HDV & chromakey

rs170a wrote on 2/14/2006, 3:13 PM
I'm (hopefully) looking for some answers from folks who have done this successfully.

I'm going to be doing a PSA with an animator friend. The concept is a (green screened) young woman who starts off normal, turns 2D, then 3D and then back to normal at the end. While a regular NTSC spot is the end result, I want to have an HD version as well.

I'd like to be able to give the animator the best possible image (better than miniDV) to work with as it'll involve a lot of work on his part and the better the original footage, the easier it'll be on him.
I've searched here and other HDV forums and didn't find very much info on this topic.

Since I'm an HDV rookie, are there any pitfalls I need to watch out for? BTW, I'll be borrowing a Z1 for the shoot.
Thanks.

Mike

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 2/14/2006, 3:50 PM
If it's a full body shot, consider shooting the HDV cam sideways to increase resolution to 1080. Additionally, use the CineForm or YUV codec to deliver to him. His system may not read the YUV coded as it's a VFW codec, so you may want to deliver uncompressed.
Otherwise, light it the same as you would for SD, shoot it the same way as well.
rs170a wrote on 2/14/2006, 9:12 PM
Thanks for the info Douglas. It'll be primarily waist-up shots though so no sideways camera needed.
Would the uncompressed file be an AVI? Isn't HDV an mpeg format?
As I said, I'm an HDV rookie.

Mike
Spot|DSE wrote on 2/14/2006, 10:25 PM
You don't want to key, nor edit in HDV.
Depending on computer speed, you have two workflow choices, IMO.
1. Capture m2t (HDV/mpeg) and convert to CineForm codec (IF you have a machine that's3.4 GHz or faster) Your friend likely can't read CineForm codec tho, so keep that in mind.

2. Capture m2t and convert that to uncompressed, or Sony YUV. Yes, that's wrapped in an avi wrapper. He might not be able to open the YUV, either, so be sure to test it.
farss wrote on 2/14/2006, 10:39 PM
Your other option might be the BMD QT codec, free from BMD and in theory it's readable on Macs and PCs.
I say in theory because I tried this once and the Mac guy said it loaded fine except the vision was all black, played back fine in Vegas though. I recall something about this on another forum and some Vegas bug, I really should follow this up I guess.
Bob.
Coursedesign wrote on 2/14/2006, 11:47 PM
That's a known Apple problem, and I suspect they don't want to fix it (because they now want people to use their codec), and they may even have created the problem intentionally.

rs170a wrote on 2/15/2006, 6:07 AM
Thanks for everyone's help.
I forsee lots of testing :-)
BTW, my work machines are P4 3.4 HT so handling the files shouldn't be an issue.

Mike