HVX200 record HDV on MiniDV - How?
- Thread starter iopuk
- Start date
William_Robinette
Shallow Member
No. The HVX does not employ the HDV codec. The only way to record HD with the HVX is to the P2 cards or over firewire.
Derrick_SA
Veteran
Hi there,
No, the HVX does not do HDV, it uses DVCPRO50/HD (which is a gazillion times better that HDV), and tape can't handle that Data Rate.
DV = 25mbps
DVCProHD = 100mbps
- Derrick
No, the HVX does not do HDV, it uses DVCPRO50/HD (which is a gazillion times better that HDV), and tape can't handle that Data Rate.
DV = 25mbps
DVCProHD = 100mbps
- Derrick
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
Yeah, we were using the XH-A1 and HDV for a while and to be honest we were never really happy with it, I'm not a fan of the HDV format in general, the way it handles information, the color compression, etc. Plus screw tapes, I'm sorry, but unless you're filming hundreds of hours of documentary footage, I don't want to deal with tape transfer at all. I loved the 1990s, don't get me wrong, but it's 2007 now. Seriously. 
Steve Shovlar
DVXuser Sponsor
I've owned the HVX from day one and will always say that Panasonic made a fundemental error in not including HDV to tape with this camera.
They would have sold a gazillion more HVX's if they had.
Want to film an hours footgae with the hVX in 1080i? Forget it unless you use a fire store. Want to ahoot a wedding and 5-6 hours 1080i? Forget it.
The HVX is a great camera but is almost impossible to use if you are shooting anything longer than a few minutes at a time, to a max of a couple of hours with a firestore.
I did a test this week with the DVCPROHD of the HVX alongside the Canon HDV, oth in 1080i. HVX to P2, Canon to $3 tape. Difference? None I or the owner of the Canon could see. Result? Egg on my face.
They would have sold a gazillion more HVX's if they had.
Want to film an hours footgae with the hVX in 1080i? Forget it unless you use a fire store. Want to ahoot a wedding and 5-6 hours 1080i? Forget it.
The HVX is a great camera but is almost impossible to use if you are shooting anything longer than a few minutes at a time, to a max of a couple of hours with a firestore.
I did a test this week with the DVCPROHD of the HVX alongside the Canon HDV, oth in 1080i. HVX to P2, Canon to $3 tape. Difference? None I or the owner of the Canon could see. Result? Egg on my face.
gunleik
Well-known member
That sounds not too strange, from out of the box images.
I even wouldn't be surprised if you claimed higher or "better" rez and less noise in the darks from the canon.
I would be more surprised if you still found the HDV images on par with the HVX after a couple of rounds of heavy CC + comps. Would be rather interesting, actually, to take two identical shots and drive them both through the same heavy-duty workflow.
My bet is on the HVX...
But I might be wrong.
Gunleik
ProfessorU
Veteran
I second gunleik, but I can't say I've ever done any real color correction on wedding tapes, either. If you're shooting docs and events, the HVX might not be a first choice.
Panasonic won't be really competing in those markets until prosumer AVCHD cameras take off.
Panasonic won't be really competing in those markets until prosumer AVCHD cameras take off.
Can Scanner
Well-known member
It would be awesome if HDV were available in the HVX, but I think it's more of a cinema style camera; a film replacement or complement. It can over/undercrank, it's great for stop-motion animation with the single frame option, and timelapses with the interval option. And 4:2:2 color, especially for greenscreening, is super sweet.
Sure, it's not as convenient to shoot a 1080 wedding, but seriously, is there a camera out there in this price range that does it all?
You could get a red, but at that price, you might be better off with an HVX and a XL-H1.
Maybe Panasonic will include an HDV option in the HVX200A. And if not, in a few more years, 64GB cards will be available at $3, and people will look back at tape like we look back at VHS or 8-track.
Sure, it's not as convenient to shoot a 1080 wedding, but seriously, is there a camera out there in this price range that does it all?
You could get a red, but at that price, you might be better off with an HVX and a XL-H1.
Maybe Panasonic will include an HDV option in the HVX200A. And if not, in a few more years, 64GB cards will be available at $3, and people will look back at tape like we look back at VHS or 8-track.
mikkowilson
Steadi-Guru
A 32GB P2 card will allready hold 2 hours of DV .. clearly beating MiniDV for continious shooting capacity. And it'll hold over an hour of 720/24pn too .. beating HDV/720 for capacity as well.
A 64GB card will hold just over an hour of any of the DVCPRO-HD formats... beating even HDD/1080 for recording capacity non stop. And that's 4 hours of DV of course.
