Hi-

I have a question that I have been researching for my boss. He wants to know why we should archive/duplicate/re-make footage in a higher format? Yes, I know because it is better quality, but he wants to know why on a chroma subsampling level. I understand chroma subsampling a little, I know why certain formats are better than others, but my confusion is this... if your footage is recorded in certain chroma subsample (say DV, or even HDV) how can you make it any better (the image quality that is) by putting it on a HDcamSR tape? Isn't your quality only going to be as best as your source? So whats the advantage of putting it on a higher quality tape? (please help me out, like I said on a chroma subsampling level)

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message

I have recently seen an art installion consisting of a video camera pointed into an empty room with a VDU just underneath at normal wall picture height.
I observed the pictures which sometimes were live of people who entered the room and at other times the video was of articles which were no longer in the room such as flowers on the floor or a dressing table. After a while the memory of previous people came up on the screen.
So I was really impressed but I have my own ideas of what should be displayed .
Query what software what hardware to get a similar effect.

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message

Pretty interesting news today - apparently Apple's Final Cut Studio has been working with Jim Jannard and the RED guys on a new CODEC that will let RED footage play nice with FCP editing.

It will provide very close to the quality of uncompressed HD video at less than 20% the disk space, which certainly looks very good for the RED camera and its competitors.

The RED camera has been developed a bit slower than its creator anticipated, but it looks like it will be only slightly, not catastrophically, late.

I'm looking forward to more news of this exciting camera!

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message

The HDR-FX1 is the granddaddy of the group, with a list price of $3,700. It's large and bulky but liked the control setup better than the smaller cameras, particularly the zoom handle (which makes manual zooms much smoother) and the top-mounted LCD, which was easier to read than the lower mount most cameras have.

The HDR-FX7 shaves a few dollars off the price and looks roughly like a 2/3 scale model of the Fx-1. With no zoom handle and the LCD placed more conventionally I found the camera less appealing than the FX-1. It felt only marginally lighter, but of course I might havge felt differently if I'd had longer with the two units. The CMOS sensor seemed to produce an identical picture to the FX-1's 3 CCDs.

Both cameras balanced well and felt good in my hands. In the end, I give a slightly edge to the FX-1 due to its superior controls.

A dark horse is the much cheaper HDR-HC7 which I also tried. In DV camcorders, there was always an enormous picture quality difference between cheap consumer cameras and expensive 3CCD units like the FX1. In the case of the HC7, picture quality was surprisingly similar to its big brothers - colors were sharp and bright, not washed out as in older style consumer units. In fact, the limitations of the HDV video format are probably going to be much more probematic for shooters than CCD versus CMOS sensor differences.

So the main advantage of the more expensive units is not raw image quality, but the ability to do manual adjustments such as manual zoom and focus, and the better balance of the heavier cameras, leading to a steadier hand and less shaky images.

In short, even amateur filmmakers who have only $1,400 to spend can get a pretty good looking images. People with the money are going to prefer the fancier units, but anyone with an idea and a $1,500 credit limit nowadays can start shooting very nice looking images.

Sadly, Sony's straight to DVD and hard disk-based camcorders don't work with third-party editing software, and can't be used on a Mac at all. As a result, I can't recommend them even though the hard drive recording option would be very tempting to me.

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message

They're good and getting better, especially with the latest offerings from Sony and Canon. And both companies are stretching down into the lower ends of the market, giving people with relatively thin wallets the opportunity to try their hand at high def.

The JVC GDR-HD1 and JY-HD10U, which were first to the market, are not very convincing. Image quality was less than stellar, thanks to the single CCD image sensor which created badly washed out images. The people who tried using it for professional work also found that the lack of quality manual controls made it very difficult to do anything professional with it.
As of December 23, 2004, Sony just introduced the HDR-FX1 at a very appealing $3,699 price point. It's the first high definition camcorder likely to make sense to most people. I certainly want to check one out!

Sony's camera films at a higher resolution than the JVC, but doesn't feature true progressive scan. As we say elsewhere in the FAQ, this means that it will create terrible stills, which is a big disappointment. This also means 35mm film frames upconverted from the camera's DV images will have hideous video artifacts.

Here's an early review of the camcorder.

During NAB 2005, Panasonic introduced a new camera that records data on memory cards instead of tape. This camera is capable of recording to a higher quality HD standard, and it has HD experts very excited. The price is $5,995, but unfortunately the memory cards add about $2,000 per 8 minutes of recording capacity. It's also supposed to be recording in MiniDV, but I think that's just standard, not high, definition. This looks very promising, and hopefully we'll have some clarification on this issue.

A high-definition camcorder will certainly stroke your ego, and the new Sony is likely to produce the highest quality images of any prosumer camcorder. But look before you leap; most actual video will be viewed as standard definition for years to come.

A major problem with high-definition video is that it uses an entirely different aspect ratio from standard broadcast TV. If you shoot HD, you will find that either the left and right sides of your video will be clipped when your production is viewed on a standard TV, or the image is letterboxed, meaning there will be black bands on the top and bottom of your image. Because of this, you have to decide early on whether your audience will be people using standard or high definition TV and plan accordingly.

I was thinking of upgrading to high definition in the next year or so, but my wariness about compatibility with standard video has made me a little shy about actually doing it.

Canon's initial HD camcorder, the XL HD, has impressed reviewers with its high-quality images, but at $9,000 retail, has left consumers less than happy. I liked the original $4,400-odd price point of the original XL1 a lot better.

Canon listened to us and has introduced a new line with a $3,999 model starting in October of 2006. It promises to provide similar image quality than the XL HD, with essentially the same optics and image sensors. It also introduces a new fast autofocus system, which was urgently needed, especially since focusing in HD is notoriously difficult.

While the Sony FX1 has definitely improved its controls significantly over the old VX-1000 and 2000, I still trust Canon more as a camera maker. But when I do buy a new camera, I will check out both Sony and Canon with exceptional care.

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message

I hope you enjoy it here!

D

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message

According to Jim Heid (via Jeff Carlson), one hour of DV takes about 13 gigabytes, while one hour of HDV video takes from 38-50 gb, depending on the complexity of the video being encoded.

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message

Welcome to your video community, new home of David Dennis' DV FAQ. I hope you'll enjoy what you see here, and decide to join the broader amazing.com community!

Note: You will be prompted to set up an account once done with your message