OT: Underwater Archive: 24p, 50i or 60i....?

NickHope wrote on 2/23/2006, 8:56 AM
Hi,

If you were building on an archive of underwater footage to appeal to the widest possible range of producers internationally for the forseeable future, would you capture and store it in 1080/24p, 1080/50i, 1080/60i, 1080/30p or 720/60p?

This has a relevance as to whether I buy a Z1 or HVX200 and of course then how I shoot with it.

I'm guessing one of the interlaced formats would be best, but then someone told me a couple of years ago that "National Geographic require film", which raised a doubt in my mind as I don't want to rule them out.

Thanks, Nick

Comments

backlit wrote on 2/23/2006, 1:32 PM
Nick,

I can't answer your question but since you are considering the Panasonic I would like to know what underwater housing you are considering. The main manufacturers seem to be building only for Sony or Cannon. I have an AG-DVC30 and had a tough time finding a housing for it. I ended up ordering an Equinox PP6 but it doesn't fit well.

David
David Jimerson wrote on 2/23/2006, 3:54 PM
I don't think there's a "best" for this. Different uses require different things. There will be a stark difference between interlaced and progressive footage, and framerate will play a hand, too, so what's appropriate for one man's project may not be for another.
Laurence wrote on 2/23/2006, 6:50 PM
We are heading toward an era of 60p. I believe 60i is the closest to that and that would e my pick.
NickHope wrote on 2/23/2006, 8:52 PM
Thanks for the replies.

Backlit, if I go for the HVX200 then I'm looking at Gates forthcoming HVX200 housing with a SWP44 Super Wide Port. My Gates VX2000 has been rock solid for the last 3 years and I would almost certainly buy their Z1 housing too if I go that route.

David J, I understand that one format does not suit all, so I'm also interested in "convertability" to other formats when choosing an archive format.

So Laurence, do you mean an era of 1080/60p? Might a next generation Sony Z2 or Panny HVX300 support that?

If you had the HVX200 you would still archive in 1080/60i as opposed to 720/60p?

Nick
NickHope wrote on 10/20/2006, 1:06 AM
Well, I've finally got a Z1p, so that narrows it down a bit, but I'm still torn 50/50 between shooting 1080i50 or 1080i60.

I have a small German stock agency interested in my stuff, and they would prefer 50i, but thinking big, what concerns me most is what the big-hitting purchasers would prefer (e.g. BBC, Nat Geo, Discovery etc.) so I don't rule them out. OK, I know they don't officially approve of HDV at all but I'm just trying to decide what format to be shooting with my Z1 when the whale shark gives birth in front of me.

Souvenir DVDs for diving tourists are still important so that's also a consideration.

Here's how I'm seeing the pros and cons:

Advantages of 50i

- Better picture quality (using the space saved by temporal resolution)
- Better transfer to film than 60i
- Native framerate for the majority of my tourist customers (so their PAL SD DVDs, which they'll continue to get for the next year or two, will be sharper)
- If transcoding is required, a 60fps encode from a 50i source is better than a 50fps encode from a 60i source (???)

Advantages of 60i

- Better temporal resolution (obviously) so better slo-mo etc.
- In general more international stock footage purchasers would prefer 60i (???)
- As Laurance says, we're heading towards and era of 60p (but is this worldwide?), so the footage will be more useable in the medium-longterm
- I can make SD NTSC DVDs for my tourist customers and the vast majority will be able to play them on their multi-system TVs. No more making 9 x PAL DVDs and 1 x NTSC DVD for the American/Japanese guy.
- Will convert more nicely to 15p which is perfect for web movies (conversely 12.5p half PAL is a little low)

I'd dearly value any opinions to help me decide.

Thanks!