HD100s best friends - Tim, Paulo & Stephen

[Phil Norris]

Hi George,

First, I love the clips and examples, nice lighting and scenery in your part of the world.

What lenses are you using on those clips? different for each shot? or the same?
Standard lens?

I ask particularily about the shots with people, as there is some nice DOF there.


I come from a Panasonic environment, but really do prefer the JVC, as again and again the pictures speak for themselves.

Nice work.

[George David]

Hi Phil. Thanks for your comments. I used the standard 16x lens for everything. For DOF or rack focus, the macro mode works really well. The camera definitely has a lot of pluses.

On a different note, this camera is very tough too, BTW. I dropped it during filming this past weekend -- nothing broke even with the matte box attached and the side of the lens hitting the ground first. It kept on ticking. I also left the IDX charger outside powered on and plugged in to a power supply (RV park) and it rained really hard. Water soaked in overnight and earwigs came of that thing after I cleaned it up. It still worked.

Well, I just lost the chance to sell this thing but I just want to endorse this camera (and IDX) now more than ever. I could just imagine how good it would be as we have 5 more lenses available.

[Paolo Ciccone]

Originally Posted by Maat Vansloot

I tried your recipe for the 50p slo-mo and it looked pretty good. But I noticed that in both the smaller image and the blown-up (via Motion in FCP) image the video looked a little low-res and blocky.

The loss of quality doesn't depend on the AIC, instead it's because in HD-SD50 mode you are shooting at 576 lines instead of 720. In HD-SD60 you shoot at 480 lines. Basically these are SD-resolution modes that run in progressive scan and with a 16:9 screen ratio. When upsized they show the usual artifacts that you can expect. For this reason the slomo modes are best used in short clips.

[Maat Vansloot]

Originally Posted by Paolo Ciccone

The loss of quality doesn't depend on the AIC, instead it's because in HD-SD50 mode you are shooting at 576 lines instead of 720. In HD-SD60 you shoot at 480 lines. Basically these are SD-resolution modes that run in progressive scan and with a 16:9 screen ratio. When upsized they show the usual artifacts that you can expect. For this reason the slomo modes are best used in short clips.

OK. I thought it might be because of the enlargement, but it just didn't seem like the blow-up was very much (576 to 720) so I was afraid the artifacts were coming from elsewhere.

Does the use of AIC in the slo-mo "recipe" indeed cause any loss of qualty--however small it might be? Is there a was to do this 50p slo-mo without having to go into AIC?

Thanks once again for your help.

[Stephen L. Noe]

Originally Posted by Maat Vansloot

OK. I thought it might be because of the enlargement, but it just didn't seem like the blow-up was very much (576 to 720) so I was afraid the artifacts were coming from elsewhere.

Does the use of AIC in the slo-mo "recipe" indeed cause any loss of qualty--however small it might be? Is there a was to do this 50p slo-mo without having to go into AIC?

Thanks once again for your help.

It is because of the enlargement method (math) FCP uses. You probably do not have the choice of scaling math in FCP (at least it never had it in previous versions AFAIK). This leaves you a bit handycapped when it comes to scaling up to HD rez from an SD (PAL) source. If they (Apple) did get it together and offer you scaling math methods, then you need to choose Cubic B-Spline as your scale up method in order for you footage to come out smooth in appearance. Althernately you could use MOMS3 if it's available.

S.Noe

[Maat Vansloot]

Originally Posted by Stephen L. Noe

It is because of the enlargement method (math) FCP uses. You probably do not have the choice of scaling math in FCP (at least it never had it in previous versions AFAIK). This leaves you a bit handycapped when it comes to scaling up to HD rez from an SD (PAL) source. If they (Apple) did get it together and offer you scaling math methods, then you need to choose Cubic B-Spline as your scale up method in order for you footage to come out smooth in appearance. Althernately you could use MOMS3 if it's available.

S.Noe

Thanks Steve. You know I honestly forgot for a moment that the 50P we're using for the slo-mo is SD and not HD!

D'oh!

Now it makes a lot more sense.

[Paolo Ciccone]

Originally Posted by Maat Vansloot

OK. I thought it might be because of the enlargement, but it just didn't seem like the blow-up was very much (576 to 720) so I was afraid the artifacts were coming from elsewhere.

Nope, it;s the resizing plus any additional HDV artifact which can vary depending on lighting situations, background type etc. In your FCP sequence call the properties window (Cmd-0) and select "Best" for the "Motion filter quality"

[Alan Larsen]

im sorry if this was answered anyplace else on this thread but I can't seem to get the video to work on my computer. I have the ability to play .wmv files but it just shows up on as a white screen. Im using a Mac Pro if that helps at all.

[Alan Larsen]

ha..nevermind

[Maat Vansloot]

Originally Posted by Paolo Ciccone

Nope, it;s the resizing plus any additional HDV artifact which can vary depending on lighting situations, background type etc. In your FCP sequence call the properties window (Cmd-0) and select "Best" for the "Motion filter quality"

Should you always use BEST for Motion Filter Quality?

And which is the command key: (I'm a PC guy) the one with the Apple on it? and did you mean "O" or "zero"

Another dumb question... do you set the Motion Filter Quality before you capture the video, or after it's already on the timeline?

Many thanks.

[Dee Joslin]

Having just purchased the HD110, I'm very pleased to actually see footage from the 100. Nicely done. Very nicely done.

[George David]

Thank you, Dee. I really appreciate that. The HD100 is one great choice, especially for the money. I actually have new footage from the film to show using the settings uploaded here. I'll post that on a new thread as this one is getting too long.

[Paolo Ciccone]

Originally Posted by Maat Vansloot

Should you always use BEST for Motion Filter Quality?

Not necessarily. If you are rendering an interview with no scaling or other changes to the "Motion" part of the clip, the "Best" settings adds overhead that you don't need.

And which is the command key: (I'm a PC guy) the one with the Apple on it? and did you mean "O" or "zero"

Yes, the Command key is the one next to the space bar, the Apple key. If you're migrating from the PC, first of all, welcome :). Second, there are a couple of books that can help. One is titled something like "Mac OS for Windows users" and the other is the excellent "Mac OS: the missing manual". High recommended.

Another dumb question... do you set the Motion Filter Quality before you capture the video, or after it's already on the timeline?

I would do it at the end, if you use the highest settings. This will save you rendering time. When you change it FCP will need to re-render the sequence. It detects the change.

[Maat Vansloot]

Originally Posted by Paolo Ciccone

I would do it at the end, if you use the highest settings. This will save you rendering time. When you change it FCP will need to re-render the sequence. It detects the change.

So really, while you're doing offline edits you wouldn't use "Best" at all. You'd just turn it on for the final online edit, right?

Again, thanks for the help.