Who is shooting HDV for weddings?

Peter Jefferson · July 15th, 2006, 08:09 PM

Locking the HVX to the DVCPRoHD format really punched alot of users in the guts IMO...
I dont mind the Sonys, hell ive got 2 Z1s right here, but for weddings, i only use them when people ask for a HD master for HD delivery. I wont bother shooting with them just to get a 16:9 image, as that in itself can be acheived ith the DVX, with nigh on zero loss in image quality (shooting progressive scan PAL u see..) its about a drop in 32 pixels, which really isnt all that much.
Like i said the argument can go on for days, and im running out of coffee, but in the ned, i would strongly recomend to anyone to at least hire each camera for a weekend and take it along to a shoot and see how it fares.

Bill Edmunds · July 15th, 2006, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Jefferson

I dont mind the Sonys, hell ive got 2 Z1s right here, but for weddings, i only use them when people ask for a HD master for HD delivery.

You've had people ask you for HD without any prompting?

Tim Harjo · July 16th, 2006, 12:26 AM

Hi all. This is my first post here. I've been looking around at sites for there samples. It's funny to me (granted I've only been to about 25-30 sites so far) but so far, the ones with HD advertised have been poorly done. I guess my point is, it's funny to me that they get all that expensive equipment and it ends up still looking like the kid down the street did the shooting and editing. Instead of looking beautiful, it looks like surveillance footage. BUT, it's crystal, and that's all that counts right?

Those of you pushing the boundaries and are making your vids look beautiful and artistic, that is fantastic! Keep it up. But I guess without those people that do the bare minimum, there would not be a great contrast to make those that care 'stand out'

Glad to be here. Lots of great info... thanks!

Peter Jefferson · July 16th, 2006, 05:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Edmunds

You've had people ask you for HD without any prompting?

2 since May last year...

3 asking for native widescreen... once they saw the difference between interlaced widescreen from Z1 vs Progressive scan widescreen from DVX, they went DVX

Peter Jefferson · July 16th, 2006, 05:37 AM

" I guess my point is, it's funny to me that they get all that expensive equipment and it ends up still looking like the kid down the street did the shooting and editing. Instead of looking beautiful, it looks like surveillance footage. BUT, it's crystal, and that's all that counts right? "

Not in my book, then again, my book is a lil different to most, as ive gone back and rewritten the bits that i dont like.. but i can be a difficult SobB when i want to be

Id rather a well shot, well exposed, tightly focused wel edited Hi8 presentation as opposed to a badly shot, badly lit badly edited HD equivalent...

ive seen many people advertise their gear since we started doing it, and so theyre competing by using the same maerketing strategy.

But the fact of the matter is that its not what u use, its how u use it

Eric Ramahatra · July 30th, 2007, 08:23 AM

hi,

i'm shooting HDV and mini35 on weddings :-)
it's very difficult but the result is very great.

http://www.tophos.com/film.php

Cesar Ruiz · July 30th, 2007, 06:15 PM

Hi Bill,

To answer your questions,

1. I am shooting HDV for weddings using XH-A1s
2. I am happy with the low light compared to my GL2s
3. Yes I archive HDV for future HD-DVD burning, even if the client didn't get HD upfront.

Ger Griffin · July 31st, 2007, 11:16 AM

thats comforting for me Cezar because I've just stepped up from my GL2 to XH-a1

but to be honest i love my effects in my edits. ive been addicted to aftereffects for years now.
and editing in hdv simply gets in the way of my creative process. It slows down my machine too much and i end up getting S.F.A. done.

I wouldn't dare give the B&G an inkling that they could come back annoying me in the future when they're son gets a PS3 or whatever. At least not without quoting them more for that.

I have a message runnning along my sample saying that
"our latest cameras offer True 16:9 widescreen. We also have the ability to shoot in High Definition. However this is not something we are prioritising with at the moment. Should you require HD please ask for details prior to the wedding."

