DVX for action sport films?

S

seven.b

Well-known member
Hello.

I want to upgrade from my HV30 to start making action sport (mostly skiing and mountain biking) films/documentaries. The HVX200 is the industry standard when it comes to all of the professional ski and mountain bike videos done in the past couple years. But I'm wondering if the DVX100a or b would do the job in terms of sharpness if the films are going straight to dvd and web?

I've been looking at some DVX100 720p videos on vimeo and some of them look great.


I understand I will have a major problem with slow motion, but I am happy with the 60i slow motion i do with my HV30, so I'll be fine I think.

What's your take?

Thanks.
 
The only problem I've had with my dvx100a when filming sports is from far away you can't make out the faces of the players. The HVX200 is HD so it is much sharper, and you it can capture the little details. Other than the sharpness, my dvx has held up alright in action situations.

Here's a link to my latest soccer video if you want an sample of how the dvx looks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yznv5pVLCL4

click watch in hd beneath the video on youtube.
 
Thanks gabge13!

I burned a few sport original vimeo videos to a DVD and checked it out on a 1080p lcd. While it didn't look bad, I'm afraid that the artifacting/resolution loss from the 60i slow motion process is going to be hurt me a lot. I might just have to save a little more for the XH A1 or HMC150.

Thanks.
 
Actually I'm sorry forgive me seven. What I forgot to mention was if you are burning straight to dvd the quality is actually almost HD. Youtube compresses it's videos to an extent that a lot of detail is lost. If you burn your fresh edit straight to a dvd and play it back on a tv the quality should be pretty good. I've played back raw footage from my labtop connected to my lcd tv and the quality is amazing, I almost thought I had an HD camera.

Youtube just sucks.... and vimeo isn't much better, it takes me about 8 hours to upload a good 5 minute clip in good quality to youtube and its about the same for vimeo.


60i would be better Cabrera because when you film action at 24p or 30p you get a lot of motion blur. If you don't have a DVX and you can only film at 30p it's alright you can still slow-mo in post. I've accidently filmed a soccer game in 24pa on accident and it actually didn't come out too bad.

I filmed this all at 24pa
http://vimeo.com/2354132
 
So to answer your question exactly the DVX100a or b can produce great quality if your burning straight to dvd, but if your exporting to the web expect to wait hours to upload watchable footage to youtube or vimeo.

The DVX100a or b would be a great step up from the hv30 for you, it would be a great place to start learning how to use manual controls.
 
gabge13, thank you very much! I think you're right, being in college and not having used manual controls before, the DVX is a very logical choice for me right now. It's so hard to get a good idea how sharp the DVX really is by watching vimeo or youtube. Some videos really impress me, and some don't. I guess the best way to tell is actually using the camera.

Cabrera: That video is definitely progressive. Whether it's 24p or 30p is hard to say. I would say just to shoot 24p with a shutter speed like 1/100. This will leave you with a very crisp picture. I'm going off what numerous professional ski/mountain bike and BMX film producers shoot at with DVX's and HVX's.
 
No problem. Yeah you'll have to try it yourself, it can be pretty sharp. A good show I like to use as an example is "It's always Sunny in Philadelphia" it is on FX with Danny Devito that show was filmed with DVX100B's if you watch the 1st episode on "hulu" you can get an idea of how sharp it can be.

For sports Cabrera I say always shoot 60i. When you import into a 24p timeline 60i gives you more frames so you can slow-mo footage down and it will look smooth. A slow shutter speed is also nessecary to make your shots work in post. Bring your shutter down to 1/100, 1/250/1/1000.
 
I don't usually shoot at 30p.

Search the forums, I'd hate to give advice to you for something I'm not experienced at.
 
hey

i think that shooting mx at 30p will be good unless you want to do slomo

you can always try to film 30p with your buddies riding and see what it looks like
 
so everybody keeps saying 30p = no slo mo.......there has got to be a % the 30p can be slowed down to and still look smooth.
 
Test it out for yourself. I don't see why you want to film 30p for mx if you can do 60i.

30p can be slowed down, but to get great slow mo just film 60i and slow down to 40% on a 24p timeline.

I am one of those people who learns by experience, maybe your like me, do what you want and you'll learn through trial and error.
 
Won't 60i give me that home video look also if I shoot in 60i it won't be progresive

Question
You say film at 60i and edit on a 24p time line what does that do to the footage, does it give it a 24p look??
 
David Jimerson a moderator on this forum wrote on one of my posts recently about 60i on a 24p timeline
"The reason he says 40% is because that's where the 60i time samples match the 24p time samples.

60i is comprised of 60 fields per second. That's 60 exposures per second, 60 separate moments in time. They're half-pictures, fields, but they represent individual moments, individual movements.

24p is comprised of 24 frames per second. That's 24 exposures per second, 24 separate moments in time.

If you slow the 60i footage down to 40% on a 24p timeline, you match each 60i moment in time with a 24p moment in time. That being the case, all that needs to be done in order to render is to fill in the missing parts of the picture, as the 60i field is only half of a picture.

If you use any other speed, the moments in time, the time samples, don't match up. In order to get smooth motion, Premiere can't just fill in the rest of the field to make a frame -- it has to use information from multiple fields in order to get the movement smooth, instead of just the one.

THAT'S where interlacing and other render artifacts are most at risk of coming into play. It's mashing different fields together instead of just filling in a single field. You may end up with interlacing, ghosting, any number of visual oddities as a result.

So, 60i on a 24p timeline, for slomo, should be at 40%."

all his words
 
So say I shoot in 24p but switch to 60i when filming for slow motion can this be edited easily on a 24p time line - anything special I should do upon caturing into FCP
 
Also I spoke to one of the videographer for a moto cross magazine he said he films at 24p with a shutter of 1/1000 - he did say he uses 60 for slow motion

Being 24p is progresive and 60i is not how do you mix the two
 
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