Yeah, I haven't really had much experience with a professional camera at all either, so when I get it (tomorrow, weeee!) I'm sure it'll take awhile. It doesn't seem that hard though. I mean I've played with everything imaginable on my little Panasonic 3CCD consumer camera, and I took a TV Productions class, so I'm sure that all helped. Not to mention Myspace and everything I've learned in DVi. There are really only five basic things you need to learn. White Balance, Shutter Speed, Iris, Frame Rate, and Composition (specifically Rule of Thirds). There are a lot of other things I learned about this camera just from the internet (Gamma, Color Matrix, etc.) but you can just look at the brochure on the Canon website to learn about that.

But I am really impressed with the music video. It seems like you know more than you think. It made me laugh hysterically and question my sobriety. XD

Hi guys I found after a very very intensive research a good workflow to create a great quality HD-DVD disc from HDV video even from 25f.

The workflow is posted here:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=683241#post683241

and the test is:

This is my HD-DVD test 1.0
Download it here:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VUG4KNN7

It's an ISO file (burn it with IMGBURN or NERO) in a DVD-RW (You don't need to spend DVD-R, rewritables are fine).

It will only play in HD-DVD players. It's been tested in xbox add on, and Toshibas A1 and E1. The magic is that the video was shot in 25f with an european Canon XH A1).

The video itself is 2:39 long and it's a 359 Mb. The firsts shots are not very steady sorry about that (I was in a rush) but this proves to all of you that a great quality HD-DVD is possible with any progessive capable HDV camera.

Please post here your impressions and in the other thread about the workflow.

For some reason I am unable to download the file it downloads a 0byte file, i will try again at a later time.

it¡s weird. More than 30 people downloaded it in Spain without problems. Remember to type the requested code in the grey box next to "download".

Wow, I really do love how the XH-A1 makes my stuff look. I haven't been able to use it to it's full potential yet, but I'll get there.

Anyways, this is a student film project. It's under ten minutes long... and... enjoy!

Comments and criticisms will be much appreciated.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=x3SOR3v7OGY

I hate how YouTube rapes the quality... If you convert the video to an ".flv" (flash video file) on your end they will not re-compress it once you upload it...

As you progress you may try playing around with some lighting which can be fairly inexpensive such as China Balls and work lights... It will dramatically improve the quality from something that looks DVish to something that looks more cinematic...


A wise man once said "the only thing the camera sees is light!"....

Good video man....

Nice video... shot well.. just need some background music..to help move it along. :)

Doug: FLV, huh? I'll keep that in mind. Mmm... Yeah, I'll admit that my lighting (or lack of) does need a lot of work. The quality isn't that bad though, the non-youtube version of course.

Rick: Music? I dunno... I like to keep dialogue scenes mostly free of music, except when it gets dramatic.

Thanks for the comments guys.

I'm putting together a DVD for my daughter's soccer coach. Here is the First Play clip (DivX):

http://www.diamondrosevideo.com/videos/PSN_B2_full.avi (16MB)
or
http://www.diamondrosevideo.com/videos/PSN_B2_med.avi (6MB)

All of the clips were recorded with the XH A1. Half of them were down-converted by the camera during capture and the other half were m2t files pulled directly from a Fire Store 4 HD into Liquid. Liquid encoded the DivX files from the timeline.

Hi Glen,

Very nice clip loved it.

Glen I have to do the same thing next week can you please tell me your preset and the set up? i.e( 60i or 30F and the shutter speed?) I would really appreciate it.


Thanks
Matthew

Matthew,

Thanks for the compliment. I produced this clip before I was a member of this forum and therefore had not played with the Custom Presets yet. So what you see is the factory setting...oh wait, That's PRESET01...

I cheated on the exposure settings. These scenes were shot in direct sunlight so after verifying with manual mode that I could keep the shutter speed faster than 1/60, while stopping down the apperature to 9.5, I put the cam in aperature priority mode. This allowed me to keep the lens stopped down making the focus less critical. Since I didn't have my focus assist monitor with me, I used the viewfinder in B/W mode to do that.

