I'd like to learn from others of what they feel are their own best settings when shooting with this camcorder.

Can you share what your settings are? Cheers

Lee

Always shot in Manual mode. Keep OIS off. Keep AGC always off, if light is poor than only use.

Thank you.

What about shutter speed and aperture?

Lee

Always keep your camera in Manual mode, then do not forget to put OIS and AGC both off. Before start shooting press both buttons "S" & "A" for two times, so your camera will come in Auto mode, though you are in originally Manual mode, then see LCD display and decide what you want, I mean how much light, see images are not more bright or over expose, set accordingly aperture, and if you are doing some fast action shoot put shutter speed 1/2000 or 1/1000, then lock "f" at 1.8, you can lock aperture and shutter speed by pressing buttons more than two seconds, do not leave button until symbol become white so its now lock. These locked function are good if you do steady shoot mean no panning, else you will have problem in brightness. Again you can unlock them by pressing two times. Use less zoom 10x would be not good for clarity, you come to closer to the object, avoid zoom.

Some time back light would be useful, but in my opinion JVC HD7 struggle in low light condition, if you put AGC on then your over all picture would be grayish kind of, not good camera in low light. Sorry JVC but it is true.

Kaushik

I would also recomend that unless you have a specific reason to be other than 1/60th, you should stick with 1/60th of a second for shutter speed and use Neutral Density filters (screw on or electronic) to keep apertures 2 or 3 stops down from wide open. That goes for pretty much all NTSC and 1080i camcorders.

Shutter speed is one of the important settings that shouldn't be changed unless you have a reason to. As far as running up the shutter speed for action, I personally think it's way overused and is falling out of style in broadcast and film. But that's just a personal opinion.

I always shoot with the camera set to record 1440 CBR. This allows me to download my video via a "Firewire (IEEE 1394)" connection or "DV Anamorphic", depending upon the distribution intent of my project. Recording video in any other format demands conversion via MPEG Streamclip, as I work with MAC. That adds time in the editing process.

White balance is best managed via manual process, but the presets will, at least, put you into the right zone.

Exposure control for me is alway manual, which is really semi-manual. If you choose full manual exposure adjustments are in full stops. You need the option of 1/3 stops (via the BRIGHT button), which demands allowing the camera to engage AGC when it feels the need to do so.

Shutter speed for me is always 1/60, as I live in NTSC land. PAL settings would probably be 1/50. Either is based upon the display rate of TV, which is 29.97 or 25 frames interlaced. Any shutter speed faster will be displayed within this limitation, which will introduce unwanted strobing. Some blurring of video is preferable as it smoothes out the display.

Aperture shouldn't be less than f4.0 because that is generally where the lens begins to produce the sharpest images.

Staying within the exposure zones I have mentioned demands use of neutral density filters.

The HD7 produces excellent images, but due to 1/5" image sensors, suffers in low light situations. Plan accordingly.

Please search posts by Steve Mullen. He has an excellent e-book on the HD7 which is well worth the investment (DVC (http://www.mindspring.com/~d-v-c)) .

What is "DV anamorphic"?

And another question (but I don't want to hijack this thread), do you burn your video to a DVD? If you do, then is it HD on a DVD or Blu-ray?

For info, I've been making videos in 1440CBR lately but the DVDs don't look like quality at all even though I believe I'm doing all the settings correctly. I'm using iMovie '09 for the DVD burning although I've got iMovie HD6 available for use if I want it. I also have the JVC CUDV20 burner but haven't used it yet.

[What is "DV anamorphic"?

And another question (but I don't want to hijack this thread), do you burn your video to a DVD? If you do, then is it HD on a DVD or Blu-ray?

For info, I've been making videos in 1440CBR lately but the DVDs don't look like quality at all even though I believe I'm doing all the settings correctly. I'm using iMovie '09 for the DVD burning although I've got iMovie HD6 available for use if I want it. I also have the JVC CUDV20 burner but haven't used it yet.]

A very general description: "DV Anamorphic" is recording a 16:9 aspect ratio within a DV 720 x480 pixel environment. In a NLE the environment is 854 x 480 and the camera's recorded pixels are stretched horizontally to look natural. When exported and burned the video is letter-boxed to display on a 4:3 TV display. It was the only way in the first part of this century to achieve a wide-screen look.

