HDV detail reduction: filter or post-processing
 

Hi,

After a Z1U session that included closeups of an interviewee's eyes/nose/cheek, I'm pleasantly horrified by the accurate facial detail of HDV. More disturbing is a "sticky swimming", which I am guessing to be an artifact of MPEG2 compression over a large area coupled with the longer GOF of the Z1U. Other threads convinced me to use post-processing to reduce detail for SD video. With HDV, I would like to avoid these sticky artifacts by easing the burden of the MPEG2 compression. I'll experiment with less/zero sharpening, but in case that is not enough, which diffusion filter should I use?

Thanks,

Have you tried testing the Skintone Detail settings? Use a good monitor and try different settings in the cam before you go and soften the entire scene with a filter.