Originally