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Activity Forums Adobe After Effects Best inexpensive prosumer HD camera for motion tracking/greenscreen work

  • Best inexpensive prosumer HD camera for motion tracking/greenscreen work

    Posted by Ej Hassenfratz on January 12, 2010 at 2:54 am

    Looking for a handheld HD camcorder that can be useful for motion tracking and light greenscreen work. something that i can just have to start learning those techniques but still have a good looking product. i know the Canon HV20’s have been highly regarded but just wanted to see what some of the more experienced pros have to say on the subject. Thanks!

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    ej.hassenfratz
    senior.graphic.designer
    wjla-nc8/eyedesyn.com
    washington.dc

    Ej Hassenfratz replied 16 years, 4 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Adam Taylor

    January 12, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    If you want to do greenscreen, then avoid HDV or DV cameras. Search the forum – its been discussed many times.
    The cameras simply do not record enough colour data for useful keying.

    However, some HDV/DV cameras have an hd/sdi output that you can record from, and that sends a clean signal (ie, before it has been compressed for the record to tape). If you have a decent video capture card (or a digibeta deck) then you could record direct to those and have high quality and usable footage.

    adam

    Adam Taylor
    Video Editor/Audio Mixer/ Compositor/Motion GFX/Barista
    Character Options Ltd
    Oldham, UK

    http://www.sculptedbliss.co.uk

  • Anders Hattne

    January 14, 2010 at 4:23 pm

    Cool!
    Just checked and the camera here has HDMI output. Really want to give that a try!!!

    http://www.ardillamedia.com

  • Anders Hattne

    January 14, 2010 at 6:29 pm

    No… not yet (although I don’t know whether it’s worth getting one just to play around with it. Might come in handy in the future!)

    I did see a “Avermedia AVerTV HD DVR PCI Express Video Capture Card”
    for $98!

    I’ve only recently learnt about this 4:2:2 ..compression. So I’m really curious to what result I can get. Maybe the camera’s manual holds that answer – or would it be a combination of the camera and the capture card?

    http://www.ardillamedia.com

  • Ej Hassenfratz

    January 20, 2010 at 2:36 am

    thanks so much for the input and advice!

    maybe i should just start with a camera that is suitable enough for some 3d motion tracking? is an HDV cam good enough or am i going to run into the same quality issues as discussed about the greenscreen? probably not, right considering 3d motion tracking really doesn’t need perfect color information, just spacial data and sharp reproduction.

    ————————–

    ej.hassenfratz
    senior.graphic.designer
    wjla-nc8/eyedesyn.com
    washington.dc

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