I'm not saying this is the way to approach this.. Instead I'm asking is it?

Imagine every wedding we do in the next 2 years coming back for a HD version. Nightmare.

Cesar Ruiz · July 31st, 2007, 11:24 AM

Hi Ger,

I don't use many special effects so native HDV editing is very doable. Rendering sucks though.

Anyhow, what I do is be very upfront with my clients regarding what is available from my studio today and at what price. That is all that is contracted.

I make no promises regarding how much something is going to cost in the future. If there is a huge demand in a few years for upgrades, and my supply is down I will charge accordingly.

Truthfully, I don't think many will be calling back. A properly authored progressive anamorphic SD DVD that was mastered in HD will look great on our clients High Def TVs. I archive the finished product in HD because that way I have the best quality to work off of if I ever need it.

Matt Trubac · July 31st, 2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cesar Ruiz

Hi Ger,

I archive the finished product in HD because that way I have the best quality to work off of if I ever need it.

Are you going back to HDV tape?

Cesar Ruiz · July 31st, 2007, 12:30 PM

nope. Hard disk is cheap.

Ger Griffin · July 31st, 2007, 12:45 PM

is it just the .iso you archive Cezar?

so how much more would people here charge for a wedding outputted to blue ray or HD-DVD at the moment?

say percentage wise if a sd widesceen wedding costs 100%

how much does a HD wedding cost them?

Cesar Ruiz · July 31st, 2007, 03:44 PM

Ger,

The way to figure out fair pricing is to do the following.

figure out how much you want to make per hour.

Multiply by the number of hours it will take you to do something. In this case it will be time at the computer editing, importing, rendering, checking on the rendering, etc.

Then add cost of materials (HD discs, part of newly acquired burner expense).

Then add cost of biz expenses (divide yearly operating expenses by number of weddings).

Then add a percentage you want as profit (for the risk you took in going HD) That's the amount you'll put back into the business.

I hope that helps.

Ger Griffin · July 31st, 2007, 05:03 PM

thank you Cezar,
it does.

July 30th, 2007, 08:23 AM	#21
Eric Ramahatra Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Paris Posts: 72	hi, i'm shooting HDV and mini35 on weddings :-) it's very difficult but the result is very great. http://www.tophos.com/film.php __________________ JVC HD200+redrock M2+1.4 lens+steadicam Flyer mini35 weddings

July 30th, 2007, 06:15 PM	#22
Cesar Ruiz Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Manchester, NH Posts: 182	Hi Bill, To answer your questions, 1. I am shooting HDV for weddings using XH-A1s 2. I am happy with the low light compared to my GL2s 3. Yes I archive HDV for future HD-DVD burning, even if the client didn't get HD upfront. __________________ Cana Video Productions, LLC Manchester, NH

July 31st, 2007, 11:24 AM	#24
Cesar Ruiz Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Manchester, NH Posts: 182	Hi Ger, I don't use many special effects so native HDV editing is very doable. Rendering sucks though. Anyhow, what I do is be very upfront with my clients regarding what is available from my studio today and at what price. That is all that is contracted. I make no promises regarding how much something is going to cost in the future. If there is a huge demand in a few years for upgrades, and my supply is down I will charge accordingly. Truthfully, I don't think many will be calling back. A properly authored progressive anamorphic SD DVD that was mastered in HD will look great on our clients High Def TVs. I archive the finished product in HD because that way I have the best quality to work off of if I ever need it. __________________ Cana Video Productions, LLC Manchester, NH

July 31st, 2007, 12:30 PM	#26
Cesar Ruiz Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Manchester, NH Posts: 182	nope. Hard disk is cheap. __________________ Cana Video Productions, LLC Manchester, NH