The HD video standard is 1440 x 1080. Cameras adjust pixel sizes to achieve either a 1920 x 1080 or a 1280 x 720 look. 1080 was initially an interlaced scan. 720 was initially a progressive scan. DVD is always interlaced.

iMovie 08 and 09 don't care about camera recording aspect ratios. They convert everything to 960 x 480 via AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) unless you choose "Full Quality" upon import. Then they retain original quality with the AIC codec, which is a very good codec, by the way. Importing as a "Large" file allows easy conversion to DVD or internet use and significantly reduces file sizes. The problem is that the original video is usually compressed upon import. If you choose to export to iDVD via the "Share" menu iMovie compresses again. iDVD automatically compresses any incoming video, period. The end result is original video could be compressed three times before it gets on a DVD disc. This may be why your video looks soft. The way to avoid this is to import as Full Quality and Export as a QuickTime Movie, which will do the best job of preserving image quality. Then drop into iDVD, if your goal is DVD. If your goal is internet, then use the provides settings. It has been so long since I have used iMovie HD6 for export of any HD footage I don't remember if there is a choice of export formats. It used to only export as DV (another "go have a beer and maybe wait until tomorrow" scenario. Keep iMovie HD6, however, because it will accept old video with dropouts that will cause the more recent versions to stop importing.

I usually edit with Final Cut Pro. I have recently become interested in iMovie 09, but I really don't know my way around the application. I've primarily used it as a way to acquire footage when FCP balks.

DVD is only standard definition, although it is possible to burn HD footage on a DVD. The quantity of content is significantly reduced. I will be making Blu-Ray for the first time this year. I've read it is a challenging process. I wonder what kind of challenges I will encounter?

The only value of the JVC CUDV20 burner is archiving the original .TOD files of the HD7, and that's a good thing. Once transferred to disc the TOD files will have to be converted to appropriate files via MPEG Strteamclip for editing.

Because I edit mostly on Final Cut Pro, I shoot 1440 CBR on the HD7 because my other cameras record 720p video. It is easier and faster for me to import 1440CBR via firewire and drop it into my HDV 720p timeline in Final Cut Pro.

I hope I've answered your questions.

There is soooo much information there. I have to sometimes re-read the sentences several times to grasp everything. And, at the same time, think about what I'm doing wrong and maybe what I should be doing.

My goal is High Definition on a DVD, as opposed to posting anything on the Internet. And when I say DVD, I also mean BluRay. Basically, I want quality video, and the problem is how to get there from here (without going back to college and majoring in video photography or movie making). I think I have good gear for getting started but my problem is finding the right path to go down inorder to reach my goal.

The gear I have is probably not optimum. The JVC HD7 is an early generation Full HD camera and since it's introduction there has been changes in Codec, disk burning technology, audio standards (XLR), [well, the HD7 doesn't have XLR so I needed a JuicedLink pre], editing software, etc. And yes, some of the stuff I have is a little old now (my, what a difference a year or two makes!). The gear I have has been acquired on the cheap or for free as hand-me-downs, but even though it may be a struggle I would like to produce something, if possible, in FHD, or as close as I can get with what is available.

THEN, if things work out like I hope they will, I'll spend hard-earned money and upgrade whatever is needed to streamline the workflow. If that means changing cameras to get away from the *.TOD files, FinalCut Pro for editing, more powerful computer, BluRay burner, .... and I know these changes will work, then I'll do it. But hopefully it will be slow and methodical.

Editing

The HD7 has FHD capability but the problem is how to utilize that. Just taking videos and saving them on the JVC CU-VD20 DVD burner isn't enough because there basically isn't a video made that doesn't require editing. At the time when the HD7 came out iMovie HD6 was (I think) used for editing the files. But what happened to the edited files quality-wise I don't know. Last summer I tried using HD6 for editing but it was a struggle. Since then I have shot some video in 1440CBR and used iMovie '09 for editing and burning DVDs on a MacPro with less than stellar results. After reading your post it starts to make sense why my results seemed below my expectations. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or

Burning

Yesterday I came across a post on one of the Apple forums where someone wrote "Did you know that if you buy the BluRay plug-in for Toast you can burn up to 25 minutes of BluRay on a normal DVD disc with any DVD burner?" I'm okay for now with staying under 25 minutes on a DVD so this could be an option.

Also, yesterday, I found out there may be changes coming with BluRay as being "the" standard but I don't remember the details except to say that there may be another system that may be coming up later this year that might push it aside. So, if I can burn to a regular DVD for the time being then maybe when I'm ready to get a better video burner either the suposed new system will be established - or, and/or - the BluRay burners will be cheaper. (heads I win, tails I win)

The question for myself today is: How can I edit my *.tod movie files to retain maximum quality and at the same time have something I can burn to a DVD and continue to retain maximum quality?

