HD100 production questions

[DonMarquis]

Hi,

I'm new here and I have some HD100 questions that I would appreciate if I could get some help with.

I know you can't use both LCD and viewfinder together but can the HD100 output the viewfinder information to an external set monitor?
Can it or does it even have aspect ratios guide marks like 1.85:1 or 2.35:1?

What produces the best quality with HDV 720p, shooting and getting the look all in camera, like colors, gamma, blacks etc or shooting for a more "digital negative" approach stretching the blacks and high lights as much as possible to record as much information as possible and then play with it in post?

The next questions are post related.
What's the best way to post 720p HDV. Using Cineform or another intermediate codec, if so which one, or editing the native m2t files like Vegas 7 now seems to be able to and also SpeedEdit when it's released? I'm talking about in terms of keeping quality all the way through post, from capturing to editing, to color correction to compositing and effects. What would produce the best quality?
Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Neopics]

...can the HD100 output the viewfinder information to an external set monitor?

Unfortunately not the camera information, only the set-up menus.

Can it or does it even have aspect ratios guide marks like 1.85:1 or 2.35:1?

No, only 4:3 and/or 16:9, with or without center marks.

What produces the best quality with HDV 720p

It would depend on too many factors -- the DP's operating preferences, visual style of the production, etc. Naturally, you want to capture as much dynamic range as possible, and a number of people have experimented with different settings to achieve that. Check out the forums at DVinfo.net.

What's the best way to post 720p HDV.

I personally recommend CineForm very highly. I detected no noticeable degredation from the original M2T stream once it's in CineForm format. Going back to M2T at the final stage creates a quality loss, but you don't necessarily have to go back to M2T. Plus, any native M2T editing solution will have the same quality drop once you do anything other than cuts-only editing. (And in those instances, the rendered shots would look different than the non-rendered shots.)

For reference, check out my production at:
http://www.encorp.ca/cfm/index.cfm?It=908&Id=48

There's a HD WMV version that has dropped a bit of quality due to the WMV compression, but there are a lot of rotoscoping effects with the puppets, and no noticable change of quality between the effects and live action. That's all CineForm. (I can provide higher quality reference stills if you'd like to compare any specific shots - let me know which scenes.)

 

[DonMarquis]

Thanks for the answers.
One more question please. Tomorrow I have to shoot a gig and want to use a scene file I downloaded. Problem is the file is in 24p and I need to shoot 25p. I know I just have to change it after loaded, but it's so anoying to do it all the time. Is there a way to save my setting in that scene file or is saving it again with the new settings under another ext.scn the only way?
Thanks

 

[Neopics]

Problem is the file is in 24p and I need to shoot 25p. I know I just have to change it after loaded, but it's so anoying to do it all the time. Is there a way to save my setting in that scene file...

It should be that easy. Make your setting changes, then just re-save them to the same file.

 

[DonMarquis]

Unfortunately not the camera information, only the set-up menus.

Really? That sucks. It's an useful thing to be able to output the info to a set monitor. Do the HD110 or HD250 do that?

No, only 4:3 and/or 16:9, with or without center marks.

I was kind of expecting it ouldn't have. Any suggestions for when filming footage the will be letterboxed to 1.85 or 2.35 besides just sticking some tape on the monitior?

It would depend on too many factors -- the DP's operating preferences, visual style of the production, etc. Naturally, you want to capture as much dynamic range as possible, and a number of people have experimented with different settings to achieve that. Check out the forums at DVinfo.net.

Ok, I will check this site, but just in general, getting it in camera I think would be best right? No degradation when color correcting, but it woul still degrade during compositing and fx. How about converting it all to uncompressed HD? Would it avoid degradation? If so, what do you recommend?

I personally recommend CineForm very highly. I detected no noticeable degredation from the original M2T stream once it's in CineForm format. Going back to M2T at the final stage creates a quality loss, but you don't necessarily have to go back to M2T. Plus, any native M2T editing solution will have the same quality drop once you do anything other than cuts-only editing. (And in those instances, the rendered shots would look different than the non-rendered shots.)

I will check your site. But I was told by most people that editing the m2t is the way to go. and that cineform even if not visible, the degradation is still there.I think the only ones that can edit the m2t are Vegas 7, SpeedEdit and Avid liquid, right?

 

[Ted Ramasola]

Don Marquis,

This might be a little late but you might consider checking out edius pro 4. It has Canopus HQ as an alternative to cineform. I tried cineform also, and I must say it is also good. Both canopus HQ on Edius 4 and Cineform Aspect HD codec on Premier Pro are fast and responsive. My problem with cineform is the way the color and apparently the "contrast and gamma" shifts when its in pause mode from playback mode, meaning that i cant get a spot on color correction since when you color correct the clip is in pause mode, then after making the tweaks you hit play. Other than this quirk, theyre both good, but i decided to use edius since i currently have an old DV Storm 2 card which, when used with edius, allows me to "preview" my HD edits on an SD crt monitor for color correction.

 

[David Newman]

Don Marquis,

This might be a little late but you might consider checking out edius pro 4. It has Canopus HQ as an alternative to cineform. I tried cineform also, and I must say it is also good. Both canopus HQ on Edius 4 and Cineform Aspect HD codec on Premier Pro are fast and responsive. My problem with cineform is the way the color and apparently the "contrast and gamma" shifts when its in pause mode from playback mode, meaning that i cant get a spot on color correction since when you color correct the clip is in pause mode, then after making the tweaks you hit play. Other than this quirk, theyre both good, but i decided to use edius since i currently have an old DV Storm 2 card which, when used with edius, allows me to "preview" my HD edits on an SD crt monitor for color correction.

The color shift is an NVidia error that you can either calibrate for or avoid totally if you turn off the overlay. The extern display didn't have the shift only the desktop preview window on uncalibrated NVidia cards (to calibrate the NVidia card check the readme file.) This is not an issue.

 

[josephelite]

encorp? I think it's a recycling organization in Vancouver. But anyway, I think ERA is better than them because they donate the recycled computer and electronics to charities and they give it to them for no charge at all. ERA has a Vancouver computer recycling depot too and they are located all around Canada. Everywhere...