TV commercials on HPX 502?

[powervideo]

G’day Peter, a wise choice using the HPX3000 I’m not overly impressed with 502. We shoot TVCs using the DVCPro 50 codec a Fujinon HA16x6.3 BERM lens and I hate to admit it but the picks we were getting from the JVC HD250 seemed slightly nicer for a lot less money when broadcast.
Ian

I've been editing tonight and while the end project is SD (like all broadcast commercials in Australia) the quality of the AVC-Intra codec is amazing. The green screen shots just jump off the screen. I did some comparisons with the same footage in DVCPROHD, and the AVC killed it for details, chroma smoothness and noise. The only problem is we are editing in Premiere and had to convert the AVC clips to uncompressed YUY2 16-bit so no real time. The conversion happens very quickly though. Using Boris Continuum, the keys are very clean and sharp. It's great to be able to work with native 1920x1080 25P 10-bit files.

I'm hearing similar things about the revised 2008 build of the Grass Valley Infinity with it's 10-bit 1920x1080 JPEG2000, and I hope to have a look at a camera in a couple of weeks. It is around $20K cheaper than a 3000 so something to keep in mind.

Peter

 

[TheMediaCentre]

I will be looking forward to your impressions, especially after you have just finished shooting and posting with the 3000. We use Adobe Prem and Final Cut, I don't think either have a great solution at the mo for editing AVC. I also meant to ask if you used any custom settings with the 3000?

Ian

 

[Gary Parkinson]

G’day Peter, a wise choice using the HPX3000 I’m not overly impressed with 502. We shoot TVCs using the DVCPro 50 codec a Fujinon HA16x6.3 BERM lens and I hate to admit it but the picks we were getting from the JVC HD250 seemed slightly nicer for a lot less money when broadcast

.


Dam! thats not what I want to here. We have a JVC HD250 as well, I'm not a fan of the 1/3inch camera and would never have thought that it would look better than what the 502 could produce.
Maybe I should look at hiring the 3000 now for my shoot! There goes the buget!
They pushed our shoot day back another week so I have time to change cameras if needed. This commercial is for National release for a Aus wide company.
I'll have a chat to the rental house and get their opinion on which camera to use.

 

[Grug]

G’day Peter, a wise choice using the HPX3000 I’m not overly impressed with 502. We shoot TVCs using the DVCPro 50 codec a Fujinon HA16x6.3 BERM lens and I hate to admit it but the picks we were getting from the JVC HD250 seemed slightly nicer for a lot less money when broadcast.

Ian

That's interesting Ian, I suspect it was probably the fact that you shot in DVCPro 50 rather than down-converting from DVCPro-HD in post, that had your JVC footage looking better.

The HD250 makes some of the nicest HDV footage I've seen, but compared to the 502 shooting DVCPro-HD through decent glass - it doesn't really come close IMO.

I think you'll be very happy with the HPX502 Gary, those 2/3" sensors and DVCPro-HD can make some really pretty pictures.

 

[Noel Evans]

G’day Peter, a wise choice using the HPX3000 I’m not overly impressed with 502. We shoot TVCs using the DVCPro 50 codec a Fujinon HA16x6.3 BERM lens and I hate to admit it but the picks we were getting from the JVC HD250 seemed slightly nicer for a lot less money when broadcast.



Ian

Ian TBH I am a bit confused why you would use that workflow, unless you were really struggling for storage.

But, of course the 3000 is going to be a superior image.

 

[TheMediaCentre]

G'day Noel, if you mean using the DVCPro 50 codec, we use this because we have an enormous amount of Digi Beta material that we inter cut with and we found that it was quicker to just capture via SDi into the correct format rather than tie up machines for down conversion etc. We wouldn't capture more than 5min per job. Always open to a quicker work flow if you have one.

