HPX170 - record in SD or HD?

ciencin

ciencin

Well-known member
Was asked to help out with some filming and they want the final edit to be in SD to be viewed online.

But I was thinking will it be better to record in 720p and downrez to SD size or is it better to just record in SD?

I presume you get a bit more recording time from P2 cards if you shoot in SD?
 
I was in the same situation as you. Decided to go for 720p and then downconvert to SD. Simply because 720 gave better picture IMO in SD than direct SD recording did. Also, it's always nice to have a backup in 720 quality just in case you want to use it for a showreel or something like that =)

But if the recordingtime is crucial for you, shooting directly to SD might be your only choice?
 
ciencin said:
Was asked to help out with some filming and they want the final edit to be in SD to be viewed online.

But I was thinking will it be better to record in 720p and downrez to SD size or is it better to just record in SD?

I presume you get a bit more recording time from P2 cards if you shoot in SD?
Click to expand...

My personal theory is that it's almost always smart to capture at the highest quality possible. If you start at HD, you can always downrez to SD. The reverse is much more problematic.

Why would it matter? Suppose you capture something great. Then you get the "I know we said it was for the web, but this is so good we want it in a TV spot" talk. Do you really want to explain to them that your capture isn't up to it?

So unless you have a concrete reason to limit capture to SD (e.g. a real P2 card size issue, or an NLE issue, etc.) my advice is to capture at the highest quality you can.
 
Thanks for the help guys, guess I'll stick to 720p just to be on the safe side. I have a 16 & 32 gig cards so should be ok if I stick to 720pN.
(Kind of thought that by recording in 720 and downrezing to SD will give a better picture quality)
 
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