... And that's only with one card. Right now you can stick in 2 16GB cards and get that full hour of 720/24p, and by the end of the year 2 32GB cards will push the HVX past all the other cameras for non-stop recording duration in camera.
Plus you can swap on the fly if you want/need to.
And the prices will just continue to fall.
In about a year or so the HVX to P2 will be passing the Firestore100 for cost/time. And eventually it will beat HDV for cost/time too if the formats are still in use.
- Mikko
A 64GB card will hold just over an hour of any of the DVCPRO-HD formats... beating even HDD/1080 for recording capacity non stop. And that's 4 hours of DV of course.
... And that's only with one card. Right now you can stick in 2 16GB cards and get that full hour of 720/24p, and by the end of the year 2 32GB cards will push the HVX past all the other cameras for non-stop recording duration in camera.
Plus you can swap on the fly if you want/need to.
And the prices will just continue to fall.
In about a year or so the HVX to P2 will be passing the Firestore100 for cost/time. And eventually it will beat HDV for cost/time too if the formats are still in use.
- Mikko
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
We don't do weddings or documentaries, so for music videos and narrative filmmaking the HVX dominates the XH-A1 or any HDV camera, and I can tell the difference in quality, especially the colors just look richer on the HVX to me at least, and still frames look a lot better, the HDV compression is much worse and the way it deals with compression is notoriously shaky. That being said you can get nice images with both if you know what you're doing. I just can't stand the tape-based workflow and we've moved on beyond HDV.
I find HDV acceptable.
But it depends on your target media. DVCproHD100 1080p from and HVX200 and the 24f on a XLH1, when viewed on a monitor RAW, both look about comprable. and many say, hey the benefits are nil! the canon is "better"... well, yes initially. if youre shooting a Wedding, then the A1 or the H1 is your "best bet". Long record time, sharp picture, cheap cost effective media. And thats what lots of video makers in the pro world do. they basically do basic shoting, event coverage, Weddings, ENG, Docustyle work. For that, HDV really is about the perfect medium. (except when a flash bulb goes off and the HDV gets pixelly at a wedding...)
Now enter, the "higher" market. Music Video, Commericals, Narritive, Docs. Suddenly, the acqusition medium is just a starting point. You get your ingestion in to the NLE, your basic cuts and crossfades, Then any neccesary compositing, then, the CC for the "look", then FINALLY the online.... Then your master. Through all that, is where the beauty of the 4:2:2 intra compression holds its own. Even if you cross converyt HDV to cineform, you still have 4:2:0 color that can still do that DAMN "DV" like Red/blue/green stair stepping..... and the macro blocking that can affect a couple frames during a really intense scene, like a gun flash or something, suddenly become multiplied though contrast boosts, and the grading process. and the trouble is, lets say your film, gets recompressed to HDV ( or Mpeg-2 for TV broadcast on a HD channel) thoes frames that are "blocky", will become twice as blocky, because now the recompression to MPEG will now try to compress the Macroblock as part of image information. ITs not a question of "is DVCpro better than HDV, its which will survive multiple generations of processing.
HDV is a beautful Veneer of HD. DVCpro IS HD. thats how i see it....
But it depends on your target media. DVCproHD100 1080p from and HVX200 and the 24f on a XLH1, when viewed on a monitor RAW, both look about comprable. and many say, hey the benefits are nil! the canon is "better"... well, yes initially. if youre shooting a Wedding, then the A1 or the H1 is your "best bet". Long record time, sharp picture, cheap cost effective media. And thats what lots of video makers in the pro world do. they basically do basic shoting, event coverage, Weddings, ENG, Docustyle work. For that, HDV really is about the perfect medium. (except when a flash bulb goes off and the HDV gets pixelly at a wedding...)
Now enter, the "higher" market. Music Video, Commericals, Narritive, Docs. Suddenly, the acqusition medium is just a starting point. You get your ingestion in to the NLE, your basic cuts and crossfades, Then any neccesary compositing, then, the CC for the "look", then FINALLY the online.... Then your master. Through all that, is where the beauty of the 4:2:2 intra compression holds its own. Even if you cross converyt HDV to cineform, you still have 4:2:0 color that can still do that DAMN "DV" like Red/blue/green stair stepping..... and the macro blocking that can affect a couple frames during a really intense scene, like a gun flash or something, suddenly become multiplied though contrast boosts, and the grading process. and the trouble is, lets say your film, gets recompressed to HDV ( or Mpeg-2 for TV broadcast on a HD channel) thoes frames that are "blocky", will become twice as blocky, because now the recompression to MPEG will now try to compress the Macroblock as part of image information. ITs not a question of "is DVCpro better than HDV, its which will survive multiple generations of processing.
HDV is a beautful Veneer of HD. DVCpro IS HD. thats how i see it....