensive Mini-DV camcorders and most laptops use the small, 4-conductor FireWire cable; just check this before you buy your cable.) You will probably want a tripod for keeping the camcorder level while recording events. If you will be recording into Landro "on the road", this should have legs that are highly adjustable (since you may not always have a level surface). The tripod should have an arm (handle) for panning (moving to left and right) with a smooth motion. You will want to attach your FireWire cable to the panning arm so that it doesn't pull on the camcorder connector when the camera moves; some tripods come with cable clips for this purpose. (If yours doesn't have that, you can use twist-ties to do the same thing. But it is important that you secure the cable, or else you may damage the connector on your camcorder.) You may want to have a small collapsible table that you can set up to hold your laptop. You don't want your laptop to sit on the floor or on the ground, and it may not be convenient for it to be sitting on your lap while you are operating the camera. If you plan to run your camera and/or laptop from AC power while recording, rather than relying on their batteries, you will want a good extension cord with multiple outlets or a power strip at the end to plug things in. (Be sure you know there will be a place to plug in at your event. If this is not certain, then you will want spare batteries for both the camcorder and the laptop.) If you will also be getting video for Landro from VHS or DVD, you will need a video capture device to bring that video into Landro. Read over our video capture notes for recommended devices for this purpose. For presenting video in front of an audience, you will probably want a larger display than the screen of your laptop. The usual approach is to use a video projector that accepts VGA input. Ideally this should support at least 1024x768 screen resolution; 800x600 is the very minimum resolution that can work for Landro playback. (You could use a large flat-screen monitor that accepts VGA instead, which allows you to display video in more room lighting, but is typically either smaller or more expensive.) You may find it easier to present video in front of an audience if you don't have to keep pressing keys on the laptop. A media PC remote gives you more freedom to move around while you present. (Landro Personal Edition accepts voice commands to control playback, but then it would be harder to also talk to your audience since Landro might try to interpret your comments as voice commands.) If you will be exchanging Landro video files with others, you will want to have either USB memory sticks or USB drives. These come with a wide range of capacities and prices. A useful rule of thumb is that an hour of Landro video requires somewhere around one gigabyte (1 GB) of storage. If you will be burning highlight DVDs in your computer, you will need blank DVD-ROM discs for this. Before you buy DVD blanks, check to see whether your laptop's DVD drive prefers DVD+R or DVD-R (plus or minus) format discs. (Most modern laptops work fine with both, but make sure before you buy.) If you will be making a lot of copies, you may consider purchasing a DVD duplicator, instead of spending the time to make each one separately on your laptop. What sort of computer do I need?The right computer can make the difference between smooth, easy sports video analysis and a jumpy, difficult experience. This page can help you decide whether your existing computer is up to the job, or what to look for in a new computer. Computer system requirementsThe computer you use for Landro software should have:
Typically a laptop computer that meets these specs is available for around $1,000. You will find that the best laptops to use with Landro will be ones marketed for multimedia, entertainment or gaming. Take these specifications to your local Best Buy, Circuit City or other computer/electronics store and ask for help selecting the right computer. It is likely that once they understand that video will be your primary use, they'll know exactly what to recommend. The processor and memory are important because the computer needs a lot of power for digital video, especially recording. Don't skimp on the processor or memory (necessary for processing digital video, especially recording) or the video display (good video displays are accelerated to handle more of the work of smooth video playback). Avoid computers with Windows Vista Home Basic or Vista Business; these are often less powerful and generally lack some of the multimedia features used by Landro. Also, don't let your school or business computer staff convert the PC to Windows XP or remove the latest multimedia drivers. Does it have to be a laptop?Not at all! We usually talk about Landro Personal Edition with a laptop PC because some of our key features are the mobility of the laptop and the ability to record and break down video right at an event... but this isn't a requirement. A similarly featured desktop computer will work just fine. If you have multiple Landro licenses, you might use a laptop for recording on the road and use a desktop computer just for viewing or further cataloging of plays. My computer doesn't meet your requirements; can I still use it?This question is sort of like asking if it's all right to put a lawnmower engine under the hood of your car. It may work, sort of, but it certainly won't work well. We