Questions about the HVX200

[iMarco]

Hello HVXusers, I'm new to the forums and I got a couple of questions regarding the HVX200. I recently dived into the world of HD after purchasing a Panasonic HVX200...I'm quite confused though.

1) The first time I saw HVX200 footage was at a friend's studio, amazing stuff even though it had already gone through post production finishing touches. After buying my camera, I tried shooting a couple of shots, under decent natural golden sunlight...and I get a grainy image in the dark sections of the image. Why?

Is there any way I can avoid grainy images using camera settings or on post using FCP?

2) I usually shoot 720p / 24p and I never change the Recording Settings in the middle of a shoot, so in other words, all of my clips are recorded under the same recording settings. My question is, why am I able to delete some clips and others are not deletable? If you can't delete, I just get the format option...oh and the Repair (Loop).

3) After shooting a decent test clip, I transfered my clips on to my FCP6 system, color corrected and saved the file. According to my friend, the "pull down" was incorrect and if I wanted to get a nice short movie image, I need to use the "correct pull down"?

I export -> QuickTime Movie -> Setting: DVCPRO HD - 720p24

Markers: All Markers

What am I doing wrong? I know I have to resize and compress...but what sizes should I use? What compressor? What aspect ratio?


4) What are the most important camera settings I should look into when shooting a scene? I know this all depends on what I want, what I'm shooting and my light scheme...but overall?

Last Question...I know this is pretty long, thanks if you got all the way to the end...

5) I'm editing a trailer for a friend. I'm sure most of you watch movie trailers on apple.com and notice how crisp the image even though the screen size is quite small. What do I have to do on FCP to export a video using Quicktime with these same attributes? I'll ask about trailers in HD later on. Oh and I've been using Soreson 3 every now and then.

Here are samples of what I'm talking of:

http://marcoromero.portodiao.com/media/nando1.jpg

http://marcoromero.portodiao.com/media/nando2.jpg

...and on this one....once I save my video, small grain particles are visible all over the place...in fact all my videos are showing grain.

http://marcoromero.portodiao.com/media/nando3.jpg


Thanks all!

[wgzn]

okay. first of all if you shoot 24p and work in 24p there IS NO pulldown. your friend doesnt know what he's talking about.

and second of all i think what your calling "grain" is just how video looks on an lcd monitor. all your screenshots look fine to me.

its doesnt look like this is an issue, but just as a side note. you dont have your camera gain turned up do you? that always introduces grain.

[Erik Olson]

I see the noise you're describing. Note that the noise you see manifests primarily in the mids and grays. It is part of the HVX200's visual signature, and, arguably a part of what gives it its... well, mojo.

Do this experiment. Go watch any of those Apple.com HD trailers (at unscaled 1080p if you can) and keep your eyes on the shadow areas on the interiors. What is all that crawling there in the background?! It's grain. Massive amounts of it in the grays and mids.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/4021/1200719258.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/4021/1208301074.jpg
Difficult to find any part of this frame - or any of the interior shots from this picture that don't exhibit huge amounts of grain.

35mm film still sets the visual benchmark for all filmed entertainment - save for Discovery HDTheater and HD news or sports broadcasts. In those, the virtually noise-free "Sony-look" is preferred to the rather soft, muddy look realized through celluloid.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/4021/1208302323.jpg
No noise or grain - virtually none. That's the Sony look for Speed Racer, courtesy of their flagship F23.

Anyway, lighting and good production design will minimize your HVX's tendency toward noise in these areas of your frame. I would instead suggest you embrace it to whatever extent you are comfortable.

e

[iMarco]

Thanks guys. I guess lighting up my scene a lot more eliminates all those dark areas and I'll avoid the grain a lot more. If any of you have anymore suggestions or want to answer the other questions, please do. I'll be checking up on the thread.

Yet again, thanks to both of you.