HPX170 Direct to video and 35mm film out

V

vic777

Well-known member
I am making a short ...
I don't know yet whether I will go direct to HD DVD or ...
transfer to 35mm film for the festival ...

Obviously I should know before I start shooting.

I will be using an AG-HPX170 (P2 capacity is no problem)

What format should I shoot in for best quality if final result is direct to HD DVD?

What format should I shoot in for best quality if final result is 35mm Film?
(I will be using FCP and Cinema tools, if required)

I'm thinking of shooting with the 35mm film out in mind ... if I end up just going direct to DVD will there be much quality loss due to the original miscalculation?

I suppose I could also shoot every take both ways ......

thanks,
 
1.) film out is expensive
2.) HD DVD is no longer a supported format
3.) Most festivals have specific format delivery. Check with them first.
4.)I have never heard of someone guaranteed exhibition in a festival on a film they have yet to produce?


What festival is it?
 
The short has not been accepted yet ...
I will show them a DVD stating, "If accepted I can put on 35mm."

so the question remains ....
What format/workflow should I use for best 35mm result?
 
Short Films don't get picked up by distributors so I don't see why you need to make a film out. If this was a feature film project, I would say shoot at 1080p24pa with the HPX and then, if your film is good enough to be picked up, let the distributor handle the film transfer.

There is no reason you should pick up the tab for 35mm transfer.
 
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Carlos is right - if a distributor wants to put it on celluloid they would/should pay for it themselves. For a DVD release, I've always felt the high the resolution the better the downconversion will look so shoot 1080p24A, thats good for both a film out and DVD transfer.
 
Carlos Corral said:
Short Films don't get picked up by distributors so I don't see why you need to make a film out. If this was a feature film project, I would say shoot at 1080p24pa with the HPX and then, if your film is good enough to be picked up, let the distributor handle the film transfer.
Click to expand...

This is right on the mark. There are some big European distributors who look at shorts, but they take so few, and on the whole they will pay for a print but NOT a transfer to 35mm. So if you actually shot on 35mm, they would usually print it, but not if you shot on video. This is because the print costs are lower than the transfer costs. Most of these distributors make their money via broadcast or DVD sales, so there is little point in paying for expensive film transfers.

The main thing you need to focus on (for now) is finishing the film, and then making hundreds of DVD copies so you can send them to lots of festivals. Good luck! :beer:
 
For transfer to 35mm with the HPX170, you can shoot 1080 24pa for max resolution, but here at DVFilm, we've have done 720p transfers from HVX's with very excellent results as well. For DVD distribution, you should be fine with 1080 or 720. For max flexibility for doing a transfer to film and/or dvd's, you pretty much just need to have shot HD 24p.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Best,
Andy
 
Would mastering to HDCAM not be the better solution? This of course depends if the festival supports it. But you are able to display HD at 24p which I assume will help with the blow up to a large screen over displaying on digibeta and betasp which are other tape formats usually accepted by festivals.

I know that Aspen, Chicago, Berlin and Toronto film festivals support HDCAM. And from what I've read recently 2009 is the last year Toronto will accept digibeta, so HDCAM seems to be the direction they're heading in.
 
Sounds like you are 20 steps ahead of the real issue at hand, and that is actually filming your short first. Once you get that down, put your short film on a standard DVD to submit to film festivals (99% of them accept DVD format). Film festivals are going to judge your work based on the overall quality and content, not how sharp you can get your footage. Take a few steps back and focus only on pre-production and production, otherwise you are just tripping over your own feet when you are worried about film festivals this early on in your project. Cheers :beer:
 
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