We are shooting a feature with the HVX200 (out to film when completed). There's a lot of green screen being used for transitions in the film. It's quite confusing around the web on what workflow and camera settings that work best. We've been to several of the top boards, but still no solid answer.

Has anyone experimented with 1080i vs 720p vs etc vs etc when it comes to clean compositing? Any examples we can view or get from you on DVD?

Thanks for your time!

my advice, especially if you're planning to transfer to film.
Shoot your Green screen with a better camera, like the Sony F900.
you'll end up saving money in the long run.
e.

Tom,

Eric's advice is a little off-base and unwarranted. The two biggest issues with getting a good key is proper lighting and the color space you're editing in. Obviously the best of all worlds for any compositing is un-compressed 4:4:4, however DVCPRO's 4:2:2 is superior for keying in any compressed codec.

If you're doing a film-out I would not suggest 1080i since you're shooting in an interlaced format; shoot 720p. This makes for a much better film conversion and aids greatly in keying.

The other thing to consider is that if you shoot your green-screen in a different system, such as the F900's HDCAM you'll be working with 2 different color spaces: HDCAM is 3:1:1, DVCPRO is 4:2:2. I've talked and worked with many editors who have attempted to match the two color spaces together and it's never a good looking fit. The F900 will have more resolution and an overall better looking image than the HVX because of the larger imagers and better lenses but your prime concern is color-matching the footage in post and, editing in the best codec you have available to you, which is DVCPRO.

Stick with the HVX and 720p and concentrate your efforts in a properly lit and exposed green-screen setup with a balanced IRE value and you'll do well.

Shoot 1080 24pA, this will give you a slight resolution boost over
720 and I imagine you are posting in 1080 24p if you are going film out?

Test, test, test - Try the Bpress gamma settings to reduce noise or HD Norm with a -2 pedestal. Again it will all be determined by lighting and subject matter. Try Detail -3.
Go here for Green Screen material.

http://www.eefx.com/

here is a test we did for a client using the HVX and serious magic.

http://www.mediamax.com/mzhd2/Links/512C8FB6BD

Much of the interviews we shot on the Iditarod were green screen and we used 720P at 24PN. Looks good. See the web versions at www.panasonic.com/iditarod

Best,

Jan

My question is seeking clarification on the video format of the HVX200.
The brochure I have says: "The HVX200 records HD, either 1080i or 720p..."

My understanding was that 1080/60i means 60 fps @ 1080i (interlaced)

So, does 1080/24p mean, as I thought, 24fps @ 1080 (progressive)?

If anyone has time to answer such a basic question that would be great. I thought I knew; now I don;t know 4sure. I have a gnawing idea of a Great Conspiracy of Camcorder Manufactors who have a distinct goal to confused the general public (me and other) about: What is High Definition?

Of course we don't want to veer into politics, but you'd think some of the marketing people worked in the White House or something?

Jan can probably answer this better than me - but all the 1080 DVCPRO HD footage is shot as 59.94 fps. 60i is 29.97 interlaced. 24p is 60i with a 3:2 pulldown cadance and is also 29.97 and 24pA advanced mode allows easy removal of the 3:2 pulldown to give you a 1080 24p file that you can edit in a 1080 p24 timeline. 1080 24pA is my preferred mode of shooting with the HVX200 unless I need slo-mo, then it's over to 720 24pN at 60 fps.

Thanks to everyone for the info.

Mike, were you dollying in/out on the person on the green screen or was that a digital move/effect in post?

Hello Tom,

That was done using Ultra 2 Serious Magic.

http://www.seriousmagic.com/products/ultra/index.cfm

The camera was static.