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Moving to HD…what do I need to know?
Hi all,
First time back in a while. Have been immersed in my new Vegas system for my wedding business. Now that I have scratched the surface in order to catch up on my backlog of work, I have some questions regarding switching to HD production for 2011.
I am a wedding videographer and have been for 25 years. I have progressed through several cameras and formats from the Sharp XC-A1 to VHS to my current Sony DVCAM 300A. Believe it or not, I have had this camera since 2000 and it still looks phenomenal (and the same 4 original lithium batteries).
But, as much as I hate to retire this incredible unit, I have to go HD. I realize I am probably two years or more behind the curve for my market (Springfield, MA) and now must take the plunge. I am looking for a little insight into HD shooting, and have a few questions.
1.) Is it really any different than shooting on SD? Do I need to frame things differently, watch out for certain pitfalls etc? If you are in the wedding business, you know that you get one shot at most events during a shoot, so I need to know what to look for.
2.) Again, bear with my ignorance, but my understanding is that most cameras save to an internal hard drive and an SD card. Is any one format better to use with Vegas? I am looking for reliability, quality, and ease of use. Is that asking for too much?
3.) Once I have it recorded, what are my options for inputting it into the Vegas system? Does the system have to have an SD card slot? I have seen USB 2.0 mentioned on a few of the Sony cams for input into an NLE. Is that using a USB cable from the cam to the computer? If so, how fast is the transfer? Am I looking at real time in that scenario?
If this is the wrong forum to ask these questions, please do not hesitate to tell me to get lost. But let me know where you think I could go to get the answers I need. This is hopefully my last transition to a new format, so I want to make sure I make the right decisions. The move to DVCAM could not have worked out any better, and got a solid 10 years of incredible quality. I am obviously looking at Sony cameras again, but do not plan on spending another 10 K this time. Any feedback on HXR – MC50U for a small backup, and the HDR – AX2000 or HXR-NX5U as a possible main camera would be greatly appreciated. I will be making a trip to B & H very soon and want to be able to run several of their cameras through some tests, and have plenty of questions to ask regarding storage capacity, chip quality, etc.
I really appreciate any feedback you may have.
Thanks. Dan Myers.
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5 Replies
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All three of those camers your looking at are AVCHD, which is fine if you have a fast computer, quad core or an i7 would be ideal. I have a Sony HVR-a1 HDV but recently bought a HDV-TM700 and I doubt I’ll ever use the Sony again. The Panasonic TM700 is a small camera but shoots the best video I have ever seen. It shoots several different bitrate 1080i formats and 18m still pics, but the best feature it shoots 1080 60p. Yes 60p. The downfall of it is 1080 60p isn’t ine the Bluray spec although some BR players will play them.
Once you see video shot in 60p you will be shocked on the quality.
There is a small fan in this camera and some people say they can hear it in the recording but I have yet to. Maybe if you capture in a totally quiet room, you may hear it a little but no more than hearing the tape mechanics of a tape based camera.
It has several scene presets and a complete manual mode as well.
The camera is small as I said and doesn’t look as pro as the ones your looking at, but I put a larger lens hood and a shotgun mic on it and it looks great. Shooting in 1080 60p and played back on a i7 computer to a large HDTV or monitor is absolutly stunning, and being progressive 60p, any fast moving objects show no interlacing. You can edit and render to 720 60p and never work with interlaced footage again. This camera cost me $750 though, you could buy 6 of these and have money left over than what you will spend on the Sony your looking at.
It also has 3 cmos chips and captures great in low light situations. It has the ability to capture 5.1 surround sound as well as stereo. It has been said it’s the camera of the year in 2009 and 2010. Before you buy any cameras, youtube the tm700 and see where people are comparing it to very highend ones.
If your computer is not a quad or i7, you will dissapointed on how sluggish editing any footage from any AVCHD camera so 1080i from a HDV camera may suit your needs. Vimeo also show alot of info on this camera.https://camcorder-reviews.net/panasonic/panasonic-hdc-tm700-review/
Look at the forum threads on the tm700 here.
