Equipment research…

[John Sharaf]

Mike,

The Varicam is a very good choice for HD production for the very reasons of economics and workflow that you mention.

To be perfectly honest the 1080 Sony Cine Alta is slightly sharper by comparison, but the tradeoff is more money and a more complicated post production workflow, often requiring downconversions and outside on line editing. In addition the Varicam has variable speeds which allow both over and under cranking. The Panasonic VTRs all transcode 720 to 1080 and visa versa, so this is not really an issue. In fact I’m shooting tomorrow for CBS Sports which broadcasts in 1080i with the Varicam per their request, and many other Varicam 720p projects end up on Discovery and other 1080 outlets; just like “in the old days” when many Digibeta deliveries were shot on SP Beta or even DV.

The firewire workflow and storage is made possible by creating 24 fps projects in FCP by only digitizing the discrete frames that are otherwise repeated in the 2:3 pulldown that is written on the DVPRO100 tape. Even though its a 100 Mbs bandwidth the 24 fps is only 40% of the total (40% of 60 fps) so it results in a managable bandwidth and storage requirement. That its quality is as good as it is is amazing!

The Panasonic 1200A VTR with the accessory Firewire and SDI card completes the system, and yes you will need to use HD specific lenses to get the ultimate resolution and minimize chromatic aberations (although you will never eliminate them completely with a three chip imager design), both Canon and Fujinon make beautiful products. I believe there is a purchase program right now which offers a good sized refund when you purchase the camera and deck together.

If you’re really serious about the Varicam I suggest your company send several of you to attend the Varicamp; it’s offered in many places around the country and the instructors are very knowledgable about the camera and the workflow; much more so than the dealers from whom you’ll buy the gear. I think it’s only about $1250 per head for a three day session and well worth the money.

Regards,

JS

[Michael Peele]

Aloha!

Thanks for the quick response and the great answers.
You have cleared up quite a few questions we had.
I am happy that it seems popular/accepted to work in the 720 and convert to 1080i.
I wish the lenses were compatible. Too bad.
I am also happy to hear that the excess frames from the DVCPRO HD stream get tossed on capture.

Mahalos,
Mike Peele

p.s. – Anyone else care to chime in?

[Dale Mccready]

I’ve done extensive colour correction and post compositing with the Varicam native 720P and converted 1080i. Both have held up well. Your original lenses will work but the format really sings with digiprimes or a specifically designed HD lens, as the tolerances become finer with the extra resolution HD allows.

It’s a great format, and an enjoyable camera to use with nice images. Variable frame rates and shutter just keep getting more useful, I”m shooting a 35mm greenscreen shoot tomorrow that is going to to be SD transferred and then post-produced. Sadly all the resolution gained in 35mm will be lost, shooting with the Varicam and posting in HD would make more sense to me these days, oh well, it’s hard to convice some people.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Mike Peele] “1. I’m kinda bummed about the lack of 1080i support (unless I’m mistaken). Is there a new varicam around the corner that will support 1080i? Is this a big deal, or will a conversion to 1080i look good (if I need to do a conversion for whatever reason)?”

The 1200A deck does a perfect job of 720 – 1080i cross convert so that’s not an issue. Panasonic does have a 1080i camera, but it’s not as versatile as the Varicam.

[Mike Peele] “2. Will our existing 2/3″ Fujinon telephoto and wide zoom lenses work, or will we need HD lenses? At our very widest on the Fujinon, I am seeing vignetting just at the corners (well outside video safe) – will this be worse, the same, better, etc.? If we must purchase new lenses, what is the favored lens (brand or model or ???) for this camera.”

We recently shot a short film using a full set of Canon Prime Lenses and there is simply no substitute for the primes in bringing out the full cinematic quality of the camera. Depending on what you’re doing, they may be impractical, but they are stunning. I recently viewed a “Film vs. HD” shootout sponsored by Kodak and the first thing I noticed was that the Arri camera of course has a beautiful lens on it while both the HDCAM and Varicam cameras had standard ENG style lenses so of course the film camera looks 100% better. I’m not saying HD would surpass the look of film, but it definitely closer than that demonstration showed when you have true prime lenses on the camera.