Another thing happened yesterday, another HD7 user asked me what bit rate I was using. "Huh? Bit rate?" I'm thinking. Apparently he likes to use 8bps so this is another thing for me to find out about. But then he posts to the Internet. Check out his video at Video Archives (http://www.tunerlifestyletv.com/video-archives) Click on the video window and then a scroll bar opens up on the right, scroll down to "TX2K10 Supra Nationals". While I'm not a car buff, this video taken with a HD7 looks sharp and the guy did a very nice editing job. Consider also that he has never had a video/photography course in college and this was one of his early projects. Impressive. Lots of creative ideas here.

My first step is to read, re-read, and re-re-read Waldemar's post. There is just so much information there!

What path do I want to take?

And what is my next step? or even the next couple steps?

A very general description: "DV Anamorphic" is recording a 16:9 aspect ratio within a DV 720 x480 pixel environment.
So apparently this one pixel ratio (DV 720x480) has a name to it, or does it apply to the 16:9 ratio too. Personally, I'd like to be in the 1920x1080 realm for maximum quality on a wide-screen TV.



In a NLE the environment is 854 x 480 and the camera's recorded pixels are stretched horizontally to look natural. When exported and burned the video is letter-boxed to display on a 4:3 TV display. It was the only way in the first part of this century to achieve a wide-screen look.
NLE = Non-Linear Editing. Went and looked this up (more learning!). So, the pixels are stretched horizontally to look .... natural? Does this make the viewing image look wider than actual? Wouldn't that make everybody look, uh,... fatter? Is iMovie HD6, '09, or Final Cut, a NLE? Since all TVs now are the 16:9 format is this still important to know?


The HD video standard is 1440 x 1080. Cameras adjust pixel sizes to achieve either a 1920 x 1080 or a 1280 x 720 look.
So, with the HD7 set to FHD it is supposed to record in 1920x1080, I had thought. When the setting is set to 1440CBR does it record, then, in 1440x1080 but if I set it to the 1920 setting it "adjusts" the pixel size to fit?

Okay, guess that's enough questions for now. Warning: there are many more where those came from!

After doing some surfing this morning I think I've answered one of my main questions. There is HD DVD and then there is BluRay. Apparently HD DVD only plays in SD (Standard Definition, in spite of the "HD" nomenclature) where as BluRay actually plays in real HD. Also, one site said that HD DVD, with Microsoft as one of the backers, is basically defunct. Don't know if that's true or not.

Also, if one burns in BluRay then you must have a BluRay player to play it back. A BluRay disk will not playback on a standard DVD player. So....

.... "the long and winding road"....(give the Beatles some credit here) comes to a fork. I think, maybe, unless something else comes up, I'd like to take the BluRay path.

In which case, one of the next steps is recording a BluRay onto a DVD (max 25 minutes). And I guess this would require "Toast" - and I don't know what that is. An editing program?

Hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what I was doing - using the "Share" menu:


If you choose to export to iDVD via the "Share" menu iMovie compresses again. iDVD automatically compresses any incoming video, period. The end result is original video could be compressed three times before it gets on a DVD disc. This may be why your video looks soft. The way to avoid this is to import as Full Quality and Export as a QuickTime Movie, which will do the best job of preserving image quality. Then drop into iDVD, if your goal is DVD.

In the future I'll avoid the former route and take the QuickTime route. Hopefully I'll see an improvement. Based on what I have been getting, that wouldn't take much!

P.S. I wasn't going to post again but this was really important and I just wanted to pass the info along.

I am happy my post has been of value to you.

My opinion: the HD7 is quite an amazing camera. It was designed by JVC's consumer division for the advanced amateur videographer. A careful review of posts in this forum will reveal it attracted the serious attention of professional videographers as it fit the bill for a capable B-roll camera. Because of the annoying and time-consuming menu driven shooting selections, really little image sensors, virtually useless image stabilization feature, the inability to make 1/3 stop exposure adjustments unless auto-gain is activated, and the dreaded .TOD files (necessary due to copyright issues at the time of release), its images can be difficult to import into some NLE applications … iMovie and Final Cut for sure. However, I found it interestingly odd that the HD7 was pulled off of the retail marketplace within 8 months of introduction. A few months later JVC Professional introduced the GY-HM100U. The HD7 was the prototype, I am sure. As long as you are willing to work within the HD7's limitations, take time to plan your shots, I feel this camera will serve you well until it no longer allows you to capture the way you want to capture. At that point, you have outgrown the camera, and it is time to move forward.