Hope this helps, Danny Hays, Universal Studios, FL
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1.) Is it really any different than shooting on SD? Do I need to frame things differently, watch out for certain pitfalls etc? If you are in the wedding business, you know that you get one shot at most events during a shoot, so I need to know what to look for.
Your framing should not change, although HD/HDV is unforgiving when your focus is off. It stands out like a sore thumb. SD is more forgiving.
Mixing cameras is going to be an issue, so choose carefully. I recently did a wedding shoot with HD (EX1) and HDV (HC3+FX1+Z1P), and cannot match the gamma of the HD camera to the HDV camera’s. If I get the blue looking right, the reds go off. If I got the skin tones right, whites became yellow. It was not a white balance issue, but a gamma issue.
HD and HDV cameras seem to handle shiny skin/silky fabrics visually differently. Whilst I found the violet bridemaids dresses to be silky and shiny in HDV, on the HD camera the dress colours were flat and seemed to be a bit ‘off’, tending to be more burgundy. The videographer colour corrected his footage for me, but side by side there was still an obvious visual difference. As his shots were only cutaways, I did not delve into what was happening. Other than that, I would personally avoid mixing HD and HDV cameras in future.
2.) Again, bear with my ignorance, but my understanding is that most cameras save to an internal hard drive and an SD card. Is any one format better to use with Vegas? I am looking for reliability, quality, and ease of use. Is that asking for too much?
Recording to card is beneficial in that lots of time is saved in not having to transfer footage. I have heard of edits done off the SD card (when in a pinch). Some camera’s have a dual card recording system (record in parallel or series), and some operators invest in a firestore drive in addition to the cards just in case the cards get corrupted/lost/damaged/over written.
3.) Once I have it recorded, what are my options for inputting it into the Vegas system? Does the system have to have an SD card slot? I have seen USB 2.0 mentioned on a few of the Sony cams for input into an NLE. Is that using a USB cable from the cam to the computer? If so, how fast is the transfer? Am I looking at real time in that scenario?
Most cameras would support USB 2.0. You would be looking at about 30 mb/s transfer rates in the real world. If you have a card reader in your PC, it may be possible to transfer files off the card, but that depends on the card/format.
Intel i7 920, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 10 (x32/x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6
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Thanks for the input Danny…I am trying to gather more info on this camera as we speak. I think I could handle only having to spend that much for my next camera..or two, especially since my last DVCAM with the lens was about 12K!!
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Wow…pretty impressive numbers for such a small camera. I do worry about keeping it stable. I am an old time videographer who is very accustomed to having a beast on my shoulder. Does the image stabilization on these cameras really work?? My shoulder is getting old and definitely votes for a smaller unit. The other concern, which may be somewhat old fashioned as well, is how is it perceived by the client. I’ve always felt there is a certain level of professionalism tied to a shoulder type camera. Am I over-thinking this?
Dan.
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Dan, since you like a shoulder mount camera, I suggest that you take a look at the JVC GY-HM700U.
My department at the college I work for just bought one (and will be buying aother one) and I love it!!
They’re replacing a pair of JVC 550U cameras which, while they’re geat cameras (1/2″ CCDs with an optional 20:1 zoom lens), are almost 10 yrs. old.
They’re also SD 4:3 models so it’s nice to finally make the move to HD 16:9.
These cameras aren’t cheap but you know what it’s like having a good camera and lens.
I went with the canon 14:1 lens on this unit as the reviews on it were excellent.
I was very fortunate to buy it during a free battery promo that ended earlier this month.
We got an Anton Bauer battery and charger for free (almost a $2K unit).
It records in MOV for FCP users or MP4 for PC users.
Over and undercranking is possible when you’re in 1280×720 mode.
I’ve done two shoots with it so far and don’t have any regrets.
As Nigel said, focus is critical in HD but the focus assist feature is excellent as is the new 4.3″ flip out LCD monitor.
Recording is done to class 6 or 10 (i.e. $$) SDHC cards and the camera holds 2 of them for over 3 hr. of record time with a pair of 32 GB. cards.
Yu can create and store several picture and scene presets in internal memory.
When you’re done shooting, stick the card into a USB card reader, plug it into your computer, browse to the correct folder and drop the MP4 files right on your Vegas timeline.
Check out the camera and specs on the JVC Pro site.
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