I used a monpod to aid stability. The down side of using a support in this scenario is that the kids subconsciously think of it as a "target". For example: take the final freeze frame in the clip...2 frames later I was hit with that soccer ball. I guess it goes with the territory. At least it didn't hit the camera.

The format is 1080/60i. Since the final product was DVD, I downconverted the clips. Half of them with the camera and half with Liquid. I am now going to experiment with this sequence in DivX, H.264 and HDDVD.

Hope this helps and good luck on your shoot.

Recieved my A1 a couple of weeks ago, but haven't really had time to use it until this past week-end.
It's my first camcorder and first time using a NLE, so I guess this is the very minimum you can expect from an A1 ;)
Shot in manual mode, manual focus (I know, some shots are slightly OOF)
Not very interesting footage, just trying to get a feel for the controls, OIS, judging exposure with LCD, focal range etc.

Shot with "-3dB clean" preset from http://www.fxsupport.de/20.html
PAL DV 25F
Minor CC

H264 .MP4 (Quicktime):

http://s1u.net/480

The second link does not work!

Sorry, using a free file host. Link works for me though.
Try http://www.mediafire.com/?awjlukwm4qj instead.

Hey all, here's a link to my latest film, Back, that I just completed on Canon's XH-A1. Comments please!

http://stage6.divx.com/user/yummountain/video/1293317/Back

You'll need the DivX Codec... free and easy from their main site!

i can`t seem to have Divx installed with premiere on my machine, or premiere crashes. You may want to try a different codec, as well as have this moved to the 'A1 clips' sub-forum.

Just my two cents here:


Dislikes:
I am struggling to understand the overall story line if there is one (Beginning Middle and End)... It seems like things were really drawn out when they didn't need to be (could have easily been a three minute (or less) video).... The audio for the cell phone calls was difficult to understand at times... The cuts had Audio pops or clips that made it distracting to what was going on... If you ease in to the audio it makes it seem like it's all one big clip even though it has been edited...

Likes:
The grain and black and white... Not sure if you cranked the gain up or did the B&W preset in camera or did it all in post but it had a very vintage antiquated feel...

General thoughts:
Zoom out what else is going on in the room... Is there a room? Not sure... Manual focus is a marvelous thing...

Anyway take it for what it's worth... Only about two cents...

Sorry all... the above link was trashed... here's the new one:

http://stage6.divx.com/user/yummountain/video/1295837/Back

Please, keep the comments rolling!

Just my two cents here:


Dislikes:
I am struggling to understand the overall story line if there is one (Beginning Middle and End)... It seems like things were really drawn out when they didn't need to be (could have easily been a three minute (or less) video).... The audio for the cell phone calls was difficult to understand at times... The cuts had Audio pops or clips that made it distracting to what was going on... If you ease in to the audio it makes it seem like it's all one big clip even though it has been edited...

Likes:
The grain and black and white... Not sure if you cranked the gain up or did the B&W preset in camera or did it all in post but it had a very vintage antiquated feel...

General thoughts:
Zoom out what else is going on in the room... Is there a room? Not sure... Manual focus is a marvelous thing...

Anyway take it for what it's worth... Only about two cents...

Here's what I have to say about your comments... no confrontation, just healthy discussion :).

When I wrote this film, I decided that I was going to take a simple concept, and explore the things that revolve around it: getting a drink of water, waiting, being alone, waiting, miscommunication, and waiting. It was odd actually how much WAS there with such a simple idea. I kept lighting to a minimum... only using one key, often without a fill (a delibrate choice, as I did have the ability to do so). This lead to a lot of dark faces. The location had plenty of space to show, but again, I didn't. I felt like I wanted to create a sense of fixture with the body instead... something I kinda' picked up from my ex-girlfriend who makes dance films for the camera. The people are the location rather. A little far-fetched, I know.