One of the biggest challenges with editing video is importing it into the right editing space. Is the space DV, HDV, HDTV30, HDTV60, a PAL space, or one of the other 300 or so formats? Then there is choosing the appropriate codec (compression/decompression algorithm). Because I ended up with three cameras with unique recording formats I wrestle with these issues every time I edit with Final CutYou can produce HD on Blu-Ray with almost everything you have. The only missing item is a Blu-Ray burner and, perhaps, an application to encode the project. Toast 10 pro will accomplish the latter. Any blu-ray burner with FW800 connections will do the former (USB connections will work as well. I feel a FW800 is better for the MAC user).

Bit rates determine how much video you can fit onto a DVD. A bit rate between 5 and 8 is usually the best compromise between image quality and quantity of video content. If you use iDVD, don't worry about it, as the application decides for you.

My first suggestion regarding this whole process you have enthusiastically begun is to purchase Steve Mullen's e-book on the HD7. It is well written, provides extraordinary technical detail and practical advice in regard to how the camera works, the best shooting methods, and addresses importing workflows on how to make those pesky TOD files do what you want them to do.

My second suggestion is to not reach for new gear until it is absolutely necessary. iMovie remains the best free video editing application available to Mac users. Norkross video is a close second, and Adobe Premier Elements is another well known option. Norkross allows use of multiple video tracks on the timeline, which iMovie only "kinda-sorta" allows. It has a much different user interface, which I find confusing. At $50 or so for a license, it is worth looking at. I haven't used any of the Adobe Premiere products since the late 90's, so can't offer opinions. In any case, use iMovie until it won't do what you want, then upgrade.

On the audio import issue, MacBook Pro has an audio line input that converts analog to digital. I use a simple three mic/ 2 line audio mixer to manage any analog sounds I need to import.

Getting good audio from the start is most important, and there are a lot of good opinions regarding external microphones within DV Info forums. The HD7's audio recording system is actually rather good, but wind noise is a real problem if you find yourself without an appropriate external mic. Here is my DIY tip for reducing wind noise:

Buy a wire mesh tea strainer. The spherical type with a little chain that allows you to dip bulk tea into a cup. Keep one half of the sphere and cover it with fake fur available at most fabric shops. Use hot melt glue to adhere the fake fur to the tea strainer. Use the same hot melt glue to attach the covered tea strainer to the body of the HD7 camera over the built-in mic. Wind noise is suddenly gone. I like hot melt glue because it does not permanently mar the body of the camera and removes with no trace. Wind noise is caused by the motion of air impacting the microphone elements, causing a vibration. Stopping wind noise means stopping the motion of air. Foam wind screens block the motion of air, but that same motion makes the foam vibrate, creating a new sound that the microphones pick up. The backing of a fake fur fabric is porous enough to allow most audio frequencies to pass through. There is some loss in higher audio frequencies, but that would be true for all but the most expensive wind screens. The "hair" of the fake fur doesn't vibrate enough to create its own sounds to be picked up by the microphones.

Waldemar: Thanks very much for all the information. It's going to take some time to digest everything. I printed the posts and marked them up then, combined with some of the posts above, put together a rough settings list. (this is an attempt to keep the thread on track!) I also want to thank Kaushik Parmar, another frequent poster, for his earlier assistance.

Moving along on the main thread......

Also, it is understood the format settings are related to the ultimate destination of the video, be it DVD or Internet.

The settings I'm working on will be broken down into three major areas:
1. Recording
2. Editing
3. and in my case, Burning (vice Internet)

One thing nobody brought up was the "White Balance" setting.

Elsewhere it has been said that this is an important setting. To this point I haven't used it because I've been dealing with more elementary issues but the time is approaching when I'll need to visit this.

Question: Does anybody have thoughts about this?

__________________
More for Waldemar:
You're a little too late with the comment about buying more stuff. It's already happened! See one of my posts in this section "new to me" that I took last summer. When I got this camera the mic, while pretty good, was picking up too much undesirable noise. I found a Sennheiser shotgun mic that a guy wanted to unload - along with some other stuff - and that's in the picture. A MobilePre with XLR cables, books, etc., also came along with it.

