Veteran video guy but rookie w/ new P2 cam

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Dennis in Peoria

New member
Been doing video for 29 years, last 23 with a non-profit that has it's own video house for
in-house, cablecast, & clients. We shoot/edit 10-minute videos & events. Last 9 years focused on staying up-to-date on NLE gear. (yeah, one of those APP/Matrox users, but I love it) Haven't got a new camera since 2002 because of lack of funding; now I'm getting 2 HPX170 cameras this week. Been reading instruction book; I comprehend 90% of it, but need a simple explanation on various formats. I'll probably shoot mostly SD at 30 fps (will be buying APP CS4 so I can import clips, export for APP CS2)

Need more info on difference between 720P/30PN, 720P/24PN, 720P/60P, 720P/30P 720P/24P, 1080i/30P, 1080i/24P, 1080i/24PA, 480i/30P, 480i/24P or 480i/24PA.I think 720p/30PN is native recording like the SD I have been doing for years. Haven't had any demand for HD video yet, and the cable channel we broadcast on will never upgrade to HD anyway. I am interested in trying a film format. When gear gets here, I will have 2 16gb P2 cards and 1 32 gb P2 card to start with. Any feed back or suggestions is greatly appreciated.
 
Barry Green's book would be a great resource for you and it comes with the camera.

There are also good training videos from Call Box and the HVX Boot Camp as well.

Daniel Weber
 
Dennis in Peoria said:
Been doing video for 29 years, last 23 with a non-profit that has it's own video house for
in-house, cablecast, & clients. We shoot/edit 10-minute videos & events. Last 9 years focused on staying up-to-date on NLE gear. (yeah, one of those APP/Matrox users, but I love it) Haven't got a new camera since 2002 because of lack of funding; now I'm getting 2 HPX170 cameras this week. Been reading instruction book; I comprehend 90% of it, but need a simple explanation on various formats. I'll probably shoot mostly SD at 30 fps (will be buying APP CS4 so I can import clips, export for APP CS2)

Need more info on difference between 720P/30PN, 720P/24PN, 720P/60P, 720P/30P 720P/24P, 1080i/30P, 1080i/24P, 1080i/24PA, 480i/30P, 480i/24P or 480i/24PA.I think 720p/30PN is native recording like the SD I have been doing for years. Haven't had any demand for HD video yet, and the cable channel we broadcast on will never upgrade to HD anyway. I am interested in trying a film format. When gear gets here, I will have 2 16gb P2 cards and 1 32 gb P2 card to start with. Any feed back or suggestions is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

This really is a book's worth of info, but a few basic things:

The video you've been shooting all these years is actually not 30 fps; it's 60 fields per second. It was referred to as "30 fps" because the fields were interlaced together to make "frames." But those aren't true frames, as in, whole, cohesive pictures. They're "frames" made up of half-pictures taken at two separate times. This is why you see the combing artifacts on any moving objects.

So, "normal" video is 60 moments in time per second, 60 pictures per second, even if those pictures are only half of a "whole" frame. Normal video is more accurately referred to as "60i." It's 60 interlaced fields per second.

30p actually IS 30 whole pictures, whole frames, per second, not 60. This makes a big difference in what the motion looks like, because moving objects are further apart from picture to picture. There's more of a "gap" or "jump" between them. And they're whole picture, not interlaced fields, so they're progressive frames. So, 30p.

720/60p will look the most like the video you're used to. Fox Sports, for example, is shot in 720/60p, as are live shows like "American Idol."

So, too, will 1080/60i.

The various 24p modes are what you want for the most cinema-like image. This is because they're progressive, yes, but most importantly because they take the same number of pictures per second as cinematic film, and thus have the same motion characteristics. This, too, is because there are fewer pictures per second, so moving objects move farther between pictures, thus creating more of a "gap" from picture to picture. It creates an entirely different movement feel from 60 pictures per second.

In the Native modes, only the 30 frames per second or the 24 frames per second are recorded, in 30 fps streams or 24 fps streams. In all other modes, if you record 30 fps or 24 fps (or any other frame rate slower than 60), the camera will repeat frames to record it in a 60 hz stream, but because it's still 24 or 30 (or whatever) pictures per second, the motion will still be the same as if it's Native.

Those are the basics.
 
Thanks, appreciate those basics. I don't shoot a whole of of 'fast motion' sports videos..mosly talking heads in talk show format, or awards banquets.
So I might stick with the 720/60 format.
 
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