I'm on the fence here, mainly because I'm a newbie (advanced photographer but new to video editing) and don't fully understand the benefits of Neo. I have used both NEO HD and HDV demos to remove pull-down. It appears that the primary benefit of 24p is a smooth, film-like appearance. I use Vegas 7 and understand that Neo is one of the easiest ways to remove pull down (as Vegas doesn't do it presently).

Any other benefits to shooting 24p when editing?

Is ANY Neo better than simply capturing using Vegas 7?

What am I missing if I go for Neo HDV vs. Neo HD?

Is 1440x1080 in Neo HDV a compromise in quality since the HV20 is 1920 and Neo HD does 1920?

BTW, for now I will be burning SD disks with a blu-ray burner down the road (I can play HV20 footage @ 1080i on my PS3 currently).

Thanks,

Joe

Joe:

See this thread for a lot of answers: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=94079

My two cents:

"Any other benefits to shooting 24p when editing?"

24p is a ambiance preference, to create more filmlike feel. It has benefits and draw backs, especially when camera movement is involved.

"Is ANY Neo better than simply capturing using Vegas 7? "

You are essentially capturing and editing in mpeg format if you use the native capture utility. You can, without NEO, still convert to an intermediate file actually licensed by Cineform. However, it is not considered as good as the ones now available.

The major draw of using the intermediate or Cineform (Neo) file system is ease of editing and color correction. It actually takes less processing power to edit in the intermediate file system.

"What am I missing if I go for Neo HDV vs. Neo HD? "

Ability to produce 1920 x 1080 files.

"Is 1440x1080 in Neo HDV a compromise in quality since the HV20 is 1920 and Neo HD does 1920?"

Depite the 1920 chip size, the output file of HV20 is 1440 x 1080, so you would not lose anything if you are capturing to tape and then capturing.
HDMI capture direct from camera ?? Maybe, but haven't heard definitive answer yet.

Chris,

Thanks very much for the info.