The next thing I had to get was a charger and cables for the HD7 because when I got the camera they weren't included. Then I found a JVC GZ-MS130 video camera which is somewhat newer model but a point-and-shoot type for people to upload to YouTube really cheap. It had the same charger and cables so that worked out. Now I have what you might call a "B-roll camera".

I am happy my post has been of value to you.

My opinion: the HD7 is quite an amazing camera. It was designed by JVC's consumer division for the advanced amateur videographer. A careful review of posts in this forum will reveal it attracted the serious attention of professional videographers as it fit the bill for a capable B-roll camera. Because of the annoying and time-consuming menu driven shooting selections, really little image sensors, virtually useless image stabilization feature, the inability to make 1/3 stop exposure adjustments unless auto-gain is activated, and the dreaded .TOD files (necessary due to copyright issues at the time of release), its images can be difficult to import into some NLE applications … iMovie and Final Cut for sure. However, I found it interestingly odd that the HD7 was pulled off of the retail marketplace within 8 months of introduction. A few months later JVC Professional introduced the GY-HM100U. The HD7 was the prototype, I am sure. As long as you are willing to work within the HD7's limitations, take time to plan your shots, I feel this camera will serve you well until it no longer allows you to capture the way you want to capture. At that point, you have outgrown the camera, and it is time to move forward.

One of the biggest challenges with editing video is importing it into the right editing space. Is the space DV, HDV, HDTV30, HDTV60, a PAL space, or one of the other 300 or so formats? Then there is choosing the appropriate codec (compression/decompression algorithm). Because I ended up with three cameras with unique recording formats I wrestle with these issues every time I edit with Final CutYou can produce HD on Blu-Ray with almost everything you have. The only missing item is a Blu-Ray burner and, perhaps, an application to encode the project. Toast 10 pro will accomplish the latter. Any blu-ray burner with FW800 connections will do the former (USB connections will work as well. I feel a FW800 is better for the MAC user).

Bit rates determine how much video you can fit onto a DVD. A bit rate between 5 and 8 is usually the best compromise between image quality and quantity of video content. If you use iDVD, don't worry about it, as the application decides for you.

My first suggestion regarding this whole process you have enthusiastically begun is to purchase Steve Mullen's e-book on the HD7. It is well written, provides extraordinary technical detail and practical advice in regard to how the camera works, the best shooting methods, and addresses importing workflows on how to make those pesky TOD files do what you want them to do.

My second suggestion is to not reach for new gear until it is absolutely necessary. iMovie remains the best free video editing application available to Mac users. Norkross video is a close second, and Adobe Premier Elements is another well known option. Norkross allows use of multiple video tracks on the timeline, which iMovie only "kinda-sorta" allows. It has a much different user interface, which I find confusing. At $50 or so for a license, it is worth looking at. I haven't used any of the Adobe Premiere products since the late 90's, so can't offer opinions. In any case, use iMovie until it won't do what you want, then upgrade.

On the audio import issue, MacBook Pro has an audio line input that converts analog to digital. I use a simple three mic/ 2 line audio mixer to manage any analog sounds I need to import.

Getting good audio from the start is most important, and there are a lot of good opinions regarding external microphones within DV Info forums. The HD7's audio recording system is actually rather good, but wind noise is a real problem if you find yourself without an appropriate external mic. Here is my DIY tip for reducing wind noise:

Buy a wire mesh tea strainer. The spherical type with a little chain that allows you to dip bulk tea into a cup. Keep one half of the sphere and cover it with fake fur available at most fabric shops. Use hot melt glue to adhere the fake fur to the tea strainer. Use the same hot melt glue to attach the covered tea strainer to the body of the HD7 camera over the built-in mic. Wind noise is suddenly gone. I like hot melt glue because it does not permanently mar the body of the camera and removes with no trace. Wind noise is caused by the motion of air impacting the microphone elements, causing a vibration. Stopping wind noise means stopping the motion of air. Foam wind screens block the motion of air, but that same motion makes the foam vibrate, creating a new sound that the microphones pick up. The backing of a fake fur fabric is porous enough to allow most audio frequencies to pass through. There is some loss in higher audio frequencies, but that would be true for all but the most expensive wind screens. The "hair" of the fake fur doesn't vibrate enough to create its own sounds to be picked up by the microphones.

Good notes, I am using CyberLink's PowerDirector which really good for HD7.

