Hammer me!!! First ever HD DIVX footage!

Hi everybody,

some time ago I bothered you with some footage of our trip to the Canadian West Coast.

Your remarks where very valuable to me!

At that time my computer rig was not able to edit HD-footage.

That has changed!

I just recut the old footage, removed some bits, added some others and prepared my first

HD DIVX video. Its 5 minutes and now available at Stage6.

http://stage6.divx.com/user/ChristianFries...nderwater-in-HD

Do view it in full resolution you need to undock the video player by clicking the 3rd icon

from the right in the lower control panel.

I would love to hear your thoughts of the choosen material and its quality!

PS: Do enjoy it in its intended quality, please check if your DIVX codec is up to date…

---> http://www.divx.com/

PPS: I did all of the footage with autofocus on. I will use focus lock on my next trip!!! B)

Nobody is posting... is it that bad?!

Hi Christian, maybe nobody's posted because it's such a big file.

I just watched it and really enjoyed it. You have some nice marine life there.

The close up stuff with lights is nice and sharp and colourful. The HC7 does well there.

It struggles more on the wider shots with available light, especially the sequence near the start with the pinkish white blown-out areas on the diver's tank and bubbles. There's lots of that monochrome monotone pale green on that shot which can be difficult to avoid without a colour correction filter and manual white balance. I'm assuming auto white balance and exposure throughout and no colour correction filter. Right? If there's no flip filter on the Top Dawg then there's nothing much you can do if you want to shot wide/available light and close-up/artificial light on the same dive.

Your music and breathing soundtrack mix was very nice.

If you want to improve I would suggest concentrating on camera steadiness.

Another thing... you'd get more views if you made the file a bit smaller. I find 960 x 540 to be a good size for Stage6 (half the number of lines of 1080i), with a 2500kbps video bitrate plus 160kbps audio.

Yes it took some time to download as well.

Good work.

Man that looks cold

Like Nick said..I would concentrate on camera steadiness as it makes watching so much better.

What did you cut it up with . MAC - PC ?

Hi folks!

Thanks for your input!

The trip to canada was my first every journey into underwater video.

As a matter of fact we bought the camera and housing just for this trip

(honeymoon). I only had two pool session before we left.

Nick, yes the file is big but isn't bigger better....? ;-)

Actually I choose the HC7 because of the HD video and I really want to

enjoy the video at the best possible compromise between size

/resolution/quality. Your videos up on Stage6 look really good.

I will give the recommended settings a try...

wagsy, yes it was very cold (about 8C)

I cut the stuff with Corel VideoStudio11 (PC) but will swap it next month

for Premiere Elements 4. VS is too much "Birthday Party" oriented. :-/

We are going for a one week trip to Marsa Alam, Red Sea in the middle

of November. I will work on focus lock and steadiness on this trip!

I found WA scenes very difficult with the HC7. The colorcast was very greenish

and I expect something similar in "blue" water.... The Topdawg housing unfortunately

gives me no control of MWB. I will try different WB presets next time.

Is a filter with automatic WB worth it? Or will the picture be plain red?

Christian,

The colours look great, I actually really enjoyed it too. For a first video I am really impressed, heaps better than my first attempts, just try keep that camera steady...

Jon

Is a filter with automatic WB worth it? Or will the picture be plain red?

It is definitely worth it. I shot that way with my first rig here in Thailand. Get yourself a screw-on UR-PRO blue-water filter if you can. As you get deeper there's a trade off point where you're better off without it because it's just cutting out light and everything is monochrome anyway (and so your camera will use more gain which can cause visual noise), but in my opinion that trade-off point is pretty deep. Say 25-30m in good vis. And obviously if you turn on your lights then everything within the range of your lights will go red.

Be careful with manual focus. Try to look at the footage on a computer or TV if you can after your dives so that you don't come back with a whole trip of blurry footage. You can't judge it accurately on your camera.

Great video! Just to confirm, was this footage shot with the Sony HDR-HC7 camera? I am looking to purchase this camera. I have been using the Sony TRV900 and I have been very pleased with it, but it is time to upgrade.

Hi spider,

yes HC7 with Topdawg Housing.

It is a great camera, you wont regret the upgrade. If you have the money get a housing

with "manual whitbalance" possibility.

Christian,

Welcome to the HC7 club

Nice job, much better than my first attempt at video! Good to see with lights, the HC7 auto WB looks pretty good for closeups.

But that dive sure looked cold... brrr...

Hi spider,

 

yes HC7 with Topdawg Housing.

 

It is a great camera, you wont regret the upgrade. If you have the money get a housing

with "manual whitbalance" possibility.

Have you shot any other video with the HC7? I would be interested in seeing it, if you don't mind. I am used to

the Ike housings and it has the ability to adjust the WB on the touch screen.

Hi spider,

yes on my homepage I have another video of a nightdive at the local lake.

But it is standard def because my computer was not capable of HD at that time.

For the link please have a look at my signature

|

|

V

Hi spider,

 

yes on my homepage I have another video of a nightdive at the local lake.

But it is standard def because my computer was not capable of HD at that time.

 

For the link please have a look at my signature

 

|

|

V

Thank you very much! I just took a look @ your video and pretty much have decided on the HC7 & Ike housing.

Thanks again!

Connie R Webb