HDV users, hows it going for ya

winrockpost wrote on 6/9/2006, 1:02 PM
Several months ago we got a couple fx1 cams, got rid of them and got a couple z1 cams, Shot tons of stuff now in HDV and am on the fence on this format , want to use it , think its important, hope its not hype, hope to someday deliver some footage , sure is easy to just convert to DV , makes editing a breeze, but .... dumb!! where do you HDV gurus think the format is going ?
Thanks in advance


Comments

farss wrote on 6/9/2006, 3:37 PM
Going?
Going where? it works, shoot it, edit it, it works.
Nothing really exciting about it, just DV with more pixels and smarter compression that can trip you up if you're not careful how you shoot it.
I now see HDV as just the start of a revolution for video and like any revolution there's going to be a lot of collateral damage along the way.
We're now seeing the emergence of image capture systems that will offer way more than HDV does at a more affordable price than such performance cost in the past.
Offsetting that content delivery seems to be being dumbed down, not much point shooting 10bit 2K if it's going to be watched on a postage stamp sized screen.

Bob.
riredale wrote on 6/9/2006, 3:42 PM
I'm not an HDV Guru and I get to do the projects I want to do, not what some client specifies, so that also colors my view. That said, I think HDV is terrific, and I see no reason to ever shoot DV again.

Only downside is the extra rendering step to DV and/or Cineform at the outset. After that, editing is completely conventional for me, even on my 3-year-old laptop.

The only potential downside is the increased risk of a significant dropout, but so far I've only seen one. I understand that the premium miniDV tapes are even better in this regard.
fldave wrote on 6/9/2006, 3:49 PM
The "format" (or should I say final delivery format) 1080i, from my FX1 is one of the HDTV standards. So I think it will be around for a while. I don't think they're turning SD tv off in the US until 2008-2009?

I think the format has barely started. How many people here have true HD DVD or BluRay players? It's beyond the hype stage, IMO.
Ben1000 wrote on 6/9/2006, 5:28 PM
Howdy

I'm in the process of selling my DSR-390L and moving completely to HDV. I started shooting my podcast in HDV (http://www.neo-fight.tv), and I've never loooked back. I now shoot just about everything in HDV, even if I'm eventually going to deliver on DVD.

Best,

Benjamin

----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.neo-fight.tv [The "Techno-Debate" Video Podcast]
johnmeyer wrote on 6/9/2006, 5:31 PM
It is a major time sink. No one yet requires it. The delayed rollout of playback devices is going to make that part of the equation take even longer than I originally predicted (and I was predicted 3-5 years -- see my old posts).

It sure produces nice pictures when you playback from the camera to an HD monitor. And it does produce nicer looking SD DVDs, although I am not sure it is enough of a jump to justify the considerable increase in workflow time needed to produce a DVD. When I'm under a deadline, I convert to DV from the camera and get on with life.
Serena wrote on 6/9/2006, 5:42 PM
>>where do you HDV gurus think the format is going ?

Ummm....not really sure what you're asking. Or perhaps, more precisely, why you're asking. In terms of production take-up it's going well in this country; you have to be able to shoot 16:9 for any commercial work. If you're questioning the client demand, then of course the present holdup for HD out is HD media and people waiting for the HD DVD/Blueray thing to get sorted.
Sales of widescreen TVs are going along very nicely and the home viewing trend is away from live-to-air to DVD. Also home theatres are hitting cinemas. So HD in the home is waiting only for the Blueray question to settle; here there is great enthusiasm for new entertainment technology.
Of course there is also the growing enthusiasm for podcasting, which obviously isn't an HD medium (but yes for 16:9).

So, obviously you have more in mind in asking the question.
Yoyodyne wrote on 6/9/2006, 5:52 PM
I'm in the "no guru" camp but HDV has been working great for me.

The workflow has been a big improvement over DV. Just like DV I capture and edit, in this case capture with HDlink converting to Cineform on the fly. The improvement has been in a couple spots;

1) Keying HDV, so much easier than DV.

2) Image quality, punchier colors and of course the higher resolution. Makes color tweaking so much easier as well.

I do a lot of work for event companies where HD playback is the norm right now. Being able to deliver cost effective HD that looks great 40 feet across is a HUGE advantage for me. Plus the HDV color space and Vegas preview to second (or fourth) monitor feature has given me surpisingly accurate monitoring for projection.

My only issues with HDV so far have been with the ability of Vegas to spit out full resolution / full framerate preview. Of course being able to work at this quality level with just a firewire card and a few off the shelf computer chunks and monitors is pretty amazing.