added 22 May 2005

 

"HDV: What You NEED to Know"
a review by Heath McKnight

Heath is a moderator in our DV Info Net Community.

"HDV: What You NEED to Know" by Douglas Spotted Eagle and Mark Dileo
published late 2004, VASST / Sundance Media Group, Inc.; appx. 130 pages

Authors Douglas Spotted Eagle (fondly abbreviated from this point forward as DSE) and Mark Dileo use the 1080i Sony HDR-FX1, a very pro-like consumer camera, and Sony HVR-Z1, a professional camcorder that switches between NTSC and PAL (among other features), along with JVC's pioneering 720p HD1 (consumer) and HD10 (professional) camcorders as a springboard for their book on the latest technology for filmmakers and videographers alike: HDV, aka, High Definition Video.

HDV was developed by JVC and Sony, which compresses the HD signal into an MPEG2-ts (transport stream), and "muxes" the audio and video into a neat little package. This makes it so that the camcorders and decks can record and play back from affordable Mini-DV cassettes. JVC premiered their 720p cameras at NAB2003 and shipped them by the summer. At NAB2004, Sony had a mock-up of their 1080i cameras, and shipped the FX1 by November and the Z1 by February.

That's when DSE and Dileo decided to publish this informative (but perhaps a little too brief) book. I'm going to break things down, chapter by chapter.

Section One: Basics of Digital Video

After a great forward and introduction for the HDV newbie and seasoned pro, DSE and Dileo get down to business with bringing the new crowd up to speed and a refresher on how Digital Video (DV) works. Along with a basic layout of DV, the authors also talk about analog and HD TV cards, NTSC vs. PAL, Progressive vs. Interlaced Video (30p vs. 60i, for example), the resolution and frame rates of HDV and DV, colorspace and resolution and the differences of HDV and DV compression.

There are great comparison charts with DV, HDV and all the differences between NTSC, PAL, progressive, interlaced and more. There are great photos to further push their point, especially for those of us who glaze over when we read or hear about such advanced videography. But don't worry, DSE and Dileo don't make any absurd promises that filmmakers and videographers will be better cameramen and camerawomen by knowing the basics and advanced stuff. But it's good for newbies and a great refresher for those who have been working with DV for years.

Section Two: Advanced Basics

It's in this part that the authors take a small amount of time to bring everyone up to speed on aspect ratios in DV and HDV, along with HDV and DV audio. "No problem, I understand aspect ratios," said the owner of an XL1. "I know what I'm doing." Not really, unless the XL1 videographer happened to flip on the 16:9 and lost plenty of resolution, since the XL1 and many other Mini-DV camcorders don't natively support 16:9 (except the XL2 and higher priced cameras).

Just about everyone watches TV and movies at home, on 4:3 televisions, which are basically square boxes. Programming is shot that way, etc., unless it's a movie that's letterboxed to fit onto the 4:3 TV. The authors take the time to explain that everything changes with HDV's native 16:9 recording. It's true, because you have more screen space, so your framing changes. Fortunately, DSE and Dileo give great advice on what to do.

And like the differing aspect ratios, audio between DV and HDV is different. The guys take some time to explain those differences, and walk through what to do.

Section Three: IEEE 1394 / i.Link / Firewire

IEEE 1394, i.Link, Firewire; it's all the same thing. Apple owns the name to Firewire, Sony (and JVC, etc.) use i.Link. But both are a digital connection from a camera to the computer, or even the computer to an external Firewire drive. It runs at a transfer rate of 400 mbps (800 in some cases, though I know of no cameras that are Firewire 800) and is perfect for capturing DV, especially since many Apples and PCs come with a built in IEEE 1394 card.

And JVC and Sony were smart enough to not only have HDV go to Mini-DV tapes, but to have it captured like DV, via an IEEE 1394 connection. Of course, you can't just hook up an HDV camera and expect to capture HDV footage if your NLE (non-linear editor) doesn't support HDV. But the book discusses that in the chapter on editing.

Because some PCs don't come with Firewire capability, or because a videographer wants to build his own HDV editing system, they give great advice on Firewire cards to put in. What's a brand that will work well for you vs. a brand that will give you grief? The authors have you covered!

Section Four: The Production Chain

The authors break things down for the reader into different sections, including overviews of the video and audio production chains, acquiring content via HDV cameras. This chapter includes subsections on buying an HDV camera; 24p (which at the time of publishing was not a native feature); currently available HDV cameras (which changes by the minute, it seems); capturing and editing software solutions; and delivering the final video. They talk about DVDs, Mini-DV, VHS and the upcoming HD-DVDs, like Blu-ray.

