Color correcting HDV at DVinfo.net

Bill Parker · March 24th, 2006, 08:18 AM

I was under the impression that the HDV signal, as compressed as it is, would not hold up well to color correction. I was extra careful w/ the settings and exposure for my first interview (w/ the HD100) thinking this was my only chance at getting the ideal image. The image looked great, but I decided to play around with the color corrector anyway and discovered that the corrected image held up very well. I couldn't tell the difference aside from my correction (I desaturated the color a little). No noise, nothing.

I know with my PD150 if I underexposed and corrected in post, I would get some noise. I haven't underexposed with the HD100, but I'm guessing that the results in post wouldn't be much different than with DV. Has anyone run tests or discovered problems in this regard? I would like to think I could get away with some minor color correcting so I don't have to sweat out every interview.

Thanks.

Nate Weaver · March 24th, 2006, 11:21 AM

I'm finding HDV holds up pretty well. It's the re-compression to HDV that gums up the works and brings out artifacts.

Of you have access to a fast disk setup and working in FCP, one way to work is to cut in HDV and apply your color then. Before outputting, you then bring your sequence into an uncompressed sequence and re-render. That way all your color-correction and effects get rendered into an uncompressed space and avoid another pass of HDV compression.

If you don't have a speedy disk, you can do pretty well by doing the same but to a DVCPRO HD sequence.

March 24th, 2006, 08:18 AM	#1
Bill Parker Major Player Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Cambridge MA Posts: 207	Color correcting HDV I was under the impression that the HDV signal, as compressed as it is, would not hold up well to color correction. I was extra careful w/ the settings and exposure for my first interview (w/ the HD100) thinking this was my only chance at getting the ideal image. The image looked great, but I decided to play around with the color corrector anyway and discovered that the corrected image held up very well. I couldn't tell the difference aside from my correction (I desaturated the color a little). No noise, nothing. I know with my PD150 if I underexposed and corrected in post, I would get some noise. I haven't underexposed with the HD100, but I'm guessing that the results in post wouldn't be much different than with DV. Has anyone run tests or discovered problems in this regard? I would like to think I could get away with some minor color correcting so I don't have to sweat out every interview. Thanks.

March 24th, 2006, 11:21 AM	#2
Nate Weaver Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,100	I'm finding HDV holds up pretty well. It's the re-compression to HDV that gums up the works and brings out artifacts. Of you have access to a fast disk setup and working in FCP, one way to work is to cut in HDV and apply your color then. Before outputting, you then bring your sequence into an uncompressed sequence and re-render. That way all your color-correction and effects get rendered into an uncompressed space and avoid another pass of HDV compression. If you don't have a speedy disk, you can do pretty well by doing the same but to a DVCPRO HD sequence. __________________ My Work: nateweaver.net