fast motion and the hv20

[G-Man]

First I'd like to thank everyone who's posted footage from the hv20 for all of us to see.

Now on to my question/request. I have heard that the camera doesn't shoot fast motion well, that it becomes blocky. None of the footage I've seen so far includes any fast motion-ie someone running, fast cars, fast camera movement etc.

My question is how well does the hv20 capture fast action images-is it blocky? My request is can someone please post fast footage for us to see how the camera handles fast motion?

Thanks!

[G-Man]

Anybody?

[Barry_Green]

Well, it suffers from the same issues that affect all HDV. That's something that's inherent in a long-GOP recording format; there's not a whole lot you can do about it. If you want the cheap tape recording offered by HDV, you have to be prepared to deal with that.

[G-Man]

Thanks for the reply Barry.

Do you know where I can see fast-motion hdv? I just want to see how distracting the image is. I'm actually not too critical-I've enjoyed films shot on sd mini dv--films like Tadpole and Tape, so I don't think I'll be too critical of footage shot on hdv.

Thanks again.

[Barry_Green]

You can download some sample clips from the XHA1 on Canon's website. Download the largest/highest-quality one. You can really see the degradation in the horse footage; but also you can decide whether you're comfortable with that.

[Metrolens]

You can download some sample clips from the XHA1 on Canon's website. Download the largest/highest-quality one. You can really see the degradation in the horse footage; but also you can decide whether you're comfortable with that.

Wait a second. That A1 footage of the horses had something seriously wrong with it when I watched it last week. Why Canon posted it as a shining example of what the A1 can do is totally beyond me.

Here's the thing: I have seen *no* other footage in all my viewings from the HV20 or A1 that has problems like this horse example. In fact, I have to say I've seen no A1 or HV20 footage that has blockiness of any kind. Actually, I do remember one occasion where Disjecta posted some of his truly incredible A1 work, and there were some artifacts - but this was due to the post encoder. Someone called it to his attention - he rerendered and reposted - and the problem was solved. Totally pristine.

So I have a really hard time believing that these problems are due to Canon's HDV codec, which we know improved dramatically on early HDV, and is now reputedly the best HDV codec on the market. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Can anyone comment on what the problems of that horse footage could be, other than HDV origination?

[Barry_Green]

The horse footage is compounded by it being interlaced footage; I'm not talking about the interlacing but the overall degradation of fine detail. Combining the high action of running horses with the unpredictability of the kicked-up dust could easily lead to the type of degradation seen in that footage, although it sure did look extreme.

Canon HDV does seem somewhat more resilient than other brands. I don't get why they posted that particular footage either, especially since it includes an exhortation to "stop on any frame to observe the quality."

I keep meaning to do an article on when and why HDV breaks down, so shooters can be more prepared to deal with it and avoid those types of situations. Had someone come up to me at NAB with another prime example, which is a red-carpet event. Flash photography at a red carpet event can easily overload the codec, depending on the frequency of flashes. It's not really "motion" that does it, per se, it's the amount of change in a frame; when a flash goes off every single pixel in the frame changes. If it's only once in a GOP then maybe the codec can handle it, but two or three times and you're probably asking too much. So flashes, explosions, fire, fireworks, strobelights, running water, glinting sunlight on rippling waves, smoke, fog, dust clouds, and the dancing grain of a 35mm adapter... all those things can be ingredients that result in pushing HDV too far. Maybe you can get away with one of them, but two or more and you'll probably see some detrimental effects in the footage.