Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 at DVinfo.net

Rusty Williams · April 22nd, 2011, 12:37 PM

Hey, Everybody...

I recently bought a couple of Vixia HV40s, and I have a question about how I should go about shooting an upcoming event that I will be using Premiere CS5 to edit:

The footage is of a dance recital, shot on a large stage. It's a little under 4 hours long, and I want to put the final product out on two DVDs. Do I need to shoot this in standard definition or is there a way to shoot high def and still get a decent output from CS5 that will fit onto the DVD?

I'm concerned because, as this is a dance recital, there is a lot of movement, and I'm not sure if HDV compressed to fit on DVD would look lousy.

Thanks very much in advance for any tips, advice or suggestions.

Adam Gold · April 22nd, 2011, 02:22 PM

HDV is going to be downconverted to SD for DVD anyway. Makes no difference. Dancers don't move fast enough to stress the codec.

That being said, I'd always shoot in HD and down-convert later, so you have HD originals.

Edit the whole thing as an HDV project of your PC can handle it. Use Dynamic Link to Send to Encore when you're done. You may need to do it as two separate timelines, one for each disc.

CS5 does a fine job of transcoding HDV to mpeg-2 DVD.

Rusty Williams · April 22nd, 2011, 02:45 PM

Cool! Thanks very much for the help, Adam. I was just recently messing around with Dynamic Link for the first time, and I wondered how effective it was.

This is really good news that I don't have to shoot in standard, as it sucks to have a camera with a decent little amount of capabilities, only to not be able to make use of them.

Thanks again!

Ann Bens · April 22nd, 2011, 03:10 PM

DL messes up the fields. Export from Premiere and import into Encore.

Adam Gold · April 22nd, 2011, 03:43 PM

I would never disagree with Ann, but that hasn't been my experience. Send to Encore via DL works perfectly... no field issues (Yes, it does say "lower" but I've found that makes no difference) or any others. Once in Encore, one click to make Blu-Rays and one more to make DVDs. Looks Near-HD when done.

At least for me. YMMV.

Anyway, it's easy enough to test and doesn't affect the shooting or editing process. When finished editing, try the easiest method first. If it doesn't look good, gradually move up the complexity scale until you get results you are happy with.

Ann Bens · April 22nd, 2011, 04:29 PM

When DL has transfered the footage to Encore look at the source in the Edit Quality Presets.
DL has reversed the fields. HDV has become lower field.
When you do this with progressive footage like my GoProHD it becomes lower, when burning this to BluRay it gets reversed to upper.
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1303511945

Rusty Williams · April 22nd, 2011, 06:18 PM

Once again, thanks for the great information, Ann & Adam!

I'm going to bookmark this thread for reference, then in June, when I'm working on the project, I can do like Adam suggested and experiment with the easiest process and work my way up.

The advice you folks give around here is invaluable, because I'm a rookie at dealing with HDV, and I would have probably just wimped out and shot the whole thing in standard and robbed myself of a much better look to the video.

April 22nd, 2011, 12:37 PM	#1
Rusty Williams Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Fonda, NY Posts: 57	Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 Hey, Everybody... I recently bought a couple of Vixia HV40s, and I have a question about how I should go about shooting an upcoming event that I will be using Premiere CS5 to edit: The footage is of a dance recital, shot on a large stage. It's a little under 4 hours long, and I want to put the final product out on two DVDs. Do I need to shoot this in standard definition or is there a way to shoot high def and still get a decent output from CS5 that will fit onto the DVD? I'm concerned because, as this is a dance recital, there is a lot of movement, and I'm not sure if HDV compressed to fit on DVD would look lousy. Thanks very much in advance for any tips, advice or suggestions.

April 22nd, 2011, 02:22 PM	#2
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	Re: Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 HDV is going to be downconverted to SD for DVD anyway. Makes no difference. Dancers don't move fast enough to stress the codec. That being said, I'd always shoot in HD and down-convert later, so you have HD originals. Edit the whole thing as an HDV project of your PC can handle it. Use Dynamic Link to Send to Encore when you're done. You may need to do it as two separate timelines, one for each disc. CS5 does a fine job of transcoding HDV to mpeg-2 DVD. __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

April 22nd, 2011, 02:45 PM	#3
Rusty Williams Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Fonda, NY Posts: 57	Re: Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 Cool! Thanks very much for the help, Adam. I was just recently messing around with Dynamic Link for the first time, and I wondered how effective it was. This is really good news that I don't have to shoot in standard, as it sucks to have a camera with a decent little amount of capabilities, only to not be able to make use of them. Thanks again!

April 22nd, 2011, 03:10 PM	#4
Ann Bens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 710	Re: Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 DL messes up the fields. Export from Premiere and import into Encore.

April 22nd, 2011, 03:43 PM	#5
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	Re: Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 I would never disagree with Ann, but that hasn't been my experience. Send to Encore via DL works perfectly... no field issues (Yes, it does say "lower" but I've found that makes no difference) or any others. Once in Encore, one click to make Blu-Rays and one more to make DVDs. Looks Near-HD when done. At least for me. YMMV. Anyway, it's easy enough to test and doesn't affect the shooting or editing process. When finished editing, try the easiest method first. If it doesn't look good, gradually move up the complexity scale until you get results you are happy with. __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

April 22nd, 2011, 04:29 PM	#6
Ann Bens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 710	Re: Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 When DL has transfered the footage to Encore look at the source in the Edit Quality Presets. DL has reversed the fields. HDV has become lower field. When you do this with progressive footage like my GoProHD it becomes lower, when burning this to BluRay it gets reversed to upper. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1303511945 Attached Thumbnails

April 22nd, 2011, 06:18 PM	#7
Rusty Williams Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Fonda, NY Posts: 57	Re: Vixia HV40 Footage to DVD Via CS5 Once again, thanks for the great information, Ann & Adam! I'm going to bookmark this thread for reference, then in June, when I'm working on the project, I can do like Adam suggested and experiment with the easiest process and work my way up. The advice you folks give around here is invaluable, because I'm a rookie at dealing with HDV, and I would have probably just wimped out and shot the whole thing in standard and robbed myself of a much better look to the video.