Cheers, Ian

 

[TheMediaCentre]

Dam! thats not what I want to here. We have a JVC HD250 as well, I'm not a fan of the 1/3inch camera and would never have thought that it would look better than what the 502 could produce.
Maybe I should look at hiring the 3000 now for my shoot! There goes the buget!
They pushed our shoot day back another week so I have time to change cameras if needed. This commercial is for National release for a Aus wide company.
I'll have a chat to the rental house and get their opinion on which camera to use.[/quote]

G’day Gary, we produce numerous TVCs per year and found the biggest thing with the JVC was correct exposure and spot on focus. While this is true for all cameras the JVC was unforgiving, that being said we intercut the footage seamlessly with Digi Beta. We shot using HDV 50P and just played out SD 50i so no stutter on fast pans as the down conversion was all done in hardware. Not sure what your shooting but if you are used of shooting interlace you really have to take care with fast pans extra when shooting progressive. Take a look at the HPX2000 that does a nice job without too much effort. Not sure if you are aware that Surfing The Menu on ABC is shot entirely on JVC
Cheers Ian

 

[Noel Evans]

G'day Noel, if you mean using the DVCPro 50 codec, we use this because we have an enormous amount of Digi Beta material that we inter cut with and we found that it was quicker to just capture via SDi into the correct format rather than tie up machines for down conversion etc. We wouldn't capture more than 5min per job. Always open to a quicker work flow if you have one.

Cheers, Ian

Ian, sorry mate, whats your current workflow? SDI capture into FCP?

 

[Gary Parkinson]

I have spoke with the rental house and they have recommended the HPX2000 for our shoot over the 502, going up on Friday to have a play with the whole HPX line up, including the 3000.

The 2000 with a HD lens is $1200 per day.

 

[TheMediaCentre]

Ian, sorry mate, whats your current workflow? SDI capture into FCP?

G'day Noel, I really should think twice when replying and its well after midnight. Just had a chuckle at my reply. Yes we capture via SDI into either FCP or Prem CS2 via BMD Multibridge Extreme's. We will probably purchase the AG-HPG10 after NAB you never know what other gear is just around the corner.

Regards, Ian

 

[Noel Evans]

G'day Noel, I really should think twice when replying and its well after midnight. Just had a chuckle at my reply. Yes we capture via SDI into either FCP or Prem CS2 via BMD Multibridge Extreme's. We will probably purchase the AG-HPG10 after NAB you never know what other gear is just around the corner.

Regards, Ian

If thats the case just import that footage as HD and drop it into your SD timeline. Compressor will do a great output.

I have spoke with the rental house and they have recommended the HPX2000 for our shoot over the 502, going up on Friday to have a play with the whole HPX line up, including the 3000.

The 2000 with a HD lens is $1200 per day.

Gary Im not saying the rental houses recommendation is wrong here, just that I always wonder about asking for advice from someone who stands to make money from what they are telling me.

The only consideration I might have to not shoot HPX - talking broadcast here - is if my shoot was to be primarily wide shots. Then I would seriously consider renting the 2000/3000 for those shots.

 

[Gary Parkinson]

Thanks Noel, I'll make my decision on Friday when I compare the cameras, at the moment I'm happy to go with the 2000 they have done me a pretty good deal and I feel a lot more comfortable knowing that the client is getting the best quality.

Andrew,
I spoke with Michael from Amber Tech, he's getting a quote done up for me on a HPX502 tomorrow. I'd like to know why here is Aus we are so much more expensive than everywhere else. I'm looking at about $30,000
for a complete kit comes with standard Fuj HD lens 4 x 16gb cards Batteries and mic.

 

[powervideo]

I will be looking forward to your impressions, especially after you have just finished shooting and posting with the 3000. We use Adobe Prem and Final Cut, I don't think either have a great solution at the mo for editing AVC. I also meant to ask if you used any custom settings with the 3000?

Ian

The shoot went well, the AVCIntra 100 footage looks very filmic. I turned off the horizontal and vertical detail (to zero) because we were shooting green screen and I didn't want any "texta-detail" lines running down the edge of the actors compromising the chroma key.

There was excellent chroma detail and lack of noise and the conversion process to uncompressed AVI is quite quick and keeps the 10-bit quality up. The utility converts the files and keeps the same file name so it's easy to track the original MXF shots later.

Nice to use, but too expensive for me to buy...

Peter