advice for filming webseries

sebbyp

sebbyp

hey friends!
i'm looking at shooting a web series to post on websites such as youtube, vimeo, facebook etc. and am wondering whether its better to shoot in HD over SD?
I've heard mixed opinions from people at school, but I gather HD compressed is still better than SD compressed even if its a file as small as something youtube would take.

anyone had experience uploading HD to websites? and any tips for filming in HD?
 
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In my opinion, for a web series, it doesn't matter. Just make sure it's done well. If you're shooting for the screen, or DVD, then you need to figure out the best medium.
 
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well I guess an advantage of shooting in HD is that afterward I could put all the episodes on disc and have them as a kind of show-reel, or even to distribute.
 
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indietalk said:
You can do that with any format. If you can afford HD go for it.
Click to expand...

This is so true, It's so much more about just doing it then worrying about the format.

http://www.3rdwestballard.com/

This is a webseries from some friends of mine at Minnesota State University Moorhead. They shot on their breaks and created a pretty cool little show. It was basically a cheap lowel kit, a sony pd 150 and a Senheisser ME66 if I remember correctly (I think they borrowed a crane once for a shot in the first episode).

On the other hand here's some stuff I've co-directed and shot for a local land development. The concept was sort of going for "The Office". The lighting was mostly natural (Interview scenes in the second one used a Chimera).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YtXhauw034

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4tZvIKZ6Sg

These are both online advertisements for a land development known as the urban plains development. The Courier rabbits one had more of a crew but there are some obvious mistakes. The whole thing had to be shot in a hurry and I didn't even notice the boom shadow behind the one dude or the boom pole in the upper reflection of the window and I really wanted to redo it after I reviewed the footage but they told me it looked good to them (it still bothers me to this day but lesson learned).

The second one I had more time to prepare and there wasn't really any crew. I used a boom mic stand and just placed it out of frame at various points. I think it turned out better because I wasn't in such a hurry. I do wish now that I had a foam core board to maybe put a little more light in a few spots and I wish I tightened the edit but you can only really learn by doing.

The moral of this story is that you can do a lot with nothing. These advertisements were shot with my red which was definitely overkill but it's what I have.I shot mine in 4k and put it up in 720p. Third west ballard was SD all the way. It's not about the image or any of that, it's about using what you have to its fullest potential and creating something people will want to watch.
 
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I've been shooting and uploading HD footage to Vimeo and Youtube for a while now as well as some SD.

In terms of compressing and uploading the footage, both are fairly easy to do. Of course, HD can be compressed to a smaller size file that is still technically HD and be put onto the sites. This obviously is a bit longer of a process because of the larger file size. SD takes less time in general.

I prefer HD because it does look better, even when compressed. Sites like Vimeo, if you pay for a membership, will allow you to upload surprisingly fantastic quality videos, so long as they fit the alloted file size and length limits.

We are moving into an HD world, so I think HD is smarter so as to future-proof yourself. But--

Why exactly are you asking this question? Do you already have a camera? Are you looking to rent or buy one for this web-series? I mean, if you already have a camera that shoots both HD and SD, then just shoot HD, there's really no reason not to unless you are concerned about saving a small amount of time when compressing and uploading the file.

I'd be curious to hear about what your setup is exactly...


But I think the most important thing is the material that you are shooting. Like they say, you can polish a turd as much as you like but in the end it's still gonna be a turd, albeit a nice and polished one. In other words, I wouldn't go out of my way to shoot HD if you already have an SD setup or can save some cash by shooting SD. Hell, shoot on video if the material is good enough.

Regards,
WalterWhite
 
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