[Mike Peele] ”
3. We would love to take advantage of using FCP to capture DVCPRO HD over firewire. How well does this work? What does the data rate end up as on the drive? DVCPROHD is a 100Mb/sec stream correct? If so 100Mb divided by 8 equals 12.5MB/sec? Seems awfully low to me. Any issues with 24p in this configuration? How is is the DVCPRO HD codec for green screens, color correction, etc.? Which Panasonic deck do I want to get for this FW connectivity (assuming it is a good way to go)?”

It’s perfect to work via Firewire, we do this all day long cutting for broadcast. As far as capture, it’s identical to capturing via HD-SDI. Some folks say they see a degredation once you start color correcting, but we don’t see it here. We filter and color correct DVCPro HD footage all day long in FCP with no issues. 59.94 captures are about 14mb/sec and 23.98 captures are around 4mb/sec. You can cut on Firewire 400 drives if you wanted to, though FW800 RAIDs are better. I run a Fibre Channel RAID on my system.

Green screen is troublesome like DV and even our Panasonic rep told us the codec is not all that great for green screen. It’s certainly eaiser to pull a key than regular DV, but it’s still blocky. I apply the 4:2:2 image smoother (or whatever it’s called) in FCP before applying the Chroma Key. The keyer in Boris Continuum Complete is 100% better than the stock FCP keyer.

If you can do this, the best way to use the Varicam for green screen is to either bring an uncompressed FCP system to the studio (like my mobile system) or a D5 and take the SDI feed straight out of the camera and record it uncompressed. A lot of people don’t realize that the camera itself it true uncompressed 720p and the signal only gets compressed when going to tape.

[Mike Peele] “4. Or should we just stick to HD-SDI capture? And if so, any preferred HD-SDI capture cards for Mac/FCP?”

I run the Kona 2 from AJA and the tech support guys told me that using their HD-SDI input and setting up to capture at the DVCPro HD codec actually yields better results than capturing DVCPro HD via Firewire. Again, I can’t see this but those guys are incredible, so for the next go-round of the series, we’re going to go ahead and try the method. I highly recommend AJA and the Kona 2 as they are simply the best product out there right now for Final Cut Pro and hands down have the best tech support in the business.

[Mike Peele] ”
5. Any links to movies/project that were created using the VariCam (and hopefully FCP)?”

We’re cutting broadcast shows with FCP and my independent film, “The Rough Cut” will premiere shortly. I know there are a lot of projects out there going with the Varicam, a call to your local Panasonic Rep can probably get you more info on that and probably some contact info as well.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.com

Now in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com

Now editing “Good Eats” in HD for the Food Network

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

G5 Dual 2.0, AJA Kona 2, Medea FCR2X

[Torrey Loomis]

Mike,

Here is a link to a project one of our clients recently shot with the Varicam we sold them:

https://www.thenatureofthegame.com/trailer.html

I just got back from Varicamp myself and went in with a few questions about resolution, etc… I am SO glad I went to that class as it resolved any question I had that lingered about 720 vs. 1080, color, etc…

If you can, I highly recommend you attend the next Varicamp. You will be very happy at what you can make the camera do.

Torrey Loomis
President – Silverado Systems
Apple Pro Video VAR
Apple Xsan for Pro Video Certified
1108 Sandwick Way
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 806-7189
tloomis@silverado.cc
https://www.Silverado.cc

We have Panasonic DVCPRO HD and Sony HDCAM

Check out our rates at https://www.silverado.cc/rentals.html

[Michael Peele]

Aloha!
Thanks everyone for your help! I’m sure as we get closer to purchase we will have more questions.
Mike Peele