Some sample HV20 footage...
 

I shot both of these over the past few weeks.

First is some footage I shot in New York while on a commercial shoot. I had just purchased the camera and decided to test it out. The camera crew laughed at the HV20 until they saw it played back.

http://gibopictures.com/video/NY_MAD_WORLD.avi
http://gibopictures.com/video/NY_MAD_WORLD.mpg

The avi (15 MB) is a compressed version in case you don't want the muxed ts file (274 MB) - which is the second link. Just right click and "save as".

The video was imported as HDV and edited as HDV. 1080i.

Next is some material I shot for a friend who co-sponsors the CDW Champ Car. He invited me out to the track and I brought the camera to have a little fun.

Shot it at 1080i, transferred it to DVCPROHD (via Sony deck and Intensity card) for the edit, and then output it to mpeg2 ts. The ts is (207mb). Divx avi is(12mb).

http://gibopictures.com/video/Grandprix1.avi

http://gibopictures.com/video/Grandprix1.mpeg

This little camera just amazes me.

Very nice video.

I bought a HV20 3 weeks ago and am still waiting to do some sample clips...

Thanks for the sample clips\post.

Thanks for the compliment. I think you're going to really enjoy this little camera! I'm still figuring out new features and ways of shooting, and I'm still really impressed. I look forward to seeing some of your footage when you get the chance.

Awesome vids! Nice editing too. I am loving my HV20 so far. Too bad it's nearly impossible to edit the video with my craptacular computer.

Thanks! What are you cutting with right now?

Nice! The car and street shots were mostly handheld? What setting did you use in that dusk shot in times square? I assume it was all 60i footage. Having a great camera is one thing. Having the eye and skill to compose shots is another.

Hey Mike. I was just looking at your website and your Fig Rig. Very cool!

Yes, believe it or not, I have yet to shoot with a tripod with this camera. I bought a "pod" (beanbag support thingy) which I'd just plop on any surface. I shot a little from inside the van I was in and put it on the dash, but the vibrations were too much for the little camera to handle - so I just cradled the camera in my hands.

I'm trying to remember what settings I had for the Times Square dusk shots, but I believe I had the shutter at 1/60 and manually set the exposure to where it felt "right". Hard to judge sometimes, but I was looking for a happy medium between graininess and crushing blacks. And yes, it was shot 60i. I plan to experiment with 24p in the coming weeks.

Mikon...great shooting. Especially the race car video. Nice music choice too. Looked very professional.

Observation...but those treads on the tires of that car...do they really wear down that fast? Man...they must have a brand new set every race. You can tell I don't know much about the sport.

Thanks Ian!
That's how the tires are made. I believe they are commonly called slicks due to the lack of tread. Because these cars drive at such high speeds and are so aerodynamic, these tires get really sticky from all the friction and help the driver stay on the road surface better. In fact, the day I was there, they told me that they use two types of these tires. One set are called "reds" and have a red stripe on the sidewall, and then another set that don't stick quite as well. In a race, all the drivers have to use both types of tires. I guess that part of the startegy is to know when and for how long you use them. In all, it was a fascinating experience and very very LOUD!

Mikon, Great footage and top rate editing... can you tell us what program you used for the editing and how you produced the white transition with the blown out frames???

thanks

Thanks, Ray. Yes, I cut this with Final Cut Pro. I imported the footage via HDMI and a Sony deck to DVCPROHD 1080i. I like this codec and it makes cutting much faster than HDV since it's not GOP based. The flashes were added using CGM DVE Luma Color Dissolve. CGM makes some nice plugs and I've been very pleased with how the luma color dissolve provides a nice, organic white flash.

Hope this helps.

Mikon, what settings did you use? 24P, plain HDV? any specific modes?

I just shot it in 60i HDV. No 24p. I recently purchased a 720p lcd screen so now I can try to do some tests with true 24p to see how I like it.

Sounds good, do you recall the settings? HDV cine mode, or one of the other modes? I am trying to hone in on what settings work well in low light other than the results I've seen using 24P with Cine Mode in my first test.. thanks

I didn't use any of the special modes for shooting. I kept the shutter at 60 except for a couple of times with the car footage where I pushed the shutter a bit. Locked the exposure for most of it too.

What is the subject matter you're trying to shoot in low light? Are you just running tests right now?

Mikon, I am in test mode, only have had my HV20 for a few days.. In a few weeks going on vacation to Disney World, and some of their evening events I want to capture and get the best quality I can.. So, I am trying to gather some info from those that have done some low light work, as you had in your video, along with some testing.

Another question is fireworks, I know there is a fireworks mode, but wonder if that is really optimal or if some other combination of settings might work better?

I haven't tested the fireworks mode yet, but I just shot a light show a week ago and followed some advice of other posters by shooting in 24p (just for thenight shots.) I can't say that to my eyes, it looked a lot better than if I'd shot in standard mode. You get to a point where the light levels are so low that it's just going to get a little grainy. I think I'd try to keep the exposure set open as much as possible without getting too grainy and the maybe when you import the footage to edit it, play with the brightness and contrast to remove some of the grain and bring the blacks into a more acceptable level.

True, when light levels drop, you do the best you can. We'll, I guess I'll have to go out and shoot some more evening videos in various areas in both regular and 24P and see If I can get a feel for which works best.. Hopefully it will give me a sense of how to best video those scenes while on the road... thanks

Very nice. I just grabbed the small versions, but will definitely grab the larger ones when I get a chance during my off peak download time.

Thanks, Glenn.

Say, Norm, one thing I will say about the night shooting is that the closer you are to your light source, the cleaner the image seems to be with regard to graininess. When I shot the New York footage, TImes Square is so full of lights, that it was pretty easy to get a clean shot - I just compensated exposure to push the blacks a little. And the subway footage was the same. So when you shoot at Disney and capture the light parade, etc. I imagine it will come out pretty nice. Do you have any place you could test where you live like some shopping strip at night?

Yes, there are some locations that will simulate that.. though its possible some of the events will be brighter and your right, places like Times Square at night are probably still quite bright because of all the ad lighting..

I did shoot some video a couple days ago and after futzing with it for a couple days, probably because I shot it in 24P, I finally got a reasonable size file to post, though the compression does show.. I posted the link in another thread where I was discussing similar questions.. I add it here too..

http://idisk.mac.com/normang-Public/...nd_main_st.mp4

Will require QuickTime.

Give it a view when you have a chance, let me know what you think..

thanks

I think that what you've got looks really good. You either have to set exposure to the lights (so they don't get washed out) or for the people in your video. I'm assuming that you're going for the lights anyway, so it looks like what you shoot at Disney will most likely look really good!

Hey Mikon,

I'm just getting into video and bought myself an HV20. Of course, I've read up on all there is to know about the specs of this camera and how to get it to do what you want. But …

it amazes me how you can still talk about the camera. Obviously, it's you that has made this happen. Unbelievable footage and edits. Kudos!