list the system requirements to make sure you have a good experience with Landro. If you don't have Windows Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate, you won't be able to use the easy Windows DVD Maker to create highlight DVDs from Landro video. You would have to purchase and use a third-party DVD application, and assemble the video pieces yourself in that tool. This would definitely not be as easy! Additionally, if you need to play back files from Landro hardware (blue box) systems, this may not work on other versions of Windows. If you don't have a Core 2 Duo processor, or a comparable processor (such as AMD Turion 64 X2) you can expect slower processing, particularly during recording and while saving from the Presentation Cart. Recording to a Windows Media video file (the recommended storage format) may take a long time to finish saving to disk after you stop recording. A particularly slow processor may lose video frames while recording, and may also have difficulty with video playback. If you don't have at least 2GB of system memory, you can expect slower processing, particularly during recording and while saving from the Presentation Cart. If you don't have an accelerated video adapter (such as the NVidia adapters with dedicated video memory), you can expect lower quality video playback and more lurching. A poor enough video display won't work with Landro at all. If you don't have 256MB of dedicated video memory, you can expect lower quality video playback and more lurching. Some systems include "UMA video memory" which actually means that the video memory is not dedicated and will not perform as well. If you don't have an IEEE-1394 ("FireWire") connection, Landro probably cannot record video. Both our required video cameras and recommended analog video capture devices need a FireWire connection to your computer. Fortunately, this is easy to correct: you can buy a PC Card interface to FireWire for a laptop computer, or a FireWire PCI adapter for a desktop computer. What should I look for when buying a new laptop?The first thing you should look for is a laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate. Most older, lower-performance laptops come with Windows XP or Vista Basic; this is a pretty good clue that it won't do a good job for you in Landro. If possible, ask the seller about the system's "Windows Experience Index," a new performance ranking Microsoft introduced with Vista. A Windows Experience Index base score of 4.0 or higher is a good sign. A computer marketed for either advanced gaming or multimedia will generally have the better performance that Vista and Landro need. Try to look for computers from well-established brands with descriptions like "entertainment PC" or descriptions that include "digital video" or "video editing." Check the specifications against our requirements listed above. The processor type requirement is particularly hard to understand because of the many different processor names, so don't be afraid to ask your seller how a particular processor compares to a 2GHz Core 2 Duo. Make sure the computer you consider has a FireWire connection (the digital video cable); FireWire is not all that common in desktop computers (although you can add one). Make sure there is a DVD burner drive, not just a DVD reader drive. For a laptop, make sure there is a VGA output connector, or you won't be able to connect to a projector. One place where many otherwise respectable computers skimp is on the video adapter. Avoid terms like "integrated video," "shared video memory" or "UMA;" these can hurt the video playback ability of the computer. We do not make specific make and model recommendations, because the available models change from week to week. Besides, your school or business may have specific policies on which makes of computer will be supported (and possibly buying arrangements for discounted systems); ask your computer support people. Hopefully these guidelines will help you make a choice on a computer that will serve you well and give a great Landro play analyzer experience! What sort of camcorder do I need?You may already have one! Landro works with "Mini-DV" camcorders supporting an IEEE-1394 ("FireWire") interface. This is a very popular type of camcorder, and models from several manufacturers start below $300... but you can also get professional or "pro-sumer" Mini-DV cameras for additional video quality. Can I use my existing video camcorder?If it is a Mini-DV camcorder with a FireWire connection, then yes! Otherwise, your camera is probably not directly compatible with Landro. Camcorders using DVD, hard drive or memory stick storage, or tapes that aren't Mini-DV (such as mini-VHS or Hi-8) generally won't work directly in Landro. However, your camera probably has some sort of analog outputs (composite video or S-video). You can obtain a FireWire video capture device to adapt these to work with Landro. This is discussed under video capture. (A shortcoming of this approach is that Landro can't detect pauses in the video the way it works with Mini-DV.) What should I look for when buying a new camcorder?You need a Mini-DV camcorder with a FirwWire connector. Don't choose an "HD" camera, because it probably won't work properly, and if it did (or you used a FireWire video capture device), Landro would lose the extra detail anyway. A camcorder with only a USB connection is not what you want. Cameras with "3 CCD" video imaging