Dylan Reeve
Forum Replies Created
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This is probably a DV compression thing… But also, red-black contrast is always a problem with composite video (which is what a lot of people use with the DVD players and VCRs, and is what all analogue broadcasting is) – I can’t remember the specifics, but something about where red is on the spectrum (shortest visible wavelength) and the method of modulation use to encapsulate the luma and chroma signals. I understood it in the lectures, but it’s all escaped me now.
Basically the end result is that solid red, especially on a solid (or black) background is never a great idea with video. However with less saturation the problems are less pronounced.
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The answer, at the moment, is no. You can’t. There are probably going to be workflows (such as the 25Mb/s one you mention) but in general native support for the full-raster MPEG-4 wrapped 35Mb/s HDV signal recorded on EX is not supported.
However Avid have (somewhere) expressed their plan to include support, given that it’s fairly similar to the existing XDCAM HD formats, it shouldn’t be too long, I’d expect support within the next couple of months.
The EX-1 has received rave reviews – and I’ve just talked a cameraman friend out of buying an HVX, at least until he tries the EX-1, so I think demand will be strong.
I reckon XDCAM EX, and specifically the EX-1, is an HVX-killer.
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From the perspective of someone who is actually currently authoring a DVD involving a contributions from more than 60 individual people, with varying levels of experience – I’d really rather not get a DVD with the program. Ideally I’d have the highest-quality anamorphic tape they could provide. Next best, if possible would be a good quality digital file (50Mb/s DV or, Blackmagic codec, or something like that, still native anamorphic full frame). If none of those, then muxed program-stream MPEG2 at 8Mbit or more, still native ratio (not letterboxed).
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CRTs are still the best – the top of the range LCDs advertise themselves as ‘CRT quality’…
I don’t really have a good reference monitor at the moment, so I can’t comment on those options, but I’ve heard good things about the eCinema range – even the lower-end FX and PRO range are apparently really good
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HDV, for all it’s faults, actually stands up remarkably well.
EX certainly should make an impact. Aside from the drawback of being HDV-based (although with a significantly higher bitrate than regular HDV) it is a pretty good format. It is solid-state only, so that is something of a limitation for some applications, but with larger cards and more manufacturers likely to come along soon, that will be less of a problem. Support is somewhat limited (no native Avid support yet, and I’ve heard mixed reports about workflow in FCP). But the camera itself is fantastic. It has all the right features and a fantastic lense!
I think there will be an instinctual backlash from the P2-faithful, but I think the EX1 is a HVX-killer, but the HVX users are quite vocal so it may be a while before the EX1 is accepted more widely. In NZ the HVX userbase is pretty big, so I think Sony has to overcome that first. Then we’ll see.
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I’ll join this a bit late..
I can’t compare to PPro, as I have been near it in years… But certainly to compared to FCP and other products I’ve used, there is no system, I think, that is as efficient for editing – while Xpress Pro lacks the snazzy bits that may be offered FCP or PPro, it does cut really really well.
I think FCP at least really needs to improve some of it’s basic editing workflow – the media management and even basic video capture doesn’t stand up to Avid’s – and basic editing tools like trim are somewhat lacking.
That said, I have onlined hundreds of hours of broadcast television for broadcasters in many countries on Avid Media Composer, and/or Xpress Pro.
Final Cut is a very impressive application – for less than the price of an Avid Adrenaline DNXcel device, we have purchased a MacPro 8-core box, FCS2, Blackmagic HD card, and we can do much more than the HD Adrenaline can. But we’re still doing the hardcore editing on the Avid, and that will remain the case for some time yet.
If nothing else, Avid is a very good skill set – and I think that editing in the ‘Avid Way’ actually teaches (forces?) good editing practice that can be applied to all systems.
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For what it’s worth, Avid maintains really good version compatability. Xpress Pro 5.7.7 (the latest) will open bins from a Version 7 Film Composer with very few complaints (beyond perhaps a few missing effects).
Personally I’d say that a basic Xpress Pro system would be a totally reasonable investment for this, and other things – Avid, for all it’s faults, is still pretty much unbeaten as a editing suite – I don’t know anyone who can cut faster on FCP than I can in Avid.
An Xpress Pro licence will run on you OS X Mac (assuming it’s not Leopard, although that’s not far off) or, the same licence will run on another PC, or in Windows XP in Bootcamp on the same MacPro. With the dongle you can install it on as many computers as you like.
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Anyone have any feedback on this?
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Forget DPI. It has absolutely no relevance in anything other than print. None. Ignore it entirely.
DPI is just metadata really, it simply specifies pixel density for printing – it is relevant for print design, but nothing else.
HDV is 1440×1080 (at the right pixel aspect, or 1920×1080 square pixels) – the DPI can be 1000 or 2, as long as the number of pixels are correct.
You can completely disregard DPI from this point onward unless you are making something for print.
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Rent a JH-3 for the capture. Don’t capture without timecode, it’s just not a good idea at all. Ever.
I’d be inclined to use ProRes for the edit, the data rates are far above uncompressed SD and should be achievable with standard drives without too much trouble. Alternatively even a very basic software RAID-1 stripe will improve your disk performance for faster data rates.
DVCPRO HD is a good format, but it’s pretty highly compressed and can suffer from quite rough compression in the blacks. I don’t think going from the – I think the decompression-recompression cycle from HDCAM to DVCPRO HD could be quite lossy.
My thoughts are largely based on my experience with Avid’s DNxHD codecs, but given it’s similarity to ProRes, I suspect it will be pretty similar there.