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what would the perfect HD or HDV system be?
Hi everyone,
Sorry for the repeat question because I have seen my question sort of answered but not all the way.
I am a teacher and would like to set a HD system for my students. We are currently using FCP HD. In my search for coming up with the best system I have gotten even more confused on what would be the best workflow/system.
So here is the question. If you were going to set up 2-3 systems, which would include camera, deck, capture board, etc, what would it be and what format would it be. I would go out on a limb and say quality for the students is not the main issue for the students but rather understanding the workflow and principles so that when they do go out on their own they can be informed.
Pointing me in any direction would be very helpful!!!
Thanks
Stephan
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6 Replies
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Is there any particular reason for going HD? If these are students just trying to learn then just going with DV would offer all the opportunity for education at a much lower price.
Either way, I suggest going with Powermacs. That way, if you do go with DV for now it will be possible to upgrade them later with capture cards that could handle HD in the future. If you are set on HD for now then I’d go over to the HDV room and start reading old posts there.
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The perfect HD system will run you over $30,000….WITHOUT the decks, and depending on the monitor. A good HD monitor will run you between $17,000 and $50,000. But, that is for uncompressed HD.
What kind of HD are you talking about here?
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[stephan] ”
I am a teacher and would like to set a HD system for my students. We are currently using FCP HD. In my search for coming up with the best system I have gotten even more confused on what would be the best workflow/system.”If you’re confused, how are you going to instruct your students on an HD workflow? HD is just a completely different animal than SD and unless there’s a real reason for these students to shoot HD, just set up DV workstations. It’s far more important for students to understand composition, framing, lighting, timing, etc…. than understanding HD.
HD is something they can learn anywhere after graduating. Tools don’t tell a story, good creativity tells a story. Teaching them how to compose and tell a great story, now that’s something severely lacking these days.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com“The Rough Cut,” an original short film premiering December 7th in full High Definition in Atlanta.
rsvp@biscardicreative.com to reserve seats.
https://www.theroughcutmovie.com“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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“Perfect” may mean one thing but the rest of your post
[stephan] “I would go out on a limb and say quality for the students is not the main issue for the students but rather understanding the workflow and principles so that when they do go out on their own they can be informed.”
Says something else.
If you want to teach the students how to shoot with 16×9 in mind you could get a Sony PDX-10 which captures in DV but is 16×9 native chips. They can learn about working in that aspect ration (standard in HD) but on a budget.
HDV, DVCProHD, HDCAM an the various frame rates and 720p vs 1080i all have variant workflows so it would be incorrect to teach them that or any single HD workflow as THE HD workflow.
I think HDV has so many issues that I wouldn’t want to teach students that as a way to do professional work.
DVCProHD can also be handled with firewire and doesn’t require the heavy drive requirement of HDCAM (and HDCAM SR) on the computer side. They might be able to learn a lot about HD and variants with the Panasonic HVX200 (out around the end of December give or take). The issue is acquiring on P2 cards or direct to portable disk drive. The limited amout of acquisation space on the P2 cards can make for a frustrating work flow. The poratable hard drive from Focus Enhancements, which would give you reasonable record time is not out yet. While the camera and storage media is more expensive than HDV, you can have a deckless work flow (with no easy way to back up your source video).
The camera shoots in 16×9 DV (to tape), DVCPro 50, DVCProHD, 720p24, 720p30, 720p60, 1080i and some other variations which certainly presents the students with a variety of HD shooting situations and post workflows. There’s just way too many variants and types of gear from 1/3″ chip cameras to large (and probably too expensive for your school) 2/3″ chip cameras that record DVCProHD or HDCAM (mostly to tape at the moment) to teach them all. Nope, no perfect HD system and I wouldn’t even put HDV in it’s class (or the classroom) but hey, that’s just me.
I’m sure others will have very different opinions but it might be good to learn them. That in itself could be an excellent lesson.
All that said, your best bet might be using 16×9 Standard Def.
Think of this, you can teach with 16×9 SD on a day to day basis and then rent an HVX for a few days and then an HDV camera (and deck) for few days (or whatever) so they can grab and input video from each. You wouldn’t have to buy HD cameras and then they can compare the workflows with their 16×9 SD experience.
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Sorry for the typos. I look forward to an edit feature in the COW’s future.
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[Craig Seeman] “I wouldn’t even put HDV in it’s class (or the classroom) but hey, that’s just me.”
It would be a bit dim to not tell students about a format that they WILL be encountering at some point just because some people don’t like the format. Plenty of companies out there using it at the moment.
I agree with the rest of your post though, you can learn most of the basics of HD using DVCPro HD.
Steve Connor
Cardinal HDPlease fill in your profile – it helps US to help YOU!
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