record a better picture than single CCD camcorders, but there are other camera details that can affect picture quality including low-light sensitivity and "anti-jitter" technology. When in doubt, ask the seller for recommendations for your situation and for "video editing" on your computer. Check the placement of the FireWire connector. Several otherwise good camcorder models place this connector under the battery pack, which means that you can't record on the road without running the camera from AC power. Make sure the camcorder accepts a tripod mount. This is a hole on the bottom that accepts the screw on a tripod head. All but the very cheapest camcorders have this. Also consider how the camcorder ejects its tape. Many inexpensive camcorders eject tapes out the bottom. There's nothing wrong with this... except that it makes it harder to change tapes if you have the camera on a tripod, because the tripod head probably blocks the tape gate. If you expect to change tapes during an event, you may not be happy with the extra difficulty this can cause. Can I switch tapes while recording?Yes! And anyway, you may not need to. If you record only the "plays" from your event, then most events will fit within the one hour recording time of a standard Mini-DV tape. Landro will also detect the times when you pause and start your camcorder, and automatically mark plays in the recording. However, if you prefer to record an entire long event to tape, you'll very likely need to switch tapes. Landro includes special technology that detects when a camera is shut off or disconnected, and allows you to resume the recording once the camera is turned back on and connected. How do I get pre-recorded video into Landro?Pre-recorded video can mean a lot of different things. How you get that video into Landro depends upon the form in which it comes. If your video was recorded on a Mini-DV camcorder, you can record the mini-DV tape straight into Landro, almost the same as recording during an event. Landro even detects the pauses on the tape and marks the plays for you. If your game video is on VHS tape or DVD, you will need some sort of video capture hardware for your laptop. Landro works very well with an analog-to-Firewire video converter, such as the recommended capture devices listed below. You may be able to use other video capture products that offer USB connections, but many of these have problems with Windows Vista, Landro or both, so we cannot support these products. If your game video is already a digital video file, particularly from some sort of video exchange service, there is a good chance that it is a Windows Media video file (.wmv). Landro is able to accept any .wmv file directly; simply copy the file into the "Landro Videos" folder (Landro places a shortcut to this folder on your desktop). You can then tag the video as if you had recorded it yourself. Since Landro accepts Windows Media video files, you can use any tools that you might have to create these files. For example, if you have a video capture device with accompanying software for making a .wmv file, that's fine: use the device software to capture video, then use Landro to tag and catalog it. Similarly, there are several software utilities available on the Internet and/or in stores for converting the video on a DVD, or other digital video file formats, to a .wmv file. The original source isn't important: once you get the video into .wmv form and in the Landro Videos folder, Landro should work with it. Recommended Capture DevicesHere are some capture devices that work well with Landro: ADS Tech
PYRO A/V Link Canopus
ADVC110 Canopus
ADVC300 Note: These products and vendors are suggestions, not endorsements, and availability may have changed since we posted these links. You need to make your own evaluation of products, prices and vendors; we cannot support these products. What do I need to present video to an audience?Typically you would connect your laptop PC, containing the Landro software and your game video, to a video projector. You will need a projector that accepts VGA input at 1024x768 resolution (or better). Your laptop will need to display in a resolution that matches the abilities of the projector. Alternately, you might want to use a large flat-screen TV for your presentation. Make sure that the TV has a VGA input, or else that your laptop has an HDMI or DVI connector to match what your TV can accept. Do not attempt to use S-Video or composite video connections between your computer and the TV; the quality will be too low to be useful. You may also find it useful to have a remote control for your presentation. There are a number of wireless remotes sold for "multimedia PCs" or "Media Center PCs" and these should work with Landro. Most have both the cursor diamond (up, down, left, right, and Enter or OK) as well as the standard media control buttons (play, pause, etc.). These remotes let you move around while you present, without having to stand over the keyboard of your PC to control your presentation. The Presentation Cart in Landro is absolutely the best way to prepare for a presentation: simply place the plays you want to show, in the correct order, before you start. From the Presentation Cart, make sure the selection on the left is on "All Plays," then double-click the video display to go full-screen. You can then switch to the remote and make your presentation. |
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