Question about output to DVD at DVinfo.net

Micah Brooke · April 21st, 2006, 05:22 AM

Hello, I'm a newbie here, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. I will be shooting a short film this coming August and I plan to use the HVX200. I also plan to distribute my film to various film festivals via DVD. Yet, to my understanding, HD will easily surpass the 4.7gig limit (at least for a film 20-25 minutes in length) of a standard DVD. I sincerely wish not to forfeit the HD quality and shoot SD, which would defeat the purpose of renting this camera. I would also like to avoid the costly digital to film transfer. Could someone fill me in on some options, if they even exist? Thx

Cassidy Bisher · April 21st, 2006, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Micah Brooke

Hello, I'm a newbie here, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. I will be shooting a short film this coming August and I plan to use the HVX200. I also plan to distribute my film to various film festivals via DVD. Yet, to my understanding, HD will easily surpass the 4.7gig limit (at least for a film 20-25 minutes in length) of a standard DVD. I sincerely wish not to forfeit the HD quality and shoot SD, which would defeat the purpose of renting this camera. I would also like to avoid the costly digital to film transfer. Could someone fill me in on some options, if they even exist? Thx

If your outputting to DVD, it doesn't matter, your taking what ever footage you have and converting it to mpeg2 that will be able to communicate with DVD studio pro or whatever authoring program you use. If you export an mpeg2 16:9 best quality with a 6.7 bit rate file from a high definition sequence in your NLE timeline, it won't be High def anymore, normal DVD's don't play native High Def video. You have to convert it to NTSC 16:9 for it to even play on a DVD. Not even the ones you get from Blockbuster video can play HD... it's all SD.

Why does film look so good when converting to SD? you start with a better source... garbage in garbage out..

My footage from the HVX when burned to a DVD looks better than my Canon xl2 footage on a DVD. Why? Because you start with a higher quality source. The more resolution you have, the better the mpeg2 codec response to your footage. So your not defeating the purpose by renting this camera.

BTW, i have exported 20 minutes of SD video, and 20 minutes of HD video, and they are both the same file size. Because technically they are both SD, one just came from a higher quality source... I suggest more reading on your part.. go here to understand fully DVD technology...

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

Mark Thorpe · April 21st, 2006, 04:45 PM

Micah,
Maybe this is a dft question but why don't you look at going for the dual layer option of DVD offering 9.4Gb?

Mark.

Micah Brooke · April 21st, 2006, 06:05 PM

I appreciate the input Cassidy, that really clarified the situation. That makes me feel better about renting this camera model. Unfortunately, the link you provided isn't working for me at the moment.

Thanks Mark. I'm not really familiar with the format but the issue I see there is my requirement for continuous playback. I'm assuming that isn't possible with dual layer because each layer would kind of act as a separate storage medium. 4.7 gigs each. I could be very wrong though so feel free to correct me.

Jeff Kilgroe · April 22nd, 2006, 10:02 AM

Since you will be shooting in August, a lot of things can and should change by then. At that point, you will be able to author on HD-DVD and/or BluRay disc and keep your film in high definition. However, it remains to be seen how fast these various festivals and associated organisations convert over to HD. Many were very slow to adopt DVD.

There is no reason to not shoot and edit your film in HD. You're just future-proofing your work a bit. If you're going to rent a camera, go HD, no reason not to.

If you do author on standard DVD. It will be SD as has been pointed out. Going to a dual-layer disc won't change that. All it does is increase the storage capacity you have to work with so you can put more video on a disc. Most commercial DVD films and Hollywood releases are encoded on dual-layer discs. You may have noticed on many films that there's a slight pause at some point in the film. This is due to the player moving the disc head and refocusing the laser to the second layer. Some players are very quick and/or have enough buffer so the layer is barely (or even not at all) noticeable... other cheaper players my have up to a 5 second delay. But continuous playback still works on a dual-layer disc the same as it would on a single-layer. You would only use dual-layer discs if you needed the capacity.

April 21st, 2006, 05:22 AM	#1
Micah Brooke New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: overland park, KS Posts: 8	Question about output to DVD Hello, I'm a newbie here, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. I will be shooting a short film this coming August and I plan to use the HVX200. I also plan to distribute my film to various film festivals via DVD. Yet, to my understanding, HD will easily surpass the 4.7gig limit (at least for a film 20-25 minutes in length) of a standard DVD. I sincerely wish not to forfeit the HD quality and shoot SD, which would defeat the purpose of renting this camera. I would also like to avoid the costly digital to film transfer. Could someone fill me in on some options, if they even exist? Thx

April 21st, 2006, 06:05 PM	#4
Micah Brooke New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: overland park, KS Posts: 8	Thanks for the responses I appreciate the input Cassidy, that really clarified the situation. That makes me feel better about renting this camera model. Unfortunately, the link you provided isn't working for me at the moment. Thanks Mark. I'm not really familiar with the format but the issue I see there is my requirement for continuous playback. I'm assuming that isn't possible with dual layer because each layer would kind of act as a separate storage medium. 4.7 gigs each. I could be very wrong though so feel free to correct me.

April 22nd, 2006, 10:02 AM	#5
Jeff Kilgroe Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Golden, CO Posts: 681	Since you will be shooting in August, a lot of things can and should change by then. At that point, you will be able to author on HD-DVD and/or BluRay disc and keep your film in high definition. However, it remains to be seen how fast these various festivals and associated organisations convert over to HD. Many were very slow to adopt DVD. There is no reason to not shoot and edit your film in HD. You're just future-proofing your work a bit. If you're going to rent a camera, go HD, no reason not to. If you do author on standard DVD. It will be SD as has been pointed out. Going to a dual-layer disc won't change that. All it does is increase the storage capacity you have to work with so you can put more video on a disc. Most commercial DVD films and Hollywood releases are encoded on dual-layer discs. You may have noticed on many films that there's a slight pause at some point in the film. This is due to the player moving the disc head and refocusing the laser to the second layer. Some players are very quick and/or have enough buffer so the layer is barely (or even not at all) noticeable... other cheaper players my have up to a 5 second delay. But continuous playback still works on a dual-layer disc the same as it would on a single-layer. You would only use dual-layer discs if you needed the capacity. __________________ - Jeff Kilgroe - Applied Visual Technologies \| DarkScience - www.darkscience.com

April 21st, 2006, 04:45 PM	#3
Mark Thorpe Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Palau Island, western Pacific Posts: 30	Micah, Maybe this is a dft question but why don't you look at going for the dual layer option of DVD offering 9.4Gb? Mark.