XH-A1/XL-H1 Multicam Test Shoot

t-unit said:
whats the a1 and whats the h1 on those images? if that top image is straight out of cam im very impressed. it looks like it has been color corrected.
Click to expand...

Top image was uncorrected A1 footage straight from the FCP HDV 24F timeline. We screwed up the light on the H1 shot a little. It's a tad bit too hot on the guy's face.
 
coffee said:
the girl was shot on the A1.


TimurCivan, what ecxactly were you trying to accomplish in your image above?
Click to expand...

nothing it was kinda a bad joke.... there was a time when any one postedf a grab like 50 people would cc it and post it.

but i was generally interested in how it would look graded. just thought id share.
 
Ok... I'll cc it too

syd3.jpg


chess.jpg


48 more to go...;)
 
Hi Barlow,

The white balance was on the cold side, no doubt.

What's impressive is How CLEAN it looks in the shadows compared to my HVX.
Stunning... clean ! so it is very easy to do a good clean color correction.


...and the gradient rendition is very impressive too !

I want one.
 
i like the picture, but on the chess shot... i can see one of the problems in Hi DEF closeups.... that guys Pores were grosing me out...
 
TimurCivan said:
i like the picture, but on the chess shot... i can see one of the problems in Hi DEF closeups.... that guys Pores were grosing me out...
Click to expand...

LOL, I knew there'd be a comment or two about that. That's what gaussian blur in FCP is for...oh, and maybe some pixel tracking/cloning in Shake. ;) There's always the grain option too.

Sorry, we didn't have a makeup person on set. :)
 
Last edited:
Antoine_Fabi said:
What's impressive is How CLEAN it looks in the shadows compared to my HVX.
Stunning... clean ! so it is very easy to do a good clean color correction.


...and the gradient rendition is very impressive too !

I want one.
Click to expand...

I think the HVX and A1 could be a very complimentary pair to employ on any film. Wherever noise might be an issue and you'd be tempted to crush the blacks in-camera, you could shoot with the A1 and probably match up with HVX footage fairly easily.
 
TimurCivan said:
the H1 looks a tiny bit better. the gamma looks subtler. is there a different settting?
Click to expand...

Both were shot with F 2.8, Cinegamma 2, Black Medium, Low Knee and -3 dB. Where they differed was the color gain settings. Since they have different scales I tried to roughly approximate both the same. The A1 was +15 out of +or- 50, and the H1 was +2 out of + or -9 settings.

I think Will's fair complexion and pinkish tone made for an obviously different image. Also, the walls in the background were actually different tones, so what you see in the raw grabs are actually quite accurate. Sydney's skin is much darker and so I think cutting between the two shots simply had an obvious tonality difference.
 
Hi Barlow,


The best way i found to reduce the noise AND improve the gradient rendition with the HVX is to set the master ped to +5 ( yes... +5 ), use "normal" color matrix with cinelike D, and lower the black level a little in post. It looks A LOT cleaner. The improvement is not subtle. Maybe the HVX looks noisier because the "0" level is effectively very low compared to other 1/3 camcorders.

You're right, i think i could match pretty closely the images from both camcorders.

But, in all honesty, i am very impressed by this little Canon...
I think i'll buy one in addition to my HVX.

thanks for sharing.


EDIT: Even if it is recorded in HDV, it is a delight to color correct. It seems that there is a lot of info coming from the camera section to begin with.
It's silky smooth and beautifully defined after color correction.

I'm even more impressed. I buy one !
 
Last edited:
Elton,
Thank you for your generosity in sharing these images information. I was dying to see the quality of the H1 or A1. You made my day dude. Now I will pickup two A1 instead of the H1 for my productions.
Thanks you again.
 
No problem dukesxm. If you don't need the lens options and form factor (some need the size) of the H1 it's hard to beat the A1 for value. It's been said before, but in many ways it really does seem to be picking up the dvx baton in HD.

It hits a sweet spot of quality HD, 24p cadence and affordability.

Enjoy.

B
 
Last edited:
Antoine_Fabi said:
Hi Barlow,


The best way i found to reduce the noise AND improve the gradient rendition with the HVX is to set the master ped to +5 ( yes... +5 ), use "normal" color matrix with cinelike D, and lower the black level a little in post. It looks A LOT cleaner. The improvement is not subtle. Maybe the HVX looks noisier because the "0" level is effectively very low compared to other 1/3 camcorders.

You're right, i think i could match pretty closely the images from both camcorders.

But, in all honesty, i am very impressed by this little Canon...
I think i'll buy one in addition to my HVX.
Click to expand...

How does this work for skintones and colored cloth with the HVX? It's not just shadows with the HVX, it's just about every dark color, sadly. I've tried Barry's settings and while it makes it a lot better, it's still not as clean as the A1's dark colors and such.

I'd hate to have to give up tapeless and all those other doohickeys... but geez.
 
Hi Kholi,

It looks very good for skintones.

The dark colors definition...not the HVX cup of tea, way too noisy...but it helps to rise the master ped, and then lower it in post.

HVX without noise would be almost perfect, really.

I have the same thought...tapeless and variable frame rates are so much fun. But image quality is the whole thing in the end.
 
Good footage when crunched down to 720P (technically this doubbles your color resolution 4:2:2 would it be? Please correct me if i'm wrong)

This looks really good. I'm glad the A1 can achieve the same results as the H1. We've been concidering buying one here recently.

Someone needs to make a DVCProHD converter that you can attach to the SDI port, now that would be awesome.
 
Antoine_Fabi - Thanks for the tip and I agree: The darks in the HVX are just way too noisey for me. It's really sad that it's llike that. And after seeing the A1's clean darks, I can't say it's the 1/3" CCD that's the problem. That excuse just doesn't cut it. If the A1 can be this clean, the HVX could've been just as clean and had the Pana mojo going. In the end, it IS about the image and the A1's image is stellar. Even with the minor drawbacks... like the light smearing.

Demistate - DVCProHD is good and all, but there are others that work just as well if not better.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top