HD to SD conversion with JVC GY-HM700
by Keith Betts
on
Oct 24, 2009 at 6:49:09 pm
I'm in the process of purchasing the JVC GY-HM700 for an upcoming shoot that will consist of 5 one hour performances. The final product will be delivered with 5 Standard Definition DVD's. I'm trying to determine what workflow would work best. Option #1: Shoot and edit in HD and down convert to SD with Apple Compressor before authoring the DVD. Option #2: Shoot in HD and immediately done convert to SD for editing. How should this be done? Log and capture in FCP via Firewire from the camera? And finally does the camera have an option in shoot in SD directly to the SDHC cards? I know that's quite a few questions but I'm just trying to plan my workflow in advance!
Re: HD to SD conversion with JVC GY-HM700 by maurice jansen on Oct 24, 2009 at 10:40:16 pm
hi
well without taking about all the other aspect of a camera that have influence on picture quality.
mister nyquist has proved that oversampling (what using a HD camera in a SD enviroment actually is) increase quality.
a HD camera will perform better in a SD enviroment due to the aperture effect.
of coarse this does not take bad downscaling in account.
cheap camera's will downscale badly and will have bad detail proccessing
on there downscaled output's.
so let your NLE do the hardwork since it has time for it.
Re: HD to SD conversion with JVC GY-HM700 by Jon Leyse on Oct 25, 2009 at 7:28:55 pm
Keith,
I've had the best luck shooting with the JVC 700 in 720p60. I do all my editing in HD at 720p60 and then let Apple Compressor down convert to mpeg2 for DVD. This to me looks better than converting to SD in FCP.
To my knowledge, the camera will not shoot in SD. But the files aren't that much bigger than shooting in DV (35 megabits per second vs. 17 for DV) So double the size but it is not like some other formats that are 100 mbs.
This also gives you an HD master in case the client ever asks for it. And it allows you to put together a HD demo reel.
I've also filmed in 1080i60 but was not as pleased with the image. The camera is set up to best shoot in progressive at 1280x720 so unless I have a client that specifically wants 1080i, I always shoot in 720p60.
Re: HD to SD conversion with JVC GY-HM700 by Keith Betts on Oct 26, 2009 at 8:17:53 pm
Thanks. That's what my sales rep recommended too. Editing In HD and have Compressor do the work down converting to SD. Having a HD master and footage for a HD demo is a plus also.
