HDV to DVD from XL-H1 at DVinfo.net

Michael Galvan · February 5th, 2006, 09:41 AM

Hi,

Would it be better to shoot in HDV with the XL-H1 and then do a compression to DVD as opposed to shooting in the DV mode and then compressing?

Since HDV has a 4:2:0 color space, would this allow for a better looking DVD as DVD is 4:2:0 as well?

Vincent Rozenberg · February 5th, 2006, 09:49 AM

My experience is dat shooting HDV and bring that back to SD (your DVD for example) gives a much smoother & nicer result then the DV way. The other day I tricked someone this way who thought I had shot on DigiBeta..

So if you're workflow allows it, go shoot in HD.

Jonas Nystrom · February 5th, 2006, 11:57 AM

...just when I'm burning my DVD from HDV I read this new thread. I can say I share the same experience as Michael, thou I have some artifacts problem sometimes, like white dots (or pixels) on black bars and card... someone knows why? I'm not shure if this have anything to do with HDV. And I don't think HDV render transitions from pitch black to bright film so beautiful - I recomend short transitions from black! Or what do you say out there? And do you have any suggestions for DVD-codec writer programs for mac? (I have FCP5 studio with DVD studio pro but would prefer something little more "simple")

Vincent Rozenberg · February 5th, 2006, 04:53 PM

Well, to be honest, for simple viewing/screening I use iDVD often, the quality is very good and more then good if you stay under the hour. If I have to make a master-DVD for duplication I use DVDSP in combination with Compressor.

Peter Moore · February 6th, 2006, 06:08 PM

No question, highest resolution source material is best. You don't necessarily get better resolution in the end, but you get a much cleaner picture. You'll have virtually no noise, no artifacts whatsoever (other than your DVD encoding MPEG2 of course). You basically will be indistinguishable from 35mm source material. If you use an SD camera, any artifacts of the DV compression, the codec, the processing, whatever, will be carried onto a 720x480 picture that you will never be able to fully get rid of. When that crap is on a 1440x1080 picture, downrezzing to 480p just gets rid of all of it. Heck, even down rezzing to 720p does the same thing. It looks like scanned film.

February 5th, 2006, 09:41 AM	#1
Michael Galvan Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: New York, NY Posts: 775	HDV to DVD from XL-H1 Hi, Would it be better to shoot in HDV with the XL-H1 and then do a compression to DVD as opposed to shooting in the DV mode and then compressing? Since HDV has a 4:2:0 color space, would this allow for a better looking DVD as DVD is 4:2:0 as well? __________________ www.michaelgalvan.com www.screenanthology.com

February 5th, 2006, 11:57 AM	#3
Jonas Nystrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Göteborg, Sweden Posts: 306	What a coincidence... ...just when I'm burning my DVD from HDV I read this new thread. I can say I share the same experience as Michael, thou I have some artifacts problem sometimes, like white dots (or pixels) on black bars and card... someone knows why? I'm not shure if this have anything to do with HDV. And I don't think HDV render transitions from pitch black to bright film so beautiful - I recomend short transitions from black! Or what do you say out there? And do you have any suggestions for DVD-codec writer programs for mac? (I have FCP5 studio with DVD studio pro but would prefer something little more "simple") __________________ Jonas Nyström, DoP :: HOT SHOT® SWEDEN :: www.hotshot.nu :: RED #1567, RED 18-50mm T3 :: XL A1, Letus Extreme :: XL H1, 20X & 6X lens (for sale) :: www.vimeo.com/nystrom

February 5th, 2006, 09:49 AM	#2
Vincent Rozenberg Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Posts: 475	My experience is dat shooting HDV and bring that back to SD (your DVD for example) gives a much smoother & nicer result then the DV way. The other day I tricked someone this way who thought I had shot on DigiBeta.. So if you're workflow allows it, go shoot in HD.

February 5th, 2006, 04:53 PM	#4
Vincent Rozenberg Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands Posts: 475	Well, to be honest, for simple viewing/screening I use iDVD often, the quality is very good and more then good if you stay under the hour. If I have to make a master-DVD for duplication I use DVDSP in combination with Compressor.

February 6th, 2006, 06:08 PM	#5
Peter Moore Trustee Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Arlington VA Posts: 1,034	No question, highest resolution source material is best. You don't necessarily get better resolution in the end, but you get a much cleaner picture. You'll have virtually no noise, no artifacts whatsoever (other than your DVD encoding MPEG2 of course). You basically will be indistinguishable from 35mm source material. If you use an SD camera, any artifacts of the DV compression, the codec, the processing, whatever, will be carried onto a 720x480 picture that you will never be able to fully get rid of. When that crap is on a 1440x1080 picture, downrezzing to 480p just gets rid of all of it. Heck, even down rezzing to 720p does the same thing. It looks like scanned film.