Andromeda

N

NeverColdCall

Well-known member
I bought my DVX just about 6 weeks ago. My main application is shooting green screen footage for keying onto a "virtual set" - if I knew then what I know now, I would not have bought a DV camera for this application but would have bought an HVX instead. Now that I've got the DVX, I'm considering Andromeda for its 4:4:4 uncompressed output for the purpose of pulling clean green screen keys.

Thoughts on this? The only limitation is that I'd be stuck with 24p, but I'm already shooting everything in 30p so it's not much of a difference. I get decent keys currently with the DVX, but certainly not perfect, and Andromeda seems to be the ideal solution at this point. It's certainly an easier solution than selling the DVX at a loss and buying an HVX.
 
Sell the DVX and get an HVX... there is really no problem since you can get most of your money back selling the camera. This would probably be your best route.
 
I think if your doin movies, Andromeda is excellent. If you want slow motion, or a time laps... Can't you just adjust the speed in the editor? You don't always have to shoot with Andromeda either. You can use the DVX as a rgular DVX if you want. I'd get the Andromeda if I could afford it. Between that and a 35mm adaptor, the footage looks excellent. Well, to me at least... I'd say, go for the Andromeda...
 
HVX.

What happens when you want to take it into the field? Cannot really use Andromeda there easily.

And there is a big difference between in cam slow motion and something done in an editor.
 
I'd strictly be using it in my office in front of a green screen shooting instructional videos and interviews so field use isn't an issue anyway.

One question, what's a month-old DVX with 11 hours going for used? If I could recover most of the money I'd go HVX. If not I'll probably go Andromeda.
 
with the introduction of HDMI ports on new cameras, it is possible to get a better picture than the andromeda and a dvx with cheaper technology...

currently the andromeda upgrade is $2000 (educational pricing)
you have to do all the picture manipulation in post. leaving most of the features on the dvx unused. the picture is great though.


when the canon HV20 comes out (april) i think you should get this... aprox $1100
24p (not sure about 30P) at 1920x1080 resolution, 1/2.6 chip (gives slightly more depth of field than the DVX or HVX but is negligible)

yes it's HDV - bad color for keying - but if you bypass the tape you can get 2x the color. - similar to how the andromeda works.

the HV20 coupled with a black magic intensity card in your computer to capture live uncompressed 4:2:2 footage then compressing it in DVC100 HD (the same as the HVX) - $249
plus a 3-5 meter HDMI cable $50 - $100 (5 meters is aprox the limit of HDMI cables... you can get extenders for $500 then you can go up to 60m)


basically it'll give you the same quality picture as the HVX and be tethered to a computer and do all the picture manipulation in post like andromeda. for $1400.

the only real difference between the hv20 setup and andromeda+dvx is that the hv20 doesn't have a nice focus wheel. if you can live with out a nice one and have a shitty kind of scroll thing on the side. then this is a good setup for studio work.
 
i remember reading somewhere that in NTSC land 2 out of every 5 frames is interlaced....... so it wouldn't be good for blue-screen if you need all progressive frames. although if you're in PAL land you don't need to worry about that.
 
Hmm, green screen work is the only thing I use the camera for.

So, what I'm wondering in my mind is:

4:2:2 HVX for green screen work, or the 4:4:4 Andromeda? I'm no video pro but from the limited knowledge I have, it seems that raw uncompressed would be best for chroma keying.
 
Well 4:2:2 HD can be turned into 4:4:4 SD... With only 11 hours on the cam, I'm sure you can get most of your money back.
 
Does the andromeda record dvcpro50? what does off load to anything with a firewire like a cineporter or the panny p2 recorder?
 
What the Andromeda does is basically tap right into the CCDs to pull raw uncompressed video off the camera. The upside is that you can then render that into many formats including DVCPRO50. The downside is that the workflow is a hassle because first you must record to their own proprietary software, render the footage, then export to your NLE, and on top of that it has no audio capability so you must pull that off the DV tape and sync it up with the video in the NLE (major pain in the butt to me).

My biggest question was whether the 4:4:4 output would be better for chroma-keying as it's 100% uncompressed, but now someone has pointed out that the 4:2:2 HD can be rendered into 4:4:4 SD which would at least equal the Andromeda's performance.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, I'm not a video guy at all, just an author who does about 2 hours of instructional footage/month with my camera.)
 
the andromeda streams 4:4:4 RAW uncompressed footage though USB... you need an Apple Mac to record the video, windows PC's don't work - I think. once you've recorded your uncompressed files, you then render them out to what ever you want... dvcpro50 if you like.

the major limitations with the andromeda is that you have to be tethered to a mac while recording, the render times of converting you RAW files, and the hardrive space required to record RAW.

in a studio environment with lots of hard drivespace the andromeda setup would be awesome.
 
I'm already a Mac guy so that's not too much of an issue; however what is an issue is that it only works in 24p and I'm not looking for a film look in my corporate-type instructional videos.

So all things considered I'm going HVX, I think what is swaying me is that the DVX is still almost brand-new so I can recover most of my money + the fact that I'd hate to void the warranty on a brand-new camera.

I also don't look forward to the Andromeda workflow, having to capture to HD and then *still* sit there and waste time capturing the tape footage to recover the audio.
 
It seems like you need this setup asap, but if you didn't I would have recommended you go the HV20+Intensity card route. You would probably get better or the same quality as the hvx200 and It would be 1/3rd the price. You could spend the extra 3k on some serious upgrades!
 
Yeah I need it asap, I'm already putting out a monthly instructional DVD series and the quality just isn't up to par on the keys. Need to fix asap!!!
 
bigbossbmb said:
Well 4:2:2 HD can be turned into 4:4:4 SD... With only 11 hours on the cam, I'm sure you can get most of your money back.
Click to expand...

So, if you shoot SD with the HVX you can get the 4:4:4 coloring? If you added a 35mm adaptor to it, would you get a nice film look? How would that turn out?

I have a DVX with... I don't evan know how many hours... But probobly 1 or 2 as I just got it about a month ago and have only toyed with it thus far.

I'd def. be willing to sell my DVX and Sony DCR for an HVX if anybody knows where I can pull something like that off, please contact me.

Thanks
 
FutureDVXUser said:
So, if you shoot SD with the HVX you can get the 4:4:4 coloring? If you added a 35mm adaptor to it, would you get a nice film look? How would that turn out?
Click to expand...
No - this refers to a DVX with the Andromeda mod installed, which gives you 4:4:4 uncompressed SD output. HVX only does 4:2:2 (DVCPro)
 
Oh, but he said 4:2:2 HD can be turned to 4:4:4 SD (and here I am guessing... It must be shot in HD first?) I'm always getting confused haha
 
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