I know there are parts missing, I can feel it. Then again, I get the feeling that it's all there. I could shoot some more, I'm just waiting for some more comments to really sell me on that idea right now. I also know very well that these themes I constantly explore, and I can easily start another piece fixing the problems there instead of re-shooting here.

Keep em' coming, please!

Please, take a look at my first attempt with HDV. I used XH-A1 and FCP 2. The file is 55MB, about 1.5 min.
http://web.mac.com/milankalus/iWeb/Site%202/Movie.html

Thanks,

Milan

I'm currently working on an HD-DVD version of my film The Last Son of Celeste and I wanted to share one of the bonus features! The blooper reel! It's a good way to have some laughs and see some rough uncolorcorrected footage.

http://www.torresstudios.com/celeste_bloopers.html

here is the some screen grabs to:

http://www.torresstudios.com/images/celeste_dvd01.png

http://www.torresstudios.com/images/celeste_dvd02.png

Very Entertaining. I find the un-corrected color not too bad. It gives me a much better feel for how the M2 looks for standard footage. The color in your film was great but seemed so different than anything I have shot that it was hard to compare.

Great Job.

Might try the .MP4 codec... Yields resonable quality at high compression for web friendly distribution...

Argh! my connection's been cut down to 64kb/s because I used over 12Gb this month! I'll check it out in a few days Marlon.

So sick of all this - Australia has one of the worst "broadband" setups in the developed world, we get lower download limits and lower speeds. In fact it's got so bad that it's currently a political issue in the run up to our next federal election!

Stupid government telecom monopolies....

Doesn't Final Cut Studio 2 have a new ProRes 422 codec that shows HD quality at SD file sizes? I haven't used it but that's just what I read on the Apple website.

I don't know what camera they shot the performance stuff with but the narrative is all canon xh a1 with the m2

http://music.aol.com/video/forever-new-version/papa-roach/1926846

Too bad, I get this message:
We're sorry, content protected by Digital Rights Management is not available on the Macintosh.

I know I already commented on this, but I have to say, really good music video.

Interesting...I hadn't seen the actual video for this yet. Papa Roach did a YouTube contest for user submitted entries on YouTube.

minor cc, infact it still does not look impressive but here we go.

http://dcrin3.com/a1/timeMurrieta.mov

Thanks for posting the results.

The timelapse seems to work well - when you say it isn't impressive are you referring to the coloring? the time lapse effect? the shot itself?

placing it closer to the moving objects so they fill more of the screen would certainly make for a more visually dynamic result, or some night shooting with light trails, day to night transitions, etc, but I thought the timelapse showed as it should

Would love to hear your method for creating it.

Trish

minor cc, infact it still does not look impressive but here we go.

http://dcrin3.com/a1/timeMurrieta.mov

This is quite beautiful!! What interval did you use between individual frames? How did you bring it into the timeline? What software did you use?

Best,
Dino

Thanks for posting the results.

The timelapse seems to work well - when you say it isn't impressive are you referring to the coloring? the time lapse effect? the shot itself?

placing it closer to the moving objects so they fill more of the screen would certainly make for a more visually dynamic result, or some night shooting with light trails, day to night transitions, etc, but I thought the timelapse showed as it should

Would love to hear your method for creating it.

Trish

the coloring itself is what i was refering, also i meant for it to go all the way to dark but i ran out of tape. i am not that efficient with cc in post i fear.

This is quite beautiful!! What interval did you use between individual frames? How did you bring it into the timeline? What software did you use?

Best,
Dino

well the entire clip was 1hr 2mins. the song was 3mins 56secs long. i divided the entire clip into three. one was 14s regular speed, the other was about 1min 42 secs, and finally one was 2mins. i joined and reduced in premiere.

