I was just looking at this camera and thinking, WOW! This is great! I can shoot HD! But then I was thinking...ummm...what am I going to distribute on? The only formats I have come to know with my DVX100 is mini DV and DVD. What does DVCPROHD have? HD DVD? It's not even out yet, and I'm sure most consumers won't have HD DVD players (unless they are the same players they have todoay, and I don't know that they don't have to upgrade). So if HD DVD doesn't come out when the camera does, what is the point in getting one? The only thing I can see is the 720P variable frame rates and then dumping it down to SD mini-dv. Other than that, I'm not sure right now, if it is practical to invest, if you can't even distribute the HD footage. I mean I can shoot and edit on DVCProHD through my current Dual G4 mac or G4 Powerbook, but to get it out on DVD, I will need a whole new G5! Any thoughts?
How practical will this format be once released?
- Thread starter robotx21
- Start date
..its just as practical as any other HD camera out there.. people say they would love to have a viper or cine alta or varicam. but then they cant even think of why they would need it. or what they would really use it for? ..cmon now
.. primarily the reason for using HD is if you want to deliver HD. plain and simple.. most filmmakers can certainly use HD for a film transfer.. and alot of us production people can use HD for broadcast or mastering as well. but if you dont have a real reason to need HD for what your doing .. than it doesnt make sense to get the cam.. aside from it having DVCPRO 50 .. and other great options likeP2 and so on.. but as far as the HD alone goes.. the format isnt unuseable.. its just that you or someone else may not have a use for it.. but plenty of people do..
.. primarily the reason for using HD is if you want to deliver HD. plain and simple.. most filmmakers can certainly use HD for a film transfer.. and alot of us production people can use HD for broadcast or mastering as well. but if you dont have a real reason to need HD for what your doing .. than it doesnt make sense to get the cam.. aside from it having DVCPRO 50 .. and other great options likeP2 and so on.. but as far as the HD alone goes.. the format isnt unuseable.. its just that you or someone else may not have a use for it.. but plenty of people do..
Why HD now?
I've got 2 reasons.
I want to do a lot of greenscreen and HD should provide better keys. Visual FX people need better cameras. Second, I want to future proof my content to some extent. It may be a couple years before there is big demand for HD content on cable or via HD DVD/BlueRay... but I want to have a couple years of content ready to go when it does happen. If I happen to make something worthy of being transferred to film I'm going to get a better transfer.
If you're doing events I'm not sure it makes any sense right now. Waiting might be smarter. Certainly the longer you wait the more camera for the money you'll get. HD editing solutions will be better and cheaper. So like all rapidly changing tech buying decisions, don't buy it until you need it. (unless you're a gadget freak with money to burn)
I've got 2 reasons.
I want to do a lot of greenscreen and HD should provide better keys. Visual FX people need better cameras. Second, I want to future proof my content to some extent. It may be a couple years before there is big demand for HD content on cable or via HD DVD/BlueRay... but I want to have a couple years of content ready to go when it does happen. If I happen to make something worthy of being transferred to film I'm going to get a better transfer.
If you're doing events I'm not sure it makes any sense right now. Waiting might be smarter. Certainly the longer you wait the more camera for the money you'll get. HD editing solutions will be better and cheaper. So like all rapidly changing tech buying decisions, don't buy it until you need it. (unless you're a gadget freak with money to burn)
Once in post production, how easy would it be to down convert a DVCPROHD project to SD for distribution (once project is edited and composited on the DVCPROHD format)? (specifically in FCP) I like the idea of shooting greenscreen with 4:2:2 sampling instead of 4:1:1. Would there be cropping involved?
I'm not sure what the processing overhead is for conversion, but I'm not worried about that. Set it, go to bed and hopefully the computer hasn't crashed the next morning. 
I haven't lived through the process yet, but since 16:9 is not 4:3 there will be some cropping if you convert to 4:3 - but you could present it letterboxed and not crop at all. That's probably how I'll solve it. A lot of DVD's come set up for 16:9 - so that's the way you'd probably deliver. It'd be full frame on an HDTV and letterboxed on regular TVs. If your content doesn't work in letterbox then you'd crop I guess. You might end up doing that shot by shot to get the best crop. Tedious - but hey, if you really want a good 4:3 full frame that might be how it's got to be.
Maybe someone else around here has lived through it. I'm just guessing right now.
I haven't lived through the process yet, but since 16:9 is not 4:3 there will be some cropping if you convert to 4:3 - but you could present it letterboxed and not crop at all. That's probably how I'll solve it. A lot of DVD's come set up for 16:9 - so that's the way you'd probably deliver. It'd be full frame on an HDTV and letterboxed on regular TVs. If your content doesn't work in letterbox then you'd crop I guess. You might end up doing that shot by shot to get the best crop. Tedious - but hey, if you really want a good 4:3 full frame that might be how it's got to be.
Maybe someone else around here has lived through it. I'm just guessing right now.
joelnet said:
So we're talking around $20 thousand Canadian for the camera, P2 cards, portable HDD or laptop ?
If you are only concerned with short and longform projects being transferred to film, (using offline NLE's to edit with, FCPHD or Avid XpressHD) is it worth it ?
For me, that's the million dollar question.
I've never seen digital footage (except for big Hollywood flicks - Star Wars etc...) that approximates film ( didn't like "Personal Velocity's" look). However, I love all the other attributes of digital filming. Maybe it's way too soon to talk about filmout with this camera, but I really want to know your opinion.
1. For longform or short transfer to film - Is it worth it ?
2. On the tech side, is this true native 16:9 chips - not the 4:3 black barred DVX's?
3. How many of you feel comfortable with buying the first iteration of this camera ? -
an editor I know just laughed and called me a "Beta tester", when I told him
about buying the HVX.
nullphonic
Well-known member
joelnet said:
So we're talking around $20 thousand Canadian for the camera, P2 cards, portable HDD or laptop ?
If you are only concerned with short and longform projects being transferred to film, (using offline NLE's to edit with, FCPHD or Avid XpressHD) is it worth it ?
For me, that's the million dollar question.
I've never seen digital footage (except for big Hollywood flicks - Star Wars etc...) that approximates film ( didn't like "Personal Velocity's" look). However, I love all the other attributes of digital filming. Maybe it's way too soon to talk about filmout with this camera, but I really want to know your opinion.
1. For longform or short transfer to film - Is it worth it ?
2. On the tech side, is this true native 16:9 chips - not the 4:3 black barred DVX's?
3. How many of you feel comfortable with buying the first iteration of this camera ? -
an editor I know just laughed and called me a "Beta tester", when I told him
about buying the HVX.