16x9 mode - DVX100

I simply can't understand why everyone b|tches so much about the DVX not having native 16:9. Making a true 16:9 DVD or whatever you need is friggin simple! All you need to do is crop it, and make the project size to a resolution that equals to 16:9 or whatever you want.

The only difference between DVX footage upressed and native 16:9 is that the DVX footage is a tad more soft. But hey, the DVX still retains a lot of resolution if you know how to use the camera properly, which means not shooting at full wide iris, not messing too much about the edge enhancement and shoot in 4:3.

I love my DVX, and I don't really care if it has native 16:9 at all, it's really overrated stuff.
 
Seriously, how many people here blow up to film? Or get transfers to HD for festivals?

Because I think there is an overabundance of worry on these issues when they are few and far between. I would say that 90% of DVX footage is seen on small screens. Back in March I premiered a movie shot 2.35:1 on a DVX. Digital projector from a DVD blown up to 20-25 feet across. for what it is the DVX preforms very well for whatever ratio you want to shoot in.

Stop worrying about pixels and start spending time on lighting and staging, composition, etc. If all that is good, it doesn't matter how many dots make up your image!

Remember, the DVX is a 4:3 SD camera. You can try to get all the resolution you want, but it just isn't there. HD and film blow the pants off the DVX for pure pixel count, so since you cannot change that, worry about the other stuff.

Jeez...
 
MiniMan said:
I simply can't understand why everyone b|tches so much about the DVX not having native 16:9.
I love my DVX, and I don't really care if it has native 16:9 at all, it's really overrated stuff.
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Right......We live in an age of HD camcorders and TVs, so I'll just take my SD camcorder AND THROW AWAY 1/3 OF IT'S RESOLUTION to get a fake widescreen. Yeah, I can still compete with that.

I know a guy that shot a dv movie and showed it at the local cinema using an LCD projector. At the begining was some video from a minor celebrity pimping the film. It was shot 4x3 and looked so out of place on that movie screen, that I never want to see my stuff regulated to that ugly square box format again.

The DVX is supposed to be a revolutionary digital cinema camera but it shoots in an old TV format, then they package "INSTANT HD" software with it, so you can make a bigger 4x3 square that won't fit your new HDTV. There are no 4x3 HDTV's. THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. I don't see why anyone would use this camera anymore to shoot a real movie. If your serious, you want 16x9.

Nine times out of ten, when I see DVX footage, it's been squeezed or cropped to 16x9 to look more cinematic. Look at these boards. They are filled with people asking how can I make this camera look like it was shot in a professional widescreen format without losing resolution - short answer - you can't...unless you use an expensive pain in the a** 16x9 lens adapter.

I don't mean this as a personal attack on you. It's just, Panasonic prides itself on listening to what people want (except in this glaring case). This is why there is a DVX, and why there should be a 16x9 DVX. It will be a year, this September, since the B model came out. It's now or never for a widescreen DVX. Soon, HD will come down in price and take over. All SD camcorders will be obsolete one day, but at least Panasonic should allow the DVX be buried in a suit that fits it proper. Show it some respect, dammit.
 
John Trent said:
The DVX is supposed to be a revolutionary digital cinema camera but it shoots in an old TV format,
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Revolutions don't last forever, dude. When it debuted in 2002, it was Earth-shattering, a tectonic shift in the video world. Now, four years later, newer cameras have stuff that it doesn't? No way!

I think you're SERIOUSLY overstating the difference in resolution between a native 16:9 SD camera (the few which even exist) and DVX footage cropped and expanded. Face it, SD is low-resolution, period.

So, if you're giving up all that the DVX has to offer based on that one factor, well, that's up to you, but it doesn't bury the DVX. Not by any stretch of the imagination.
 
I'd also like to add that cropping DVX footage to whatever aspect ratio you want isn't really decreasing the resolution - the image doesn't get any softer because you do it, you only erase the pixels you don't need to be there anyway. Even though if the DVX was actually 16:9, it would still be SD, and SD is on it's way out. Want a DVX with true 16:9, go for the HVX?
 
sorry if this is kind of a noob question, but can someone please go through the steps to get the best 16x9 on the dvx100b. THANKS
 
I shot a short film on the DVX100a in 16:9 squeeze mode in 24pA no filters or other augmentation - some wide angle (Century .7) Edited on Adobe PPro 2.0 in a 23.976 timeline and output to DVD. It looks fantastic! The resolution lost in the squeeze was made up in the post workflow. Better resolution in a true 23.976 work flow. Better yet - it screened at the Arclight in Hollywood in the LA Shortsfest in the biggest theater they have, (I had to output from PPro to miniDV and then go to a post house and put it through a Universal Format Converter to turn it into a 4:3 letterbox and then output to Digibeta.) and it looked fantastic. I know this, not only because of the many comments I got from the audience, but because I had gone to a Hollywood screening of the film, "November" and although an amazing achievement, i thought it looked much softer than what I saw at the Arclight. My two cents.
 
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