sony hdr-sr1 sd hq video quality

[schroel]

I'm wondering if the video quality from video camera Sony HDR-SR1 shot in SD HQ 9Mbps is broadcast television quality? Basically I need to shoot SD video, and since this camera is a hard disk drive, need to import the video from the camera onto the computer and then save it on a flash drive to send it to an external editor.

The problem I have is that since Mac doesn't recognize the Mpeg-2 video, I need to import the video to my Mac using the Squared 5 streamclip and the Apple Mpeg-2 decoder Quicktime add on.

So if anyone knows if:
1) There is a way to keep the exact same video quality when importing this way, and if so what settings do I need to use on the streamclip?

2) If importing the video and saving it to a flash drive degrades the video quality and makes it not broadcast quality anymore, please let me know.

3) Or if the best solution is to just buy a vid cam with dv tapes.

Thanks.

 

[Exman]

Your camera shoots in AVCHD 1080i (a deviation of MPEG4-part10, like H.264), I believe Final Cut Pro should now be able to edit AVCHD natively (without conversion). Adobe Premier Pro CS3 also supports AVCHD native editing of AVCHD.

I would avoid using Mpeg streamclip at all cost because conversions always introduce artifacts, so the less the better.

Editing AVCHD is very processor intensive, even a Quadcore Mac Pro would struggle, an 8-core will handle it better.

Windows have hardware GPU acceleration (and some ultra efficient software decoders) which makes AVCHD editing much easier on slower machines, so if your Mac doesn't cut the mustard, maybe give Windows a shot (there are free AVCHD editors on Windows too).

AVCHD is more efficient than HDV anyway, I see this as a better alternative, so no, I wouldn't switch to DV.

When exporting movies from Premier CS3 or Final Cut, it is essential to use the correct field order. Most AVCHD cameras shoots bottom field first, your's should too. Therefore when exporting (to mpeg2 DVD) remember to set the field order to match the source (bottom field first), otherwise you'll end up with tearing/ripping motion in your video. I would also advise against ANY form of de-interlacing, this will degrade the picture quality.

 

[Courtaj]

It's not broadcast quality - though you might be forgiven for thinking it is when you see what gets to air these days.

Also, AFAIK FCP still does not allow "native" AVCHD editing. You'll need to transcode to AIC or Pro Res first.