SD/HDV thoughts

Widetrack wrote on 4/22/2008, 12:07 PM

I have a couple of real basic question to ask and apologize in advance for not having been listening for a while.

Does Video shot in HDV end up looking better than DV footage when rendered in MPEG 2 on a DVD?

Does HDV demand a delivery medium other than DVD? Like Blue-Ray, for instance?
If I use stills in an HDV project, will they look better than stills in a DV project?

If so, where would this better quality come from? the rendering?

Other than a HDV camcorder, what do I need to buy to convert to HDV?

Thanks for your help.

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 4/22/2008, 12:35 PM

Does Video shot in HDV end up looking better than DV footage when rendered in MPEG 2 on a DVD?Yes, definitely. Not subtle.

Does HDV demand a delivery medium other than DVD? Like Blue-Ray, for instance?

Not sure what you are trying to ask. Blu-Ray is much higher res than DVD and therefore will show the full detail of the HD video, whereas DVD can be no more than 720x480 and therefore cannot ever look as good as Blu-Ray (assuming you do everything correctly). I don't know what you mean by getting better quality from the rendering. I think you are perhaps under the impression that DVD and Blu-Ray can be equivalent in some way. They cannot. Blu-Ray can store and playback very high-resolution HD video (including that shot on HDV or AVCHD or HD); DVD cannot playback at any higher resolution than 720x480 (although there is a non-supported, non-DVD format that can be placed onto a DVD blank that does permit high resolution video to be played back on some Blu-Ray players, but that disc is NOT a DVD in any sense.

Konrad wrote on 4/22/2008, 1:16 PM

HDV is the source. You can render to any format and resolution Vegas is capable of .

The DVDA 5 free upgrade to DVDA4.5 (Included with Vegas Pro 8 unless you got the B&H el cheapo special) What that gives you is the "ADDED" option of not only burning Blu-Ray but up to the capacity limit of DVD (Read short movie) you can burn to regular DVD's that wil then play in a Blu-Ray player.

CorTed wrote on 4/22/2008, 2:00 PM

Konrad,
What is an average time of a "short movie" one could put on a regular DVD in Blu ray format?

Widetrack wrote on 4/22/2008, 3:17 PM

John

Thanks for the reply. You actually didi answer one of the questions I was trying to ask, but didn't really know how to ask it. That is, as long as I deliver on DVD, the only way to improve my image quality is to shoot in HD.

WT

dogwalker wrote on 4/22/2008, 3:37 PM

Whoa, there's an upgrade to DVDA 5? I haven't fired up my DVDA in a while, been busy doing lots of other things, so I'll have to fire it up when I get home, see if there's anything about an upgrade.

I did go to "My Software" under "My Account" above these forums, and it shows my DVDA 4.5, but when I click on Download, all I see are upgrades for 4.5 (and yep, I'm behind on those), nothing about DVDA 5.

Konrad wrote on 4/22/2008, 5:10 PM

DVDA 5 was a demo at NAB last week, it is schedule to be available in June. According to Spot's new book The Full HD (Pg. 193) a 4.7 GB DVD will hold 22 minutes(@27.8Mbps) so a dual layer 8.5 GB should hold about 39 minutes. We'll know for sure in June when we get our hands on DVDA 5.

Like an idiot I forgot to have Spot sign my book at NAB. Although I just realized I did math for my answer and Spot has a very rude name for internet math geeks ;)

rtbond wrote on 4/22/2008, 5:40 PM

>DVD will hold 22 minutes(@27.8Mbps

FYI, AVC/H.264 encoded HD content will most likely be much less than a 27 Mbps stream, easily half this bit rate. For instance Vegas Pro 8 will encode HD content as AVC (BDMV-formatted) from the timeline at 15 Mbps. I am guessing the 27 Mbps figure is quoted assuming MPEG-2 encoding of HD content.

With BDMV-formated, HD content, AVC encoded from the timeline you can get over 60 minutes of content on a DVD-9 (i.e., dual layer) disc.

--Rob

Konrad wrote on 4/22/2008, 7:26 PM

If I can get a pressed DVD with 60 minutes of content that will play in BR player I'll be a very happy camper. I understand it won't play in a standard DVD player.

Will I be able to prep that with DVDA 5 or will I need Blueprint? To be clear I mean prepping it for having a 1000 pressed as opposed to burned.

johnmeyer wrote on 4/22/2008, 8:29 PM

That is, as long as I deliver on DVD, the only way to improve my image quality is to shoot in HD. There are dozens of ways to maximize the quality of a DVD. Obviously, shooting the higher quality of HDV (or AVCHD) and then down-res'ng when rendering to DVD is one excellent thing to do. Choosing the highest possible average bitrate (without exceeding 8,000,000 bps) for the length of your video is another. Using one of the DVD Architect templates in Vegas (never use the "Default" template) is another.

Konrad wrote on 4/22/2008, 8:44 PM

I don't want to sound patronizing and please forgive me if I'm preaching to the choir. There is a lot that can done to improve image quality that has nothing to do with the camcorder. That is to understand the fundamentals that predate the digital age. Lighting, Shutter Speed v. Aperture, Composition and Story Telling. I see a lot of video that could do with lighting help and proper lighting helps any camcorder achieve it's best results.