PowerDirector 9 - World 1st native 64-bit consumer video editing suite (http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdirector/overview_en_US.html)

[QUOTE=John Nantz;1605497

One thing nobody brought up was the "White Balance" setting. ]

White balance is telling the camera what color is white, whereupon it can determine all other colors correctly. Think of light in two ways: "transmitted" and "reflected". Transmitted light uses a color wheel based upon three primary colors; red, green and blue. Video, photography, computer screens, & theatrical lighting all use the RGB color wheel. Mix equal amounts of the primaries at 100% and you get white. Vary the percentage of the primary colors and you get all of the other colors. In a computer environment there are 256 levels of each primary. Black would be R=0, G=0, and B=0. Neutral Grey, the mid point, would be R-128, G-128, B=128. White would be R-255, G-255, B-255.

Light is also measured in terms of it's temperature, called degrees Kelvin. A common incandescent light bulb has a color temperature of around 2800 degrees Kelvin, which is yellow-orange. Quarts-Halogen lights have a color temp. around 3400 degrees Kelvin, past green and leaning towards blue. Fluorescent lights are predominately green, somewhere in the 3000 to 3100 degree Kelvin range. Manufacturers put filters in fluorescent lights to compensate for the inherent green, so you can have "warm white", "cool white", "natural white", even "daylight". Daylight, for photographic and video purposes, is considered to be 5000 degrees Kelvin, but can range from 4000-10,000 degrees Kelvin, depending upon time of day. Light above 10,000 degrees Kelvin leaves what we call "visible light" and moves into the realm of infra-red, ultra violet, X-Ray, etc.

All digital cameras provide the user with white balance settings of Auto and presets for what the manufacturer believes are average settings for common shooting situations. In most cases the "daylight" setting delivers natural looking colors and all other presets are a bit off.
The manual white balance setting allows you to record the best color balance for any given shooting situation, and believe me, the need to manual white balance happens often!

Getting a camera to record as accurate colors as possible significantly reduces the color correction process while editing, which can be a frustration. So, white balancing is as much a part of camera settings a shutter speeds and f-stops.

The other color wheel is for reflected light, and comes into play when working with paint pigments and printing photos, magazines, etc. These colors are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK). In theory mixing Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow in equal amounts should deliver Black, but at best is a dark brown, so pure black is added to the mix.



__________________
[More for Waldemar:
You're a little too late with the comment about buying more stuff. It's already happened! ]

Acquiring additional equipment is a never-ending task. The challenge is determining what will really serve you well. So far it appears you have made a good start.

Thanks for the extensive write-up about color! I was familiar with the concept of color temperature from my 35mm days but back then we weren't able to "edit" on a computer to correct the balance. I've got a lot of 52mm color correction filters for my Nikon but, unfortunately, they don't fit this camera.

Quote from Waldemar:
The manual white balance setting allows you to record the best color balance for any given shooting situation, and believe me, the need to manual white balance happens often!

Reply: I just did a White-Balance setting for the first time and there was a big change in how it looked. (Page 28 of the HD7 Instructions). Oddly, when I turned the camera off and then back on then set it to Auto, the balance was exactly like that of the BW setting I had got. I'll have to play around with this some more and see what happens with the before and after color balances.

The beauty of electronics now is how easy it is to adjust for color balance. In the "olden days" one would screw on a color correction filter, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. And these screw-on filters were expensive.


Quote from Waldemar:
Getting a camera to record as accurate colors as possible significantly reduces the color correction process while editing, which can be a frustration. So, white balancing is as much a part of camera settings a shutter speeds and f-stops.

Reply: You can't imagine (well, maybe you can) how much time I've spent trying to balance the color during editing. This was a major trial-and-error process and like you said ... very frustrating. Getting the color balance "right" is certainly one things that helps to get a better looking video. Now I need to find a piece of white-faced cardboard to throw into my camera bag.


Quote from Waldemar:
The other color wheel is for reflected light, and comes into play when working with paint pigments and printing photos, magazines, etc. These colors are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK).

Reply: Hmmmm...... sounds a lot like my InkJet printer!

Based on past experience of adjusting color balance during editing and this one-time adjustment on the camera, I'd say this is one setting that should be at least considered every time one shoots.

This is a correction and reply to my own post - #10 (in this thread)

Now I'm finding out that one can only make a Blu-ray disk (BD) by using a Blu-ray burner. Previously I had read a post on another web site that said one could make a Blu-ray disk by using a DVD and a program called "Toast", which is what I'm now finding is incorrect.

Apparently one can make a "very good" DVD using Toast, but in the end it is still a DVD in Standard Definition.

