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Home: Video University Forums: HDV:
Mixing HD with SD

 
 


LarsCA
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Mar 13, 2006, 5:03 PM

Post #1 of 12 (1811 views)
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Mixing HD with SD Can't Post
I have a quick question that hopefully has a quick reply to it: Can you shoot 4:3 with an FX1, or do you have to do 16:9? Also, if you use a HD camera as your main camera, does that mean you HAVE to use HiDef for backup/second angle? If you edit the two together, does it look absolutely horrible?

Weird question, I know.



---
So many toys, so little time. And no money so it doesn't matter anyway...


DavidRennie
User

Mar 13, 2006, 9:47 PM

Post #2 of 12 (1800 views)
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Re: [LarsCA] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
unlike the z1u the fx1 only shoots 16:9. Mixing SD content and HD content is not so obivous (assuming they are both 16:9 or 4:3) if you are only to output to SD. There will be a difference and you will see the lower resolution SD but it may be acceptable depending on who the customer is (ie wedding client vs corp client). But the second you output to an HD format the difference will be much more pronounced.


Brackish
Veteran


Mar 14, 2006, 5:49 AM

Post #3 of 12 (1783 views)
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DavidRennie
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Mar 14, 2006, 10:46 AM

Post #4 of 12 (1768 views)
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Re: [Brackish] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
you can't, if shooting with a fx1 you wanted a 4:3 aspect ratio in your final output you would be forced to do a pan and scan in post.


videobear
Veteran


Mar 14, 2006, 11:10 AM

Post #5 of 12 (1760 views)
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Re: [DavidRennie] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
Dave, I'm reluctant to contradict you, but the FX1 DOES shoot in either 16:9 or 4:3 mode, when shooting DV. When shooting HDV, it records in widescreen, but then you can downsample to DV when you transfer the files to your computer, and choose to crop to 4:3 at that time.

At least, that's what I gather from reading the online users manual.

What the Z1U does in addition is that it'll shoot in either NTSC or PAL standard.




Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions


DavidRennie
User

Mar 14, 2006, 12:19 PM

Post #6 of 12 (1756 views)
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Re: [videobear] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
Hey if I am wrong than I am wrong. I missed that and to be honest I could have sworn that the training video I ordered also listed this as one of the differences between the z1u and the fx1. Assuming it does down sample to 4:3 it is a pretty useless feature as the LCD reamins in a 16:9 format making it very difficult to accurately frame your shot


DavidRennie
User

Mar 14, 2006, 12:49 PM

Post #7 of 12 (1752 views)
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Re: [DavidRennie] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
okay I admit it... I was wrong - sorta. Technically you are still shooting 16:9 but you can output output 4:3. However unlike the z1u, the fx1 does not have a safe zone 4:3 indicator. So short of taping off your lcd framing shots with the fx1 for a 4:3 presentation would be difficult at best.


(This post was edited by DavidRennie on Mar 14, 2006, 12:52 PM)


Brackish
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Mar 14, 2006, 7:06 PM

Post #8 of 12 (1735 views)
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DavidRennie
User

Mar 14, 2006, 7:51 PM

Post #9 of 12 (1731 views)
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Re: [Brackish] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
in terms of resolution yes, I think so and so do many others. But most of today's SD cameras in the same price range are better in low light. When I have an SD wedding I use SD cameras, when they pay for HD then I use my fx1's....

I will also add that personally I find shooting HD more difficult which is another reason why I only use the fx1's when the client pays for HD. The HD image is so sharp that is not nearly as forgiving as SD. For example, just a slightly soft focus in SD would be missed by most couples but looks horrible in HD and only the blind would be able to miss it.....


(This post was edited by DavidRennie on Mar 14, 2006, 7:54 PM)


Brackish
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Mar 14, 2006, 7:58 PM

Post #10 of 12 (1725 views)
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DavidRennie
User

Mar 14, 2006, 9:17 PM

Post #11 of 12 (1721 views)
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Re: [Brackish] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
assuming you are not concerned with low light performance then I would say yes, shooting with an HDV camera down converted to SD would result in a better picture than shooting in SD to begin with - but just don't expect to see a huge difference. Personally for me the difference is not significant enough if your SD cameras also shoot in 16:9 to deal with unforgiving HD. How the unforgiving nature of HD would translate into a down converted DV image I honestly do not know as I haven't done much down converting myself....


KevinShaw
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Mar 16, 2006, 8:47 AM

Post #12 of 12 (1667 views)
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Re: [Brackish] Mixing HD with SD [In reply to] Can't Post
In Reply To
So, the consesus is, if you're final output will be 16:9 SD, with no
plans to offer an HDV output down the road, it is still better to
shoot in HDV and downconvert to SD? I'd be curious to see
frame grab comparisons on this.
I did some comparisons on this a few months back and you can see the results at the link below. One thing I didn't test is shooting in HDV and downsampling to SD out of the camera, but that would probably look similar to the DV source footage.

http://www.videomem.com/...tests/comparison.htm