HV20, 24P, HD on DVD, Questions!!!!

[blairh]

Hello. Some Questions.

How close to "film quality" does 24P really look? I know it's not going to be close compared to shooting on actual film, but is 24P really a solid option if you are looking to purchase a camera under a $1000.00 to shoot short films with?

Do any Canon standard definition camcorders have an external mic option?

How does one put footage from their Canon HV20 cameras onto a DVD in order to capture HD quality footage during DVD playback? Must you use Blu-ray/HD DVD's? And also own a HD/Blu-ray DVD player to watch the footage?

Answers are so very appreciated. Thanks!!!!!!!!!

 

[P-Worm]

Good lighting is much more important than 24p, but yes, 24p does help quite a bit.

P-Worm

 

[bigbossbmb]

1) Yes, 24p will give you a film look. But don't confuse this with a movie look. The movie look involves lighting and color correction.

2) most camcorders at least have a 1/8" mic input.

3) If you want to burn Hi-Def media, you'll need a Blu-ray burner, Blu-ray player, and Blu-ray authoring software. Right now, the only software to support Blu-Ray is Toast and Adobe Encore.

 

[LethalWolfe]

1) Yes, 24p will give you a film look. But don't confuse this with a movie look. The movie look involves lighting and color correction.

To split the hair even further. 24p will give you a film-style cadence w/regards to motion. If you want film-style depth of field (deep DOF is arguable the biggest "you shot this on video" telltale sign) you need a 35mm+appropriate accessories.


Lethal

 

[blairh]

what would footage of 24p look like if burned onto a standard def dvd and played in a standard def dvd player? 24p touts itself as "movie like", but is that only in regards to following the steps to have it viewed in hd?

What is a 35mm?

 

[bigbossbmb]

35mm is film... which is what 99% of digital filmmakers want to emulate.

no 24p tries to produce a film-look (in terms of motion) it is only one element of the "movie look". this has nothing to do with HD vs SD.

 

[LethalWolfe]

What is a 35mm?

Crap, I meant to say "35mm adapter" not just "35mm". A 35mm adapter allows you to use still camera lenses w/video cameras to achieve things like a more shallow depth of field.


Lethal

 

[northernmunky]

You can burn HD footage on an ordinary DVD-/+R using DVD Studio Pro. Just compress your movie using 'HD DVD: H.264 [QUALITY SETTING] in Compressor and drop it into a HD-DVD timeline in Studio Pro and burn to an ordinary DVD.

I don't have a HD-DVD/Blu-ray player to test this on but both those formats decode H.264/AAC and it certainly works in MacOS's software DVD Player.

 

[highjumppudding]

I own the Canon HV20

I have been using the Canon HV20 for over 6 months now. It is a wonderful camera. I always shoot in 1080 24P with CineMode ON. I follow this method posted by Apple to capture and convert the footage to True 24P and edit that. The results are very impressive. The quality is very comparable to the Sony Z1U which I have been also using for over a year.

As far as DVD publishing, I export the project using Compressor, and use a DVD preset. Depends on the project but that way will always present a much better looking down-convert.

The only was right now like others have said is to burn an HD-DVD with DVD Studio Pro onto a standard DVD. Or you can always export back to tape, and play it through the Component cables or HDMI out to get the full HD playback.

I have samples of the HV20 1080 24P footage on my website in the signature. The Visual FX Promo Reels were all shot using the HV20 in the settings I mentioned above. Enjoy.

 

[Steven1621]

When shooting 1080p HD in 24fps, how much footage can you get onto a SD DVD when using Compressor?

 

[monkeydo_jb]

I follow this method posted by Apple to capture and convert the footage to True 24P and edit that. The results are very impressive.

What method?

 

[budha]

You can always convert it to DIVX or XVID format... It will retain its HDness and you can play it on a DIVX dvd player. I do it all the time. You may need to find a copy of DIVX pro to do this though.

 

[D*I*S_Frontman]

Crap, I meant to say "35mm adapter" not just "35mm". A 35mm adapter allows you to use still camera lenses w/video cameras to achieve things like a more shallow depth of field.


Lethal

The other way around this, for less money but even more technical headaches, is to open the iris all the way and use tons of neutral density filters to knock the light back down below digital clipping/washout. Then you'll get a decent measure of DOF without using a 35mm adapter and standard primes/zooms.

Depending on how good the ND filters are, this could screw with color, I would imagine, but things like that can be tweaked slightly in post. DOF cannot, at least not without ridiculous time and effort.