Finally, DSE and Dileo discuss watching High Definition video on monitors and TVs, and give great advice on which of those viewing devices are the best for your hard-earned dollar.

This is my favorite section of the book, and I'm willing to bet it will be yours, too. Though they give a nice summary of available software, which also seems to change every five seconds, they don't talk much about Apple. Which is probably because there were only two available methods to capture HDV and demux it, etc., and get it into Final Cut Pro and back out to HDV tape (they talk about one, the famous Lumiere HD by Frederic Haubrich and his team). I'm sure in future editions of the book, they'll include iMovie HD, Final Cut Express HD and the eventual native Final Cut Pro HDV set up, along with Avid's promised support and others, too.

Samples pages from Section One: Basics of Digital Video.

Section Five: HDV Migration

Sitting on the fence when it comes to HDV? Have you already plunked down thousands of dollars on DV cameras and NLEs? Are you ready to enter into the DV market, but are either unsure or too nervous about such a new technology? Then this chapter is for you!

DSE and Dileo take the time to explain why HDV is useful right now, and even why it's useful tomorrow. One great selling point is the amazing resolution, and though the book's images are in black and white, they provide some stills from DV (480i) and HDV (both 720p and 1080i). You may or may not end up making a decision based soley or mostly on this chapter.

Section Six: The HDV Editing Computer

As the authors like to say, HDV editing is two steps forward, one step back. And they can back up that statement by saying how fast computers are today to support DV, but as speedy as they are, HDV makes for very labor-intensive workouts on your system. It's just like DV 10 years ago -- hard to capture, edit, etc. And hey, for those of us early HDV adopters, there's the whole mockery thing, much like when us early DV adopters were told DV couldn't compete with Beta SP. The last time I looked, Beta SP isn't supported anymore by Sony, and film fests prefer digital to analog. For the record, I like and have used Beta SP, though my shoulder and back didn't.

"Buy large and buy fast" can probably sum up the authors' advice and tips on buying or building your HDV NLE. Putting the greater details of HDV software here may have been better, but the guys tell you what you need and how to set up the computer to do so.

PC owners and supporters will love this chapter, but Apple users won't. Maybe because Apple is just now beginning to support HDV, as is Avid (though it remains to be seen if both the PC and Apple versions of Avid will support HDV), or maybe because the authors' specialties lie in WinTel NLEs. Apple may only have less than 5% of the computer market, but I suspect a greater number of Apple-based NLEs are sold and used in the world of filmmaking and videography. I would like to see a future edition of the book highlighting what Apple has to offer, even if it's brief. If iMovie HD and Final Cut Express HD had come out, perhaps the authors would have said that Apple's designs for an Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) were less than stellar and produce HDV footage that is less than professional.

Regardless, the authors give you what you need, if you're a PC user. If you're a Mac Head, don't worry, they mention Lumiere HD and Final Cut Pro HD (not an HDV editor) with web links, so you won't have to abandon your investment.

Section Seven: Graphics in HDV

DSE and Dileo offer tips on working with photos in your NLE with HDV on the timeline. Yes, you'll need them to be hi-res, but they give some advice on that, too. Color values is another topic they touch on, and as they like to say, we're "finally free from NTSC," which created rules for how colors should "look."

Glossary

Normally I wouldn't touch upon this, but the glossary has so many terms defined, you'll sound like a professional video engineer! This is a great chapter for not just DV and HDV, but working with video in general. It's thirteen pages of solid information you can really use.

Overall, this is a great book for people who are curious about HDV and the possibilities of forking over some cash to move from DV (or even analog) to HDV, or the nervous newbie who isn't sure he or she should invest in such a new technology. It provides great information for those new to videography and HDV, and those who've been in DV and/or HDV for a while.

Though I'd like to see more on Apple HDV editing solutions, I'm sure they will include all sorts of great information on new software and, of course, new HDV cameras and decks in future editions.

Sample Chapters

These sample chapters from the book "HDV: What You NEED To Know" are downloadable Adobe Acrobat .PDF files from Douglas Spotted Eagle's VASST site.

• Table of Contents
• Great Audio with HDV
• Migrating to HDV
• The HDV Editing Computer

Order your copy of "HDV: What You NEED To Know" directly from
the VASST site at www.vasst.com/printproducts/hdv.htm.

Written by Heath McKnight.
Thrown together by Chris Hurd.