Set up HV20

[veg]

Hello...First post!

Don't know if any of you guys might be able to help me here. I'm a professional freelance cameraman and normally shoot on broadcast gear. Next week my Director is coming over from Japan and bringing an HV20 with him which he wants me to use. I've never even seen this camera but read some interesting posts here about it. Question is I need to shoot the best quality, obviously, but it will be used in SD. Should I record in HDV and is there an option when loading into editing software to accept it as SD footage?. Or indeed is there an option in the camera to shoot SD?. Which will give best quality for final product on standard definition?
Many Thanks.

[Mal]

Cam can shoot SD, but it's pretty crappy quality, so it's an odd way of doing things. The HV20's SD is as good (or bad) as a Canon cam that costs $200.

If you want better footage quality you'd shoot in HDV, and resize that in your NLE to SD afterwards.

[veg]

Thanks for quick reply Mal.

So I would have to load massive HDV files into my NLE (Vegas 7) just to render out as Standard DV?

[24Peter]

Thanks for quick reply Mal.

So I would have to load massive HDV files into my NLE (Vegas 7) just to render out as Standard DV?

Not sure what you mean by massive. The actual file sizes of DV and HDV are identical - both operate at 25mbps or about 3.1MB/sec which in turn is roughly 11GB/hr. Not really massive by anyone's definition, esp. compared to "real" HD. :hv20-smilie84:

[veg]

"The actual file sizes of DV and HDV are identical"....
Thats all I needed to know 24Peter...I'll check that out.
Many thanks!!.

[Rikki]

Cam can shoot SD, but it's pretty crappy quality, so it's an odd way of doing things. The HV20's SD is as good (or bad) as a Canon cam that costs $200.

What?

The HV20 produces DV content better than the XM2/GL2 thats still commandng £1,300 new over here in the UK!

[neolinski]

are you seriously saying that HV20 (1ccd) produces gl2(3ccd) quality sd? (or is that a joke i dont get?)
i am a bit confused. Mal or Rikki, could you elaborate thanks!

[Lunchbox]

HV20 is using CMOS but not CCD. I would say even it's not 3 sets of CMOS, because of the HD capability, HV20 produces comparable results to GL2 (I also own GL2)

[veg]

mmmm...interesting!. I think 24Peter's comparison test in the 'HDV Downconverted...' thread says it all, for me really. One more question if I may...what tape stock do you use for HDV in this camera?.

[24Peter]

One more question if I may...what tape stock do you use for HDV in this camera?.

Search the forum(s) since this is a widely discussed (and sometimes, debated) issue. Personally I use Panasonic 63 min MQ ("Master Quality") and now AMQ ("Advanced Master Quality" since MQ's were discontinuted) tapes. You can find them on-line for around $6-7/tape. Whether these tapes are better than cheaper brands, I can't say. (They were the original "dry" lube tape and supposedly have a higher density than other tapes.) But whatever tapes you end up using, I think the consensus is to try to avoid mixing brands (or do a head clean prior to a switch) and avoid the 83 min tapes for HDV recording.

[meni]

You can also shoot HDV, and when downloading the footage to your PC, have the HV20 downconvert to SD. I had a brief look at the user manual and I noticed that you can do that.

That way you can keep the cassette as your HDV source, and edit your footage as SD in your PC.

BTW, this is my first post here, and I find your website very nice and helpfull so... hello from Israel and looking forward to reading and writing more

[veg]

Cancel that last question. Just found the answer by wading through the forum pages. Lesson learned!. I'm absolutely gobsmacked by some of the footage I've seen from this little camera by following some of the links here. We're shooting some 'Bad Guys' in London at night time. They would not like to know that they were being filmed. Hence the use of the HV20. Discreet. The footage will be intercut with the rest of the stuff we're shooting on an F900. Its gonna be very interesting to see how they stack up together. Oh and the Directors offered to sell me the camera after the shoot to save her taking it back to Japan!. So I might be a fellow owner by the end of the week. Many thanks again for all the help I've found on this excellent site.
Happy shooting!.:hv20-smilie24:

[meni]

consider using the HDV 24p for better low-light performance, enjoy the night-time :)

[veg]

Will do meni. The whole programme's gonna be shot in 24p.

[Pom16/10e]

If you aim at delivering SD, the HV20 can produce the best quality of any cam under 10k in the market.
The trick is to shoot HD then use finalcut's ability to convert to uncompressed SD.

It takes a special workflow, but it does work wonder.
I explained the workflow in another thread here :
http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=410

[veg]

Strangely enough I bookmarked that page earlier on this afternoon to read in more detail when I get home. Unfortunately I'll be working on a PC so no FCP. I dont suppose you could give me settings for Vegas 7 or After Effects 7??. I'm not at my editing comp at the moment . Perhaps I might be able to figure it out the settings in Vegas when I have it in front of me.

[Pom16/10e]

after effect should do fine. just make shure you understand the principle and make it similar in AE.

[joemit]

consider using the HDV 24p for better low-light performance, enjoy the night-time :)

Is is definitely the 24p mode which works better in low-light conditions? I thought that it was Cine mode.

Joe