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DV and Adrenaline
We are shooting our next spot with a Panasonic DVX100A camera instead of on beta as we usually do. I’ll be using the camera as a deck to digitize. This is my first time dealing with DV.
Can someone please give me some “heads-up” on any problems I might come across.
Can I bring in the video through firewire?
Should I change any settings in the avid to make the video look its best?
Any advice when working with video shot widescreen or 24p?Any advice would be great!
Thanks!
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1 Reply
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DV… grrrr…
There’s a lotta bad and a lotta good. Since you’re looking for bad, I’ll give you the biggest 3 I’ve found:
1. (and this is direct from SONY and Panasonic’s mouths) “DV – especially miniDV – is a less stable format than say DVC Pro or Betacam.” While yes, the firewire in is a great thing, expect to see some slippage in the deck (or camera) upon any batch digitizing… anywhere from 1-6 frames off. This proves VERY annoying in a online setting. Having to go in and slip/slide every single cut is a pain. However if you plan on capturing at online quality, this will not be an issue for you.
2. Don’t expect to be able to increase the scale of the footage too much passed 100%. DV isn’t all that pretty – especially in low light – and grain can become unbearable during color correction. I have been able to get away with up to 130% in exterrior (high light) shots.
3. Digital audio on DV cameras is very tricky. When in the field, audio folks have to deal with really REALLY touchy meters. Expect audio levels to be either overmodulated or way too low. The smarter audio folks are splitting the mic to 2 channels – they perform similar level adjustments on both Ch.1 and Ch.2, but always keep Ch.2 about 4db lower in case of overmodulating.
Good Luck!
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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
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