Going to HD

In the last month of 2005, I started a topic thread about the pitfalls of switching to HD (specifically HDV and AVCHD). Back then, complaints of the lack of media to distribute work and the fight between Blu Ray vs HD DVD standards, as well as computer demands editing HD and high cost of HD cameras. A lot has changed with Blu Ray winning and NLE supporting the various codecs as well as computers getting more powerful. The following information is for cameras under $10000, a comfort range for professionals and consumers alike.

New Cameras

Well 2 years have passed and suddenly the world is a brighter place for HD holdouts. First, a plethora of new HD cameras (and standard) have come out. From Canon, we got the XLH1 pro, XHA/G1 prosumer and the little HV30 consumer camcorders shooting HDV. From Sony, we have many professional and prosumer models. The PMW-EX1(XDCAM HD), HVR-Z1U, Z7U, V1U and A1U are the 3 pro models and the HDR-FX1 and HC9 fill the prosumer side (all with HDV codec). On the more consumer side, the CX, SR and UX series use the AVC HD codec (MPeg 4) to give HD to the masses. Of course JVC has GR10 and HD1(both HDV) and Panasonic has the HVX200 using the only intraframe codec DVC Pro HD.

All the manufacturers have released HD resolution cameras that record to flash media like SD cards, 3" DVDs and hard drives. They use an improved AVCHD codec, which is also popular with BluRay HD players and computer games like Playstation 3 and XBox 360.

Just in case you are a newcomer and have been slacking on your research, I'll give you a short run down on the various codecs.

1. HDV is the codec Canon, JVC and Sony have chosen to use on their HD tape offerings. It is a Mpeg2 codec (GOP) and is highly compressed but still gives at least twice the resolution of DV in various guises. Common terms: 1080i, 720P and now with the Sony V1, 1080P in 50/60i stream. 25mbps Constant Bit Rate (CBR).
   
2. AVCHD: A decidedly consumer codec that compresses even more than HDV but still gives HD resolution. 9-17mbps variable bit rating(VBR) depending on camcorder.
   
3. DVC Pro HD: The only professionally used codec that is intraframe and at 4:2:2 chroma, gives a better picture than HDV, esp at 720P. It is recorded on P2 media which is a panasonic exclusive. 1080i, 720p, 1080p at 100mbps.
   
4. XDCAM HD: XDCAM HD comes in 3 forms, 18, 25 and 35mbps(HQ) 4:2:0 color codec. The XDCAM HD HQ codec is VBR unlike 18,25 mbps and HDV's constant bit rating (CBR). There is another codec within this codec called XDCAM HD EX, now only the PMW-EX1 uses this codec. It is the same 35mbps VBR codec but in a MPEG4 wrapper.
   

New Player Media

The other major complaint was the lack of media outlets. Now that Blu-Ray has won the HD player war, there should be cheaper players and writers in the near future as the standard spreads. Media is still expensive but like DVD-R before it can only go down.

So What Does It All Mean?

Well if you have to ask this question, then hit the search button for more research in this forum and google it too. Basically HD is already here. We are where we were 14 years ago when DV ambushed analog video. Prices of the HD cameras are within prices of the lowest DV cameras from 10 years ago. The resolution of HD is remarkable and even downconverting to DVD, the quality is apparent. However there are more renditions of HD now with AVCHD coming up with different encoding from different manufacturers and different bit rates.

[updated for Mar, 2008]

Drew, it's v. good info that you've provided.

I chatted with a salesperson today, I was attracked by the SONY SR-1 (30G Hard disk), price wise it's really a fraction of SONY (HD) FX-1, but because of the AVCHD compression, the salesperson told me that the HC-3 could be a better choice, I can still use regular editor for the files generated by HC-3.

I've heard that a lot of organization have started to sign-up for the new format, it seems to me that it won't be another sony beta story.

http://www.avchd-info.org/

If you were me, would you consider SR1?

Also, I've heard that Sony camcorder is good for night shooting (because of the infra-red lighting), does it do any good for UW shooting? I'm all new to these...

any recommandation for the housing? Besides Light and Motions...

Hi Alo100,

I know absolutely nothing about videocameras of any kind but can tell you that all infrared light will be absorbed by a very short length of water. I don't know actual numbers but I would not be surprized if you lose 90% or IR within 10cm or so.

Bart

Snapper is right. Water is very much opaque to IR (I've forgotten the µm tables long ago).

As for AVCHD, right now it's in its infancy. Like everything else it has growth headroom to 24mbps to equal HDV's bitrate and probably be even better. Compression technology is getting much better. Just 10 years ago, we had MPEG1, now we have MPEG4 15th generation or something, and those are showing better quality than MPEG1 for a much smaller file.

