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mixing ex and hpx 500 footage
I am a cameraman and my knowledge of the post environment is just barely enough to advise my clients on workflow. I am shooting a documentary on the HPX500 at 720p 24N using 16 gig cards. We have the need for a second camera and I am inclined to use a HVX200 so that everything matches easily in terms of workflow. But the Sony HDCam EX has been suggested because the producer owns one and it may not be a bad idea because of its larger chip size (better in low light and better depth of field characteristics). The camera side of the question, whether is will match or not, I can handle. But I do not know what will be required in the post environment to make the two formats (mpeg 4 and DVCPro100) work together in the long run. It is all made more complicated because we will be working with FCP on the set but the final cutting will be done on Avid. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Andy Black
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2 Replies
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My philosophy is that the people who work in production need to work in a way that makes post go smoother. In fact, I have several conversations with DPs and camera guys before they shoot to talk about shooting formats. And we even shoot tests to make sure that things work right. Because every production road leads to post.
That being said…I highly recommend choosing the HVX-200 as your B-camera. Having the same format for A and B camera is a VERY good thing, especially in this day and age of 15 different HD formats and dozens of different combinations of those.
In SD, we’d have a digibeta as the A Camera, and DV camera as B and C cameras…mixing those formats were easy. Both same dimensions (well, 480 and 486…close enough), both the same frame rate…and you just captured them to match.
But the EX1 IMPORTS…and imports as XDCAM. Mixing XDCAM and DVCPRO HD…720p and 1080i (well, I hear you can shoot 720p on the EX1) on the same timeline is possible with FCP 6 and it’s open timeline, but then when it comes to finish and color correct, you need to have uniformity…all the footage should be as ONE codec. How would convert XDCAM from the EX1 into DVCPRO HD? Or DVCRO HD to XDCAM? Or both to ProRes?
Test…shoot and test and see how things work. THis is what I did when we were mixing the SAME format…DVCPRO HD from tape off the Varicam and P2 DVCPRO HD from the HVX.
Mixing the HPX500 and HVX200 is brainless…meaning that it is easy and takes very little thought and work. Mixing the EX1 and HPX will take testing, time and effort, as well as a lot of thought.
So…up to you. I choose easy, as it is prone to less complications down the road.
Shane
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HI Shane,
Thanks for your input. I would normally default to the HVX200 as well and it was only with some more extensive thought that I decided to consider using the ex1. The camera is not just a little but a lot better in low light situations and the 1/2 inch chip should be quite a bit more appealing from a depth of field perspectives. I don’t expect that the color space will be nearly as appealing as the panasonic. Of course, we will shoot 720p 23.98 on both cameras. From my avid people: they say sony makes a software that will wrap the mpeg2 files from the sony in a MFX wrapper. I am assuming they will then both import in the same codec and that should make the footage compatible including carrying time code over, color correction etc. We’ll do some tests and see. I am going now to see if I can match the cameras from the front end. Thanks, Andy
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