Which HD format?

1. Venzuelanhomedog
   Member

   

   I have a jvc miniDV camcorder, and recently I have been thinking about getting into the HD craze. I have an iMac with Intel processors and Final Cut Express 4 installed, so I'm pretty sure I can edit in almost any format. I was wondering which HD format, and how it is saved, is the best (meaning looking best)? File size is not really an issue, because I have a 500GB external HDD. Is hard drive, memory stick, or tape best? What about HDV, AVCHD, or some other one?

   Posted 11 months ago # Login to Send PM

2. robgrauert
   Member

   

    I was wondering which HD format, and how it is saved, is the best (meaning looking best)?

    Which is best looking has to do with how compressed the codec is. More compressed  means lower image quality, but it will take up less space too.AVCHD and HDV are more compressed than DVCPro HD and XDCam HD.

    Also take note that image quality is more impacted by lighting. You can have the biggest most badass camera in the world, but if you don't have ample light, your image will still look like crap. 

    

    Is hard drive, memory stick, or tape best? What about HDV, AVCHD, or some other one?

   I'd go with a memory stick like P2 or SxS, but it all depends on what you want to do. Recording to tape you don't have to sweat losing your footage--it's on tape. Memory sticks and hard drives don't record drop out, which you sometimes get with tape, and the capture stages are much faster than capturing tape. Cameras that record to just a memory stick have no moving parts inside, so theoretically nothing gets worn out.  

   Robert J. Grauert, Jr
   http://www.robgrauert.com

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3. EarlC
   Moderator

   

    For sports and high action, extreme events, HD; for everything else there's AVCHD or HDV. Yeah, Rob, I've changed my tune. Next cameras will be either HV30s on the bottom end, with lights and Beachtek audio control and braces for a high quality mic, etc; or on the (MY) top end, the new Panasonic AG-HMC150 SD & SDHC recorder and no tape. I think perhaps FCP will do a decent job for me with the AVCHD format, but I still am concerned about all the youth sports events we produce. Will have to do a hands on and see how bad the motion stuff will be - swish pans, follows, and other things more prevalent in sports activities.

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4. NewBirthProductions
   Member

   

   Editing HD on a I-Mac, I hope you have a lot of munchies when you start to render.

    I once rendered a 50 min clip of 720P on a mac mini G4 with 512 ram just for kicks.  I stopped it after 3 days just wasn't worth it.

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5. Venzuelanhomedog
   Member

   

    well duh tht would take a while..

   i have one of the new imacs with 1 gig of ram.. i prob will buy more if i get an hd camera 

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6. EarlC
   Moderator

   

    What's the max ram the iMacs take now, 4Gig? You could likely accomplish something good if you stick primarily with cuts only editing techniques.

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7. Venzuelanhomedog
   Member

   

    yea the max they take is 4

    

   and cuts only editing? 

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8. EarlC
   Moderator

   

    Well, the more editing/rendering (effects, layers, etc.) you do the more bogged down your creative drive is going to get using a limited system, but like building a house with a hammer and a hand-saw instead of a crew, power tools and assorted other materials and resources, you can do it, just takes longer - and you can't depend on creative drive to push you in the right direction because there's too much wait. You'll have to plan your projects, and do some serious rethinking regarding use of much more than cuts only story telling. Not that THAT is all bad, it remains among the basic tennents of production in the business.

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9. robgrauert
   Member

   

    Editing HD on a I-Mac, I hope you have a lot of munchies when you start to render.

    

   I don't think editing HD on an iMac would really be that bad if you avoid crazy effects/compositing and work with a compressed format as opposed to uncompressed SD or HD. 

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10. NormanWillis
    Member

    

    Hello.

    I also have a camcorder/codec question, if you don't mind.

    I plan to record using a Sony HDR-FX1 (HDV) with three point lighting.  I then plan to feed the tape into the computer using a Sony HCR-HC1 (also HDV), so I do not have to dismount the big camera from the teleprompter tripod.  I am hoping to edit in Sony Vegas 8.0.

    I have a 3.0GHz Pentium D.  Do the uncompression programs like NeoHD make it easier for Vegas to handle the footage?  Or is Vegas able to handle HDV from Sony camcorders without a problem? 

    I do not mind decompressing, as disk space is not a concern.

    Thank you,

    Norman

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11. brandon0409
    Member

    

    One decompression side of things I can't help.  But will give you a word of caution.

    If you record something on one camcorder then take the tape to a different camcorder to download to the computer, be ready for the the captured footage be choppy.  Not 100 % of the time but much of the time the capturing device with do something just a bit differently and only that cam can read it correctly.

    I recently bought a camcorder soley to capture the footage to the computer so I wouldn't wear my heads out.  Unfortunately the footage looked (and more importantly) sounded like crap.  Then when I put it back in the original cam it worked fine.

    I finally just took the camera back to the store.

    Just be aware this may happen.

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12. robgrauert
    Member

    

     Yea, "decompressing" is pointless. It doesn't do anything but give you larger files sizes. The reason it does not increase quality is because when you compress anything, you throw out information to achieve a smaller file size. Once data is thrown out, it can not be brought back. So don't bother "decompressing." All you will do is tax your hard drive and CPU. 

      Brandon, Your experience with using a different camcorder to capture is strange. Is this with HD tapes? Is it the HDV codec? I still shoot SD with a miniDV camcorder and I use a deck to capture. I've never had a problem. I would assume doing the same with HD would be fine as long as you stay in the same codec. 

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13. brandon0409
    Member

    

    I still shoot in SD.  I use Sony DCRvx2100 to shoot.  I tried a couple different cheap cameras (brand new $150) to transfer the tape to the computer so I would not wear out the heads.

    Each different camera gave me the bad audio.

    oh well.

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14. NormanWillis
    Member

    

    One decompression side of things I can't help.  But will give you a word of caution. If you record something on one camcorder then take the tape to a different camcorder to download to the computer, be ready for the the captured footage be choppy.  Not 100 % of the time but much of the time the capturing device with do something just a bit differently and only that cam can read it correctly. I recently bought a camcorder soley to capture the footage to the computer so I wouldn't wear my heads out.  Unfortunately the footage looked (and more importantly) sounded like crap.  Then when I put it back in the original cam it worked fine. I finally just took the camera back to the store. Just be aware this may happen.

    Thanks Brandon.  Good to know.  Norman.

    Posted 10 months ago # Login to Send PM

15. NormanWillis
    Member

    

     Yea, "decompressing" is pointless. It doesn't do anything but give you larger files sizes. The reason it does not increase quality is because when you compress anything, you throw out information to achieve a smaller file size. Once data is thrown out, it can not be brought back. So don't bother "decompressing." All you will do is tax your hard drive and CPU.    Brandon, Your experience with using a different camcorder to capture is strange. Is this with HD tapes? Is it the HDV codec? I still shoot SD with a miniDV camcorder and I use a deck to capture. I've never had a problem. I would assume doing the same with HD would be fine as long as you stay in the same codec. 

    I have a raft of stuff to wade through before I start shooting, and I'm still trying to figure out what's what, but when I finally get to film, I will try feeding the tape in using the old camera-switcheroo, and if that does not work I will have to move the workstation to the camera.  If this thread is still living at that point (hmmm) I will try to let you know what happened.  But in the mean time we will try it, and hope for the best!  Thanks.  Norman 

    Posted 10 months ago # Login to Send PM

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