14s + 1min 42secs = 28mins real-time
2mins = 30mins real-time

a1 vs hv20


http://www.camuser.co.kr/cam_vm/VID_HDV_MOV/2007/06/HV20%20Red%20Test_720P-1.wmv

That is just awesome to see the comparisons. I am actually going to be purchasing those two cameras in that next week. Pretty awesome to see how the HV20 can make people believe that its a higher end camera. Great work with it again, Thanks, Saul

Interesting comparison. From these test it would seem as if the A1 has more latitude and reproduces colors more accurately (to be expected from a 3ccd camera). The HV20 appears to have a more contrasty saturated image. But I have no doubt the footage could be treated on post to match one another.

a1 vs hv20


http://www.camuser.co.kr/cam_vm/VID_HDV_MOV/2007/06/HV20%20Red%20Test_720P-1.wmv
I'm curious to know what your thoughts are about his test Jung.

After seeing the Merlin Initial usage post, I thought I'd toss up my first usage with my Glidecam as well, so people could get a fair comparison. I too hadn`t used it before hand, this was taken I think the second day I had gotten it out (it collected dust for months since my prev camera was too small to balance on it). Anyway hope I don;t steal the Merlin post thunder, just thought it'd be a good comparison since the situations are similar. I did film it over a month ago, just don't think it ever got posted. Enjoy.

www.kiukle.com/temp/glidecam_a1.mov

I think its about 52 megs....sorry about that, best to right click save as.

The original story is here
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=95682

This is basically the highlights left over of anything remotely interesting there. I don`t think I have the knack for wedding editing, not something that seems to come natural to me, but I hope as a gift to the bride and groom they will enjoy it. :D

This was improperly using my A1, someone else who doesn`t know camera on the H1, and a panasonic that sat by itself the whole time on a tripod. :D

http://www.kiukle.com/temp/shortwedding.wmv
25 megs

I can`t wait to work with people who are passionate about video, and to learn all the hardware...it will be a glorious day :)

Looks nice...

Hi everyone. Here's a short film made in a 48h film contest.
First time we entered this kind of contests, so it was kind of hard, but fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8tUvZ3B8ps

Took my camcorder camping to roll some first footage.. I shot my brother-in-law slalom skiing behind his boat..

You can watch it online @
http://vimeo.com/252704

or download the quicktime file from Vimeo here (Higher Res).
http://vimeo.com/download/video:4072987

Yes, I was in full-auto mode. Yes, it is a little bouncy even with motion stablizer on, but I was in a boat without any additonal equipment. :) and yes, my lense was a little dirty.. Sh*t, I was camping. :)

Enjoy,
Luke

Well, realized later that Vimeo doesn't allow you to download files without an account.. Even though I recommend you do sign up for an account because it is a pretty cool way to share with just the people you want and you get 250mb a week.. not bad...

Anyways, I put up a mirror of the quicktime file.
http://www.filmerica.com/john_ski.mov

That helped, the first time I went to see, I was told to get an account, and the lores version didnt do much for me.

I liked it, all this talk of HDV and lots of motion has left me scared to death to shoot action, but this seemed to work well at least. :)

I prefer some more color, but that's just me, is this raw form the camera with no preset?

Anyway, I thought it looked good.

Yes, its as raw as a steak.. I got the camera two days before I left to go camping. Now that I am back, I got it loaded with the presets from Dvinfo, and they are wonderful. Cant wait to go out and use them.. Could have done some color correcting in post, but this was more just for fun and to see how workflow would be with the camera.

Very brave taking your shiny new XH out with so much water flying around! Some nice shots there though, I really like the one around 30 sec in where the sun's glare is reflecting in the water with the skier shot from the side.

regards

Paul.

I want to compress 1 hour of footage into about 2 minutes. What is the best way to capture on the A1 with it not having a time lapse function?

Sorry,put this in the wrong place!!! DOH!!

Hi Phil.
Shoot your scene for one hour, straight, and then, on the editing software, speed up the footage.