Recording with HVX on tape... is it still HD?

[cousinavi7]

Hey guys,

Really stupid question, but I'm looking at buying a HVX and haven't used it before. I've got a shoot where we are going to be out all day away from power supplies and am worried about recording full HD to a firestore. Mostly because they tell me a 16 gig card will capture about 40mins on 1080/24p mode. I'm shooting interviews and will probably record 7 HOURS of footage in one day!

Is it possible to record to HDV tapes with the HVX? or is all tape recording on the camera only SD? My client wants HD footage but I think I'd need about 3 firestores to cover a day of shooting. (I also can't be without the camera while I dump the media to Hard Drive. Strange I know, its interviews)

I hope that makes some sense and someone can suggest what they have done.

Thanks!

David

[aurantaurant]

I was shooting 720 24pn and then ran out of space on the p2 store and my p2 cards. I popped in a tape and starting shooting and then blew it up in my HD timeline.

I couldn't really tell the difference on the export to SD DVD. So there ya go.

[gi-jones]

No, you can't shoot HD on tape with the HVX. HDV is the Sony format and not used by Panasonic.

#2: Well it doesn't really make all that sense with an HD workflow if you plan to publish in SD anyway does it?

[VenezuelanD]

A. No, tape is 480i DV.
B. 16Gigs=16mins in 1080 24, about 40 mins in 720 24PN.

C. Instead of renting 3 firestores, why not get more p2 cards and an assistant who's sole job is to dump the cards to harddrive. 7 hours of interviews at 1080 is roughly 420 gigs of info. Can you get away with filming in 720 24PN?

[bluetuned]

I was shooting 720 24pn and then ran out of space on the p2 store and my p2 cards. I popped in a tape and starting shooting and then blew it up in my HD timeline.

I couldn't really tell the difference on the export to SD DVD. So there ya go.

Well....umm....if your final DVD is SD then of course you won't notice the difference. Your HD footage will have been downrez'd by then anyway.

But this guy presumably needs HD for his final output, in which case there will be a very noticeable difference.

If you're going to need 7 hours of HD footage, your best bet is either getting somebody to dump your footage to a drive throughout the day while you're shooting, or using a different camera that has HDV.

The HVX, at this point, isn't really ideally suited for that much shooting, unless you have a pile of P2 cards, or an efficient work flow for dumping your footage to drives.

[thekreative]

Or you could just get a laptop with an external drive and record straight to that all day. I've recorded hours of interviews this way and then everything is already to edit (no dumping cards) . I do backup again to another drive as soon as I'm home

[Luis Caffesse]

Another thing to consider if you're going to be away from power all day is that the Firestore also requires battery power - and the standard battery only lasts about 90 minutes. Focus has a longer life battery which can last around 3 hours, but you would still need a few of those to get you through that kind of shoot.

[aurantaurant]

#2: Well it doesn't really make all that sense with an HD workflow if you plan to publish in SD anyway does it?


It makes perfect sense. Most people are downrezing to SD. There is a huge difference between outputting DVX footage to SD DVD and HVX footage to SD DVD. The difference is huge. You get a very smooth image with the HVX whereas in the past the DVX footage wasn't as smooth. That's just my experience.

I just shot a bunch of interviews on HD and they wont be presented in HD format... just not feasible for everyday DVD users.

It's like saying, why shoot on 35mm if you're just gonna put it on a DVD?

[danbrains]

sorry but are you guys saying that if i were to shoot footage on 720 25p (PAL) then edit it and finish on DVD that it would be the same quality as if I shot it 720 25p then dubbed(down to SD) to tape, captured, editted and finished on DVD it would be the same quality?

[blckhawk542]

The SD capability on the HVX is outstanding. Crystal clear and sharp..and thats coming directly from the Mini DV tape. Even if you still shoot 720p and downrez to SD on the Mini DV...the quality would still be amazing...but you wont get the 4:2:2 color space; it would turn to Mini DV's 4:2:0..but still, the quality is amazing.

I've done it a few times for some projects and it came out really clear.

[ProfessorU]

Here's another vote for using MiniDV for this gig. $50 in tape vs. $5000 in equipment. Unless your client is printing money it doesn't make sense.

The MiniDV on the HVX looks superior to any SD MiniDV cam I've seen.