The goal of this guide is to provide you with a general foundation of
knowledge about each of the most popular HD formats, so that you can
use this information as part of your decision. It is not a technical
manual. I am going to do my best to avoid tech speak and keep it in
simple to understand terms.
This guide was NOT written to help you choose a specific camcorder. For
that our best advice is to go to your local store and check them out.
Talk to your friends/ colleagues who are already shooting HD and ask
them what they like best and least about their camcorder. If you can,
try to borrow it and try it yourself. If you already have an HD
camcorder, this guide will help you better understand the format you
have, and itâ??s pluses and minuses for post production.
HD is not DV
This is a very important fact you need to understand and appreciate.
Editing DV footage is a breeze. Even with a four year old computer itâ??s
a piece of cake. You donâ??t need a ton of processing power or storage.
You donâ??t need special hardware and the workflow of importing DV
footage into your computer via FireWire (or USB), editing it, encoding
it and then burning it to DVD or publishing it on the web is easy.
Unfortunately working with HD footage isnâ??t that simple, and each HD
format has itâ??s own unique workflow that can require special settings,
plug-ins, work arounds and even hardware. Donâ??t let that scare you
away. By the end of this article you will have a solid understanding of
each HD format and a bunch of suggested workflows and solutions.
Videoguys Blog - Videoguys Guide to Understanding HD Formats
Gary
