I'm looking at purchasing a professional grade camera and am wanting to record my footage in the highest quality possible. While I would love to upload HD videos to the net or burn Blu-ray copies of my short films, etc., I don't have those capabilities yet, so if I record and produce a film in HD (1080p, for instance), will the footage look any different on DVD than the same project recorded on an SD camera and produced in SD using FCP or whatever?
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Recording In HD for SD Distrobution
- Thread starter aingalls
- Start date
It all depends on the camera, because 1080p alone doesn't mean you'll get good quality. Something like the "PocketDV AHD Z600" does shoot Full HD but it's very small and I can't imagine the quality being as good as something shot on a HVX200.
However, comparing the finals image on a DVD shot both on a good SD and a good HD camcorder, you'll notice, that the HD-footage looks a lot sharper, even if scaled down to SD.
It would be good to know how much you're willing to spend on the new cam. Generally, I think investing in SD today is not a good idea. HD is the future and if you don't want to buy a new cam in 1-2 Years, HD is the way to go!
However, comparing the finals image on a DVD shot both on a good SD and a good HD camcorder, you'll notice, that the HD-footage looks a lot sharper, even if scaled down to SD.
It would be good to know how much you're willing to spend on the new cam. Generally, I think investing in SD today is not a good idea. HD is the future and if you don't want to buy a new cam in 1-2 Years, HD is the way to go!
That's what I thought. I wasn't sure, but I'm glad you clarified shooting with an HD camera does make a difference in image quality (sharpness) even if the final product is in SD (via DVD or YouTube or whatever).
My situation is this: I have a consumer level Sony DVD cam now. I film live events such as concerts and kid's birthday parties and such. I want to save for a better quality camera with manual focus, a good optical zoom, mic/audio input, headphone/audio output, and timecode capabilities. No consumer level cam that I have looked at has timecode capabilites, so I am forced to look into getting a prosumer or pro-level cam. It will obviously be a lot easier and quicker to meet a goal of saving a couple thousand dollars to get a Canon GL2 (which I have heard nothing but good things about) than it would be to save up the $6000+ for a low-end Panasonic, Sony, or Canon HD setup (which I have heard a lot of complaints and concerns about). I really need two cameras and three would be ideal so keep in mind whatever price I'll be spending on a camera will be doubled or tripled.
While I don't want to buy two or three SD cams for a couple thousand a piece only to replace them a couple years down the road, anything would be better than what I have now, and I believe if I upgrade my equipment (cameras, audio interface, and computer), I'll be able to charge more for better quality and get more clients.
Besides, keeping in mind I need two or three cameras, it might take me two years to save enough to get HD Cams. In that time I could have been working with SD cams and making money and gaining more experience and clients which may in turn allow me to still get HD cams in 2 years, but have been working in the meantime as well.
Still think buying SD in my case is not a good idea?
My situation is this: I have a consumer level Sony DVD cam now. I film live events such as concerts and kid's birthday parties and such. I want to save for a better quality camera with manual focus, a good optical zoom, mic/audio input, headphone/audio output, and timecode capabilities. No consumer level cam that I have looked at has timecode capabilites, so I am forced to look into getting a prosumer or pro-level cam. It will obviously be a lot easier and quicker to meet a goal of saving a couple thousand dollars to get a Canon GL2 (which I have heard nothing but good things about) than it would be to save up the $6000+ for a low-end Panasonic, Sony, or Canon HD setup (which I have heard a lot of complaints and concerns about). I really need two cameras and three would be ideal so keep in mind whatever price I'll be spending on a camera will be doubled or tripled.
While I don't want to buy two or three SD cams for a couple thousand a piece only to replace them a couple years down the road, anything would be better than what I have now, and I believe if I upgrade my equipment (cameras, audio interface, and computer), I'll be able to charge more for better quality and get more clients.
Besides, keeping in mind I need two or three cameras, it might take me two years to save enough to get HD Cams. In that time I could have been working with SD cams and making money and gaining more experience and clients which may in turn allow me to still get HD cams in 2 years, but have been working in the meantime as well.
Still think buying SD in my case is not a good idea?
Can't answer your questions about various cameras, whatever, but you should have no trouble shooting in HD and ending up in SD.
The last 4 shorts I edited were all shot on HD, and all ended up looking just fine on a plain DVD.
Aside from the editing, that is.
The editing software had pretty straightforward ways to export to SD, including options on quality, etc.
The last 4 shorts I edited were all shot on HD, and all ended up looking just fine on a plain DVD.
Aside from the editing, that is.
The editing software had pretty straightforward ways to export to SD, including options on quality, etc.