Latest HDV projects Part 1 - looking for feedback.

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Hello friends!

I have a 2 gig limit per month, so please only download the video if you plan to give feedback! PLEASE leave feedback!

This first project is a rough cut, but I wanted to post some HDV footage that has fast action. It's from the New England Dragway in New Hampshire. We're a big racing state, so I had access to a Saturday practice session with a bunch of racers.

Project specs:

Camera: JVC HD10U

Settings: 1/60 shutter speed

Filters: Tiffen Polarizer

Tripod: Miller DS5

Computer: G5 dual 2ghz, 1 gig RAM, external firewire 400

Monitor: 23" Apple Cinema (no external NTSC monitor for now)

Software: Final Cut Pro HD, LiveType, LumiereHD 1.1.1 and freeware FCP plugins

Codec used to edit: DVCPRO HD (1280x720 - actually 960x720 for editing purposes and then resized)

Footage: 45-50 minutes worth of footage on one Sony Excellence tape

Exported file: MPEG 4 - 142 meg file (so, you need the latest Quicktime)


http://www.willowstudios.com/video/NE_Dragway_HD.mp4

I've got another HDV project titled "The Beauty of New Hampshire" which I will post after getting feedback on this one.

Thanks!

Murph

[Christopher Winnicki]

Hi Chris.

Your HD project appears to be ~104 seconds at 896x504 (not really HD).
I guess the "fast action" scenes were all right. The angles you were shooting with were not very perpendicular to the subject and the camera was moving while (it looked good) while the subject was moving so the speed difference between the camera and the subject was not that big.
Good job.
Although my mind craved for longer scenes, you just cut them short in the right moment (I am sure you intended that).
I would also prefer to see this project in HD 1280x720. Whatever you encoded this with (I guess mpeg-4) was so so quality (for 140MB and 104 seconds).

Why not give "mencoder" a try, since you have a MAC just download mplayer from http://mplayerhq.hu compile and encode in full HD

ex:
# mencoder race.m2t -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vhq:vbitrate=4000:vqblur=1:vhq:vqmax=6:vqsquish=1 -o race.avi -oac lavc mp3

Check out the this file, which I encoded in full HD
1280x720 (full HD) 637.9 seconds and it's only 259129750 bytes, a 40% less space and higher resolution (and also platy of motion)
http://ottawa.hn.org/WEBSITES/john20040417_3mbs_divx5mp3.avi

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Hey Winnicki,

I downloaded your clip and it does look good for a 10 minute piece encoded with that application. But, I can't get into that site right now...must be down. I'll try again later today.

Also, I meant to encode it at that size...a little smaller than full so it saved a little on megabytes. I can re-encode it full size, but I really just wanted it big and yet not huge. I did the math on re-sizing clips to "constrain" aspect ratios. My calculatons came up:

1280x720 (what the footage goes back to from NLE export?)

960x720 (the original footage of HD10u - right?)

896x504 (70% of 960x720)

384x216 (30% of 960x720)

193x144 (20% of 960x720)

96x72 (10% of 960x720)

Am I missing something in my down coverting of aspect ratios?? Anyone know where I can get a chart of "constrained" apect ratios? Maybe there is an application that does it for us? In Final Cut it says in a few places that it will do it for you, but in others it doesn't..so, it's a pain to calcualte it.

Also, when you say "perpendicular" to the subject? Is that something technical you can give more depth on? I'm aware of don't cross the line, and other basics of shooting. But, I was only able to shoot on one side of the track (expect for some back shots). I wish we talked more about this on here because these things are essential to good story telling and I'm not able to talk shop in-person with many videophiles.

Murph

[Christopher C. Murphy]

64 people have downloaded my video and only one person posted feedback. (On another thread no less)

How come no feedback?

[Christopher Winnicki]

<<<-- Originally posted by Christopher C. Murphy : Hey Winnicki,

I downloaded your clip and it does look good for a 10 minute piece encoded with that ..........................................

1280x720 (what the footage goes back to from NLE export?)

960x720 (the original footage of HD10u - right?)

896x504 (70% of 960x720) ................................

Murph -->>>




Hey Christopher.

You got the resolutions right but the aspect ratio is independent of resolution as far as I know. A good example of that is SVCD which is 480x480 and its displayed at 4::3.

On this one --> "960x720 (the original footage of HD10u - right?)" I am going to have to give you a failing grade!
Answer 1280x720 30fps (29.97) (in HD mode)

Cheers,

Chris.

[Paul Mogg]

Hi Chris, I tried to download your movie but the link didn't seem to work anymore.

All the best

Paul

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Paul, the ratio of people downloading and not posting feedback is about 100 to 1. I had to take the link down from my site, but it's to late to take the link off here with the "delete" button. I need to contact Chris Hurd, so he can remove the link.

I'm going to email you a direct link to the newly placed file.

Murph

[Tom Roper]

That's a shame about not receiving feedback. My problem on the other hand, is a slow dial-up account. I sign visitor logs and give feedback.

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Yeah, at least 2-3 feedbacks would have been nice. But, there were about 70 downloads and I'd estimate at least half read my requests for feedback.

I'm not going to sweat it...I'll just post accordingly about when I'm removing the link in the future.

Murph

[Alain Aguilar]

Hey, I want to see that video!!

[Paul Mogg]

Hey I finally managed to download it Chris, thought it looked great! The usual problems with the camera such as chroma noise in sky are there, but I think the average viewer would not really notice that unless it were brought to their attention, and as always, interesting content comes first.

Thanks for sharing it.

Paul

[Christopher C. Murphy]

Hey Paul,

Thanks very much for the reply! I've also got another video online that's even better that I recently shot and edited called called "The Beauty of New Hampshire".

Let me know if you wanna get the magic link! It's about the same length as the other video...a few minutes long and encoded to MPEG-4.

FYI - the video you saw "The Thrill of Racing" was shot with 60 shutter speed, a polarizer, a .6 ND filter and I followed the action as best I could. It's obvious that this camera (and from what I hear all cameras even film) have strobing or a weird trail. But, I think just following the action as much as possible will minimize the issue. Plus, the average viewer is clueless and thinks it's an effect anyway....or it's nice to think that! lol

Murph

[Alain Aguilar]

Murph

If I can't see the video I can't comment on it...How can I download it?

I'm a little anxious to see it.....