HD Acquisition Primer

[Kent Fraser]

Making the transition from SD to HD. With all the format flavors and various ways to distribute content, it's a bit overwhelming. We've not settled on a camera/codec yet. We will be producing teaching/testimonial video in-house (not for clients) for DVD and web distribution. We'd like to future proof our content as much as possible and have the ability to intercut different types of source material as necessary.

Is there a primer out there that could serve as a foundation for HD beginners like us as we begin to make the transition? Or perhaps this thread could instigate one. What do we need to know/think through as we move forward?

Thanks

Kent

[Tim Polster]

Kent, it is a lot of information.

My solution would be your time and the seach feature.

Most everything you could imagine about this topic has been discussed on this site. You just have to dig it out.

There is no simple answer, but it would help if you had an HD camera to start experimenting with.

This process is about what you want to see in the products you produce. That only comes from personal testing and experiments.

[Kent Fraser]

Hey Tim. Thanks for the reply. Believe me, I've been searching. In fact, one of the best pieces of "primer" information I've found came from one of your posts. It's in regards to the various flavors of framerates:

Originally Posted by Tim Polster

Hi Ryan,

The framerate is really what you choose and it should be based on your delivery method, how much action will be in your footage and what type of look or "feel" you want to want to achieve.

24p - slowest of the framerates. Does not handle camera motion very well unless very slow. Has a real sense of capturing an atmosphere. Best used for storytelling, drama but can add that look when used in action scenarios. Think NFL films. When you watch a football game live, the footage is shot at 60fps, but when you watch NFL films the game footage seems like a special event that happened in the past. They use 24p and a lot of slo-motion to achieve this. A perfect example of what 24p can add.

60i/60p - fastest of the framerates. Hnadles motion very well. Handles camera movement very well. Has a real "present" feel to it. Like the footage is happening live. Best used for high action like sports and live broadcast. I prefer 60p as you can do more with the footage in post as you captured whole frames instead of fields with interlaced.

30p - well the forgotten framerate. This is a hybrid between 24p and 1080i. It handles motion pretty well and it has a bit of the 24p mistique, but its only native output format is from a computer file. DVD or Blu-ray do not support this format. So anything you shoot has to be interpolated into 24p 720p60 or 1080i for DVD or Blu-ray ditribution. This is a great format for web video.

Hope this helps!

It's fundamental stuff like this that we need to know. I've pasted this into my research file.
Wish there was a simple way or place to access all the basic info without the piece-meal approach... especially since we don't know exactly what were looking for. Knowing the right words/terms to search means that we need to know them already... and I'm guessing most of us beginners to HD are just not there yet. It's tough to do a search on a concept without knowing the right terminology. We're hoping to at least get a baseline of understanding. It can make what seems overwhelming approachable.

Also would be helpful to hear the personal experience of others. That can be so instructive. The "What I wish I would have known" tips can save a lot of time, heartache, and money. Perhaps that should be a thread of it's own.

We're looking forward to - and at the same time - dreading the purchase of an HD camera. Hopefully, the dread will fade as we get a better handle on the formats, options, and lessons others have learned along the way.

Hope there will be others who weigh in on "must know" info.

Thanks

Kent

[Tim Polster]

Glad I could help Kent.

You will get more by being more specific with your questions.

How much video experience do you have? HD has a finite amount of things to know, but working on and producing video is too large of a topic.

What exactly are your concerns at this time?

[Kent Fraser]

We've produced SD video successfully. We use Adobe's CS4 suite. We're editing with a Windows 7 - i7 based system with 12gb ram. We've got a Matrox mini w/max and neoscene on standby. We're going to begin shooting in HD in June for a documentary/teaching project. We need to get a handle on HD pretty quickly. The post about framerates was great.

What about choosing between 1080 and 720:
When would you choose one over the other? And how well do intercut?
Is it always best to shoot in 1080?
What should we know about these resolutions and how they effect the editing workflow?

Thanks

[Tim Polster]

The 1080 vs 720 decision for me is really more about framerate and your target delivery audience.

If you need smooth motion, you have to decide between 1080i or 720p60. Many including me choose 702p60 as it is not visually very different from 1080i and it is such a versitile format.

If you want 24p, then 1080p24 is kind of a no brainer.

If you are greenscreening 1080p gives you the most to work with in post.

1080p30 is great for web work, but falls down a bit going to DVD or Blu-ray, but no too bad.

I find that if you are not going for a cine look, 720p60 is the best option. But I can put 720p60 footage on a 720p30 or 720p24 timeline and my editor (Edius) can make the footage look like it was shot at thise framerates. Great tool for adding slower a framerate look inside of a video project.

Your computer is fine to handle HD. I use the same setup. 12GB of ram nice in After Effects!