If HDV audio sucks and DV audio is great.....
 

Rather then using a double recording system to get good audio....can't you just just downconvert HDV to DV via firewire, and VOILA you'll have the high quality PCM audio you need.

Simply replace the HDV audio tracks with the downconverted DV audio tracks, and all is well?

or is it because the Mpeg Audio is the original source, that the downconverted DV audio will not be good as if it was originally recorded DV?

- Shannon W. Rawls

The compressed audio is the original source on the HDV.

And DV audio isn't great either, some argue it's just not as bad as HDV. Depending on your project, it's usually best to avoid DV and HDV audio altogether and record externally.

O, what I would give for this not to be so...

...except that HDV audio doesn't exactly "suck." The bit rate after compression is 384 megabits per second, which is actually very good and hardly worth complaining about.

Even the biggest HDV admirers (myself included) don't claim you should shoot an indie feature film or similar project with the current in-camera qualities of sound. The sad qualitative fact is prosumer audio has not kept pace with prosumer video and that's why so many of us are still tethered to DATs and Discmen.

Betsy:

<< The sad qualitative fact is prosumer audio has not kept pace with prosumer video and that's why so many of us are still tethered to DATs and Discmen. >>

Well said -- and thanks for saying it so well!

It's ridiculous to say that "HDV audio" at 384 megabits per second "sucks".

We are probably all agreed that on-camera audio usually does suck, but that's a separate issue.

Thank you Graham, now we're getting somewhere.

The camera itself is the single worst place to mount a mic. And yet...

Here's the big problem with audio on the FX1 and Z1, and this is a real issue. It's that onboard mic. It ain't removeable, and it's right in the way if you want to mount a matte box -- it has to go on upside down or sideways, otherwise you're not getting any filters in there. And *that* also sucks.

See, on this board it's okay to say something sucks -- but you have to be right, otherwise we'll send operatives out to your front door to break a finger for each occurence.

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : The camera itself is the single worst place to mount a mic. And yet...

Here's the big problem with audio on the FX1 and Z1, and this is a real issue. It's that onboard mic. It ain't removeable, and it's right in the way if you want to mount a matte box -- it has to go on upside down or sideways, otherwise you're not getting any filters in there. And *that* sucks. -->>>

And that's exactly why I question the prospects of the Z1 being a "pro" camera. What moron at Sony thought that was a feature that pro's wanted? I was even shocked that Panasonic put it on the DVX100. Maybe they have something else up their sleeve? Or maybe they are trying to make it undesirable enough to step up to the next level? Or maybe they are just stupid.

Rhett, in my opinion it's a product development oversight. In the case of the Z1 it seems almost as if the consumer division handed the FX1 to them for a mild make-over; it doesn't appear to me to be a product of co-development. They did a great job as far as the internal feature set expansion is concerned, but on the outside all they've done is to slap on a mic clamp and add the XLR jacks. What I don't get is that the accessory shoe is removeable -- which is a fine thing -- but why not go a step further and make the on-board mic removeable. I mean, surely they could have seen the matte box problem coming?

As a person who has just shot two short films on HDV, let me say the HDV audio going into the FX1 isn't bad, it seemed quite fine with a simple adapter to get the boom mics in. And I've used three different FX1's, by the way.

If one hasn't used the FX1, Z1 (which is kinda tough since it ain't out) or the HD10/HD1, speculating won't do any good. I have some serious experience with the FX1 and HD10, and aside from an old problem with "tinny" audio on the HD10, I had no real problems with audio on either camera in HDV mode.

heath

Heath, I can't wait to see your clips later this week. I own a hosting company with a rack of dedicated servers (www.hosting795.com), so if you need a place to stream them from for a while, then let me know. I'm sure Chris is going to take care of you tho. Also, I own the Hollywood DV Festival (formerly known as the MiniDV Festival (www.minidvfestival.com) and this year, I have extended the festival 2 extra days to accomodate pure HD screening. Hopefully your projects will be in the fest in December.

- Shannon W. Rawls

Shannon,

I'll consider submitting to the fest, thanks! I'm capturing in iMovie HD now.

heath

Shannon, I completely understand where you're coming from, no worries.

It does make sense that if the audio is originally compressed then any conversion could then be sub-standard to an authentic acquisition in DV in the first place. Then again, this topic is a little over my head as I don't yet fully understand ALL the details of HDV. I think it sounds interesting but I'm just waiting to see where it all goes. I'm still wondering how they can put that much more information on the same 25mb/s tape without "something" having to give. Is that "something" the audio? The color space? The image?
I have actually turned down job's editing MPEG-2 from DVD's that clients received from previous jobs because it never worked out well, and now I'm hearing that the industry may be embracing this same standard that just a few years ago wasn't good enough. Granted, it's not exactly the same but that's where I am left to wonder. Just goes to show you, we're afraid of what we do not know.


Hey Heath, did you ever think a few years ago that you would be capturing footage for a short on iMovie? It just sounds funny.

Sounds funny, sure, and a little tricky since I never use it, but whatever works.

heath