Why shoot P instead of PN ?

Mathew Knight

Active member
I have one question that I am unsure about.
If choosing to shoot DVCPRO-HD 720 on the HVX. Why would anyone choose the 720/25P (or 30P) option, when you can use the 720/25PN (or 30PN) option and get longer record times on the card (when shooting timelapses for example), and get access to instant playback of variable frame rates ?

The only difference between the cameras 'P' mode as opposed to 'PN' mode that I am currently aware of is that the PN mode won't go out that way to a firewire or other device. You can only record in PN mode to a P2 card. And of course when shooting PN you get access to the variable frame rates.

What other reasons are there to use 'P' mode, when you can shoot 'PN' mode ?
(And obviously this only apply's to shooting 720 (not 1080 or SD modes).

I just presume i would never use P over PN.

Can anyone tell me when it would be better to shoot P over PN ?
 
If you want to use Video Cam mode (for time lapse or interval or loop recording) and you want the 720/24p look, the only way to get that is to use the 720/24p mode (not the PN mode).

If you want to record to an external device (such as a firestore, DVC Rack, or a DVCPRO-HD tape deck or computer NLE) you'd have to use "P" instead of "PN".

If you want to do off-speed footage but still record the sound, "P" mode is the only way to do that.

If you want the unique posterized look of 12fps (i.e., how it looks in the viewfinder, not double-speed playback) then you'd choose "P" instead of "PN".
 
Barry_Green said:
If you want the unique posterized look of 12fps (i.e., how it looks in the viewfinder, not double-speed playback) then you'd choose "P" instead of "PN".

Thats of course unless you do the frame hack trick.
 
No, that's unrelated. 2fps played back *as* 2fps (as is possible in "P" mode) looks very different than 2fps played back at 24fps (as would happen in "PN" mode). Two very different looks for the same frame rate.
 
Barry

I am awaiting delivery of HXV and ordering DV Rack (I see you are DVC Rack team beta). I can not wait to experiment, so I had to ask, does the DVC Rack allow you to record, via the FW to your laptop, HVX frame rates that are over/under cranked, and if so, does DVC Rack drop the extra frames or store the flagged frames over the 60 fps? DVC Rack may be a dream come true, in more ways than I had imagined. Thanks.
 
Back
Top