There is an excellent list of Q & As (actually FAQs) that Jeremy Hansen posted on the apple.com web site under the Topic: "Making high-definition discs". The list is a good read for anyone dealing with this issue. He also provides some pros and cons for comparison using Final Cut Studio, Adobe Encore, and Toast.

There is a "Plan B", and for clarification, this is what I had mentioned before but I'd like to tweak what I had said. One can make a AVCHD disk about 45 minutes long with HD video on a DVD. If one reads the post I referenced above, he says it is essentially a Blu-ray structure on a DVD-R and would play back on "most" Blu-ray burners. He also mentions a few more details. But basically this looks like a bailing-wire approach to burning a project in High Definition and, frankly, I don't think it's worth the effort.

Since I want High-Definition it appears I'll need a Blu-Ray player/burner and some new software.

[QUOTE=John Nantz;1605677]Thanks for the extensive write-up about color! I was familiar with the concept of color temperature from my 35mm days but back then we weren't able to "edit" on a computer to correct the balance. I've got a lot of 52mm color correction filters for my Nikon but, unfortunately, they don't fit this camera.]
Hang on to those 52 mm filters. You can use them on your HD7 if you use either a 46mm to 52mm step-up ring.


[I just did a White-Balance setting for the first time and there was a big change in how it looked. (Page 28 of the HD7 Instructions). Oddly, when I turned the camera off and then back on then set it to Auto, the balance was exactly like that of the BW setting I had got. I'll have to play around with this some more and see what happens with the before and after color balances]

If I am reading this comment correctly I believe the lighting situation was such that the manual and auto white balances could read an almost identical white balance ... probably not that difficult out doors or an interior lit with the same light source. For me most scenes contain a variety of color temperatures, hence the necessity to manual white balance.

[Quote from Waldemar:
Getting a camera to record as accurate colors as possible significantly reduces the color correction process while editing, which can be a frustration. So, white balancing is as much a part of camera settings a shutter speeds and f-stops.

Reply: You can't imagine (well, maybe you can) how much time I've spent trying to balance the color during editing. This was a major trial-and-error process and like you said ... very frustrating. Getting the color balance "right" is certainly one things that helps to get a better looking video. Now I need to find a piece of white-faced cardboard to throw into my camera bag.]

The only effective way to white balance a complicated (color-wise) scene in post is to utilize a color mixing tool while viewing a wave form monitor, a vector scope, and a histogram. These are all graphic representations of light based upon specific numerical scales. These tools and scopes are a part of the high end video editing applications. iMovie, for example, has a good color correction tool, but only allows the user to visually match shots. It really needs to be done by the numbers.

Sorry for the long delay but my various issues, especially hard drive on the computer, has really impacted my forward progress. I thought I'd be way ahead on processing my videos by now but things have been really dragging on. My 60 Gig hard drive only has 2 Gig of space left and I've deleted all the programs I felt I could, and all the photos, and all the videos, and still there's no room. I'm trying to find a good hard drive to order and, right now, this is the main thing that's holding me up.

Comment #1
"If I am reading this comment correctly I believe the lighting situation was such that the manual and auto white balances could read an almost identical white balance ..."
ans: What puzzled me was the difference between what the color of the viewing screen looked like initially, and after the white-balance setting, was quite a bit. But later, when I went back to the automatic setting there wasn't any discernable difference that I could see.

What I need to do is to take some time and do this slowly, and while writing down everything I do at each step and what happens, then I'll be able to figure out (I hope) what's going on.

Comment #2
"The only effective way to white balance a complicated (color-wise) scene in post is to utilize a color mixing tool while viewing a wave form monitor, a vector scope, and a histogram. These are all graphic representations of light based upon specific numerical scales. These tools and scopes are a part of the high end video editing applications. iMovie, for example, has a good color correction tool, but only allows the user to visually match shots. It really needs to be done by the numbers."

Ans: Yes, and there's "no numbers"! It's basically by eyeball with trial and error.

The other thing I'm looking at every so often is a used "Mac Pro" but the prices for an older one with some reasonable software is around $1,500 US, which at this point in time, is a little more than I want to spend. My plan is (1) to put a bigger hard drive in my MacBook, (2) try and get things to work with what I have, which is iMovie HD6 and iMovie 9, and then if things work like they should, then I'll go to (3) - getting a new-to-me Mac Pro.