July 31st, 2007, 03:44 PM	#28
Cesar Ruiz Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Manchester, NH Posts: 182	Ger, The way to figure out fair pricing is to do the following. figure out how much you want to make per hour. Multiply by the number of hours it will take you to do something. In this case it will be time at the computer editing, importing, rendering, checking on the rendering, etc. Then add cost of materials (HD discs, part of newly acquired burner expense). Then add cost of biz expenses (divide yearly operating expenses by number of weddings). Then add a percentage you want as profit (for the risk you took in going HD) That's the amount you'll put back into the business. I hope that helps. __________________ Cana Video Productions, LLC Manchester, NH

July 15th, 2006, 08:09 PM	#16
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	Locking the HVX to the DVCPRoHD format really punched alot of users in the guts IMO... I dont mind the Sonys, hell ive got 2 Z1s right here, but for weddings, i only use them when people ask for a HD master for HD delivery. I wont bother shooting with them just to get a 16:9 image, as that in itself can be acheived ith the DVX, with nigh on zero loss in image quality (shooting progressive scan PAL u see..) its about a drop in 32 pixels, which really isnt all that much. Like i said the argument can go on for days, and im running out of coffee, but in the ned, i would strongly recomend to anyone to at least hire each camera for a weekend and take it along to a shoot and see how it fares.

July 16th, 2006, 12:26 AM	#18
Tim Harjo Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 195	Hi all. This is my first post here. I've been looking around at sites for there samples. It's funny to me (granted I've only been to about 25-30 sites so far) but so far, the ones with HD advertised have been poorly done. I guess my point is, it's funny to me that they get all that expensive equipment and it ends up still looking like the kid down the street did the shooting and editing. Instead of looking beautiful, it looks like surveillance footage. BUT, it's crystal, and that's all that counts right? Those of you pushing the boundaries and are making your vids look beautiful and artistic, that is fantastic! Keep it up. But I guess without those people that do the bare minimum, there would not be a great contrast to make those that care 'stand out' Glad to be here. Lots of great info... thanks!

July 16th, 2006, 05:37 AM	#20
Peter Jefferson Inner Circle Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Aus Posts: 3,884	" I guess my point is, it's funny to me that they get all that expensive equipment and it ends up still looking like the kid down the street did the shooting and editing. Instead of looking beautiful, it looks like surveillance footage. BUT, it's crystal, and that's all that counts right? " Not in my book, then again, my book is a lil different to most, as ive gone back and rewritten the bits that i dont like.. but i can be a difficult SobB when i want to be Id rather a well shot, well exposed, tightly focused wel edited Hi8 presentation as opposed to a badly shot, badly lit badly edited HD equivalent... ive seen many people advertise their gear since we started doing it, and so theyre competing by using the same maerketing strategy. But the fact of the matter is that its not what u use, its how u use it

July 31st, 2007, 11:16 AM	#23
Ger Griffin Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 579	thats comforting for me Cezar because I've just stepped up from my GL2 to XH-a1 but to be honest i love my effects in my edits. ive been addicted to aftereffects for years now. and editing in hdv simply gets in the way of my creative process. It slows down my machine too much and i end up getting S.F.A. done. I wouldn't dare give the B&G an inkling that they could come back annoying me in the future when they're son gets a PS3 or whatever. At least not without quoting them more for that. I have a message runnning along my sample saying that "our latest cameras offer True 16:9 widescreen. We also have the ability to shoot in High Definition. However this is not something we are prioritising with at the moment. Should you require HD please ask for details prior to the wedding." I'm not saying this is the way to approach this.. Instead I'm asking is it? Imagine every wedding we do in the next 2 years coming back for a HD version. Nightmare.

July 31st, 2007, 12:45 PM	#27
Ger Griffin Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 579	is it just the .iso you archive Cezar? so how much more would people here charge for a wedding outputted to blue ray or HD-DVD at the moment? say percentage wise if a sd widesceen wedding costs 100% how much does a HD wedding cost them?

July 31st, 2007, 05:03 PM	#29
Ger Griffin Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 579	thank you Cezar, it does.