However, the SR1 is limited because of the harddrive. If you're on a long trip and don't have a dump drive or laptop with a big harddisk, you're stuck with the SR1's HD at 30GB. There's also something to be wary about all the eggs(clips) in one basket(hard drive).

I'd say for the next 2 years, HDV should be still in so you may want to consider those first.

Also keep in mind that there are no editing applications that will currently work with AVCHD. Sony will be producing the first adaptations so that editing is possible but it is not here yet and is at least 3 or 4 months away before this will be possible.

Steve B)

Don't forget the housing guys need to catch up on all the new HD camcorders released. I'm still waiting for FX7 housings to come out.

I'm sure the housing mfr.'s are pissed off on how quickly new camcorders are being released and 1 yr. old camcorders are being discontinued.

Actually Ron, they know that the mfr's will change every 10 or 24mths. It's a crap shoot on which one to support for the sale. Many of them missed the Canon HV10 bandwagon. I think they'll be taking Canon a lot more seriously now.

As for the direction of HD, we now have 24P in a consumer HDV camera. 3 guesses on what is coming at NAB from the various brands. AVC Intra and tapeless recording will start to move into place as well. Exciting times for HD, bad times for the bank account and environment.

Amen to that !!!!

Dive safe

DeanB

Also keep in mind that there are no editing applications that will currently work with AVCHD. Sony will be producing the first adaptations so that editing is possible but it is not here yet and is at least 3 or 4 months away before this will be possible.

Steve B)

That is true for Apple but not for PC. It's a pain but you can transcode AVCHD to HDV using TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress and the Power DVD 7.0 plug in. Then you can edit in HDV.

Canopus Edius has a free download converter for AVCHD which transcodes to their own HQ (avi) codec for editing. It's a large increase in file size but it's intraframe. I've also heard that Premiere Pro 2 is able to convert M2Ts files to some other codec for editing. I don't have Premiere Pro on PC to try.

Either way, your GPU and CPU need to be the latest and greatest if you want to play AVCHD on the computer. It is a processor heavy codec.

But as I've said, 2007 is the year of HD in various forms, AVCHD, HDV1-3, AVC-Intra, DVCPRO HD,XDCAM HD and good ol' HDCAM/SR.

Starting to sound like the FX1/Z1 was not such a bad move then

Drew, from memory I think you're referring to Aspect HD for Premiere Pro which uses the Cineform codec. The files are large though as you're getting a full frame every frame.

For those who can't afford or want to wait on a new super-fast PC, don't forget the option of editing with lower-res proxies on your existing machine and switching to the HD files at the last moment for rendering.

This is what I'm doing. I'm editing in DV 16:9 proxies, either downconverted on the boat during capture in my Z1 (i.e. I capture twice, once in SD with Sclive, once in HDV with HDVSplit when I get home, and automatically name the files so they can be treated as "matched pairs"), or by the Gearshift plugin for Vegas if I have more time (i.e. capture once in HDV and let the software down-convert it to SD DV proxies).

This means I can edit with the same responsiveness as before HDV on my old PC and laptop. The proxies themselves actually get used for SD tourist DVDs and I archive stock as nice small m2t files trimmed and smart-rendered (= not re-encoded) in Womble MPEG Video Wizard (via a Vegas > Womble translator).

It's a bit of a complex workflow but works for me until I decide to go for a new laptop/PC.

I've just received my new FX1E. What a difference from my TRV950! So much sharper. Everyones right, I wouldn't want to go back to SD now.

Fantastic..Hope you enjoy your new toy...

Dive safe

DeanB

Having shifted most of my video equipment (cameras and production) over to the high definition side, I'm finding that there's not such a mad rush to get HD material on the market as I expected. Neither Blue Ray nor HD-DVD is taking off like I thought they would. I'm finding that most of the outlets for video are shifting rapidly to the smaller (very small) screens of iPods and cell phones. Imagine watching movies on your cell phone! That definitely does not require high definition. I've been shooting everything in HDV, but have been downgrading it all to SD to suit the available venues.

Recently went with my son to Florida to film West Indies manatees. My son shot SD, and I used HDV. I pulled his together in a quick video, with only a few clips imported from my HDV footage. I put the video on Revver, and there is no way to tell the SD footage from the HDV material.

Take a look: http://one.revver.com/watch/243701

Of course I realize that both SD and HDV formats are downgraded for this venue, but that's my point. Most opportunities are still fine with SD. I've had some of my products on local cable channels, but none of them could accept high definition material. So, having made the investment, I probably would have been OK so far with sticking to SD. Nonetheless, I still have all of my high definition tape waiting for Toshiba to finally put out an aftermarket HD-DVD disk burner. My fingers are crossed!

Max.

Updated for 2008.