New Toy:
In the mean time - even though I'm pretty much at a stand-still until I get the hard drive, I did add a Glidecam 2000 Pro to my gear collection. I hope this will supplement the tripod and hand-held situations but will require more set-up time. I've got two main mics which include a shotgun and the Rode stereo mic, and due to their two different configurations when mounted with the camera, and therefore two different weights, it will be interesting how I can work the two. I think what's going to happen is I'll just use the Rode mic so I don't have to re-balance everything, but we'll see. In any event, I'll need a short 1.5-foot XLR cable for the shotgun mic because the shortest one I have at the moment is 10 feet long and this will play havoc with the Glidecam.


Future investigation: Blu Ray burner
The other thing I've started investigating is the idea about getting a Blu-Ray burner to put the videos on. I don't know if it's needed because some posts say you can put 25 minutes (or so) of HD video onto a regular DVD but other places they seem to say it's not true HD, or something like that. Nevertheless, the Blu-Ray burners have come down in price enough that it's not worth messing with work-arounds. By the time I'm ready to get one, assuming all the above works out, the price will hopefully have dropped some more.

And then when I've got all my ducks in a row the next wave will, of course, be 3D, and.... all our stuff will be outdated!

"I'm trying to find a good hard drive to order and, right now, this is the main thing that's holding me up."

Because you are using a Mac and working with video, my recommendations are as follows:
1. Select a hard drive that allows "firewire", i.e. IEEE 1394 connections. These provide a much more stable data transfer than USB 1 or 2. I have no experience with the newer USB 3 connections.
2. Use this drive to store your video data on. This will keep plenty of free space on your computer's hard drive for processing while you edit.
3. A bigger hard drive for your computer is a very good idea. Definitely do what when you have the opportunity.

Regarding color correction while editing:
An easy work-around for not having the tools to color correct "by the numbers" is to get a color swatch card. Most reputable photo and video dealers carry this card in a variety of sizes for field use. After white balancing your camera by what ever method is appropriate, record a few seconds of this swatch card. All of the recent iMovie apps allow for white point balancing. Simply click on the white square on the card to color correct the scene. Copy and use the "Past Adjustments" command to apply your color correction to other scenes shot under the same lighting conditions.
Another approach is to record a few seconds of the camera's built-in color bars (provided the camera has the feature). White point balance to the white square on the color bars.

Back to your MacBook for a moment. The biggest difference between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro is RAM. MacBook Pro's contain a processing card expressly for processing video. MacBook's use the computer's main RAM for all processing functions. MacBook Pro's are always capable of holding more RAM. In any case, the best way to speed up your machine is fill it to the max with RAM.

Glidecam:

I've never had the opportunity to use one. You will have to share your experiences with it.

Firewire: I didn't know about the fact that Firewire had more stable data transfer. That is very important, especially when dealing with MegaBytes of data. I'm still sorting through the technical information on various compatible hard drives and this was one which, unfortunately, I hadn't considered. Good to know!

My computer guru source is currently indisposed for several days dealing with an emergency several states away so I've been on my own here, and the Internet resources seem to have a lot of conflicting opinions with regard to noise and reliability.

LED Lighting and color correction: Came across someone selling some LED panel lights and as part of the research I discovered the color card you're talking about. I didn't know this was a somewhat "standard" thing but that's another good thing to know and I'll have to get one. Apparently some LED lights can require a green correction sheet or gel, such as these I was checking out. It's amazing how sometimes information can come together.

I've been visiting over in another section of the Forum checking out what people have to say about lighting and sent an email to one of the members with a few questions but haven't got a response yet.

I'm not really ready for lighting but this something on my list once I get my act together, and if this whole video thing works out. I want to video one or two people playing a musical instrument (each person has their own, they aren't playing the same instrument!). If this part goes will I'll hopefully be doing more of it, in which case, I think the lights will become handy. However, these things aren't cheap but picking them up used now would save on the budget later.

The iMovie color correction information will be very handy.

Computer: I'm using a first generation White MacBook, 60GB hard drive and only 2GB of memory. The memory is maxed out on this. My wife has the MacBook Pro with more of everything. Have to treat the Admiral or the Captain can become unhappy. I'm on the lookout for a used Mac Pro desktop machine and I've come across one from time to time that has a half-way decent price and software but I'm holding off on this for now. Once I get this hard drive issue resolved - just trying to figure out which one to get - I'll get back into video processing again. Oh yes, and almost forgot, a Blu-Ray burner is next on the critical path.

Thanks very much for all the good info. I'm going to capture it for my video information file.