HDV-DVCPRO HD-HDV?

[Walter Biscardi]

[Gary Barr] “Once you’ve transcoded to DVCPRO HD via Kona LHe and edited your piece, what’s the best way back to HDV tape? I’ve done a QT export to HDV and played out and it looks good but is there a better/quicker method?”

If you shot HDV and plan to master out to HDV, you should edit in HDV. You’re adding two recompression cycles to your video. Once to DVCPro HD and then back to HDV. This will never look as good than if you just stayed in the HDV codec.

Transcoding to DVCPro HD should only be done if you are mastering to DVCPro HD or uncompressed HD. This is what we do here.

If your HDV deck has Component input, run the video directly to the HDV deck and let it re-compress the material to HDV.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Gary Barr]

thanks Walter. there is just so much about HDV falling apart when you do any CC and I use Magic Bullet etc. do you think it would still be a good idea to stay HDV if you are colour correcting your sequences? comments abound like ‘it’s only a playback format, not an editing format’ etc. has made me feel uneasy about editing HDV, but I’ll give it a go next project to see for myself. thanks again.

[Gary Barr]

[walter biscardi] “If your HDV deck has Component input, run the video directly to the HDV deck and let it re-compress the material to HDV”

sorry Walter, can you explain this bit in detail please for dummies (me!)

[Bob Zelin]

Hi –
Gary, the Sony HDV VTR’s – even the expensive HVR-1500, will not let you “master back” in an HD format, unless you go in Firewire – and HDV (not DVCProHD or uncompressed). So if you have put the effort to make a DVCProHD sequence (from a JVC BR-HD50 or HVR-1500, etc.) and now you want to master back to your HDV VTR, you CANNOT go into any of the BNC connectors on these VTR’s (like the component inputs). Even the Sony HVR-1500 will only record back a SD signal to this VTR (unless you use the firewire input).

So what the hell is going on here – how are you supposed to use master back an HD signal to any of these VTRs, especially the more expensive HVR-1500 – YOU CANT (you can, but in HDV via firewire). Sony must have died being forced to make the HVR-1500, with it’s
HD-SDI output and RS422, because Sony DOES NOT WANT HDV to be a professional format. I know this sounds rediculous to many of you, but I spoke with Sony at great legnth about this, and they told me that “professionals should not be using HDV as a professional format, and should be using XDCamHD if they want something cheaper than HDCam”. That’s Sony – not me – that said this. SO, what is Sony expecting you to do with your non-HDV master in your editing system – easy – get a $32,000 Sony HDW-1800 HDCam VTR to master out. Pretty funny – huh ? Well, this is the game that we play. The HVR-1500 is not a mastering machine for HD shows. I’m sorry – I don’t make this stuff up.

bob Zelin

[Michael Sacci]

Bob may have something here, there are a lot of reasonably priced HDV to HD SDI bridges but the only thing I could find to go back is this box and it is pretty expensive (but cheaper than a HDCAM deck)
https://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?cat=VIDEOEQUIP&subcat=VIDPROCESS&prodClass=HDSDICONV&search=0&off=0&baseItem=ADVCHDM1

[Walter Biscardi]

[Gary Barr] ”
thanks Walter. there is just so much about HDV falling apart when you do any CC and I use Magic Bullet etc. do you think it would still be a good idea to stay HDV if you are colour correcting your sequences?”

Yes. If you take your HDV material, convert it to DVCPRo HD, do your edit, but then send it back to your HDV deck, you’ve just negated anything you’ve gained. All you’re going to do is add more noise and compression to your project when it goes back to HDV.

HDV is not a great editing / mastering format at all, BUT if you are mastering back to HDV, stay in that format to minimize the recompression of the project.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Walter Biscardi]

[Gary Barr] ”
sorry Walter, can you explain this bit in detail please for dummies (me!)”

Component out of your AJA to the Component input of your HDV deck. The deck will take the HD signal from the AJA and convert it to HDV.

But this will add more noise to your signal than if you just stayed in HDV throughout.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Gary Barr]

I’m getting ‘ this sequence is not compatible with HDV print to video’… am I doing it wrong?

[Michael Palmer]

If you could purchase a device to encode mpeg2 HDV would anyone here want to use it?

MP

[Walter Biscardi]

[Gary Barr] “I’m getting ‘ this sequence is not compatible with HDV print to video’… am I doing it wrong?”

If this is a DVCPro HD timeline, that’s correct. you can’t print that to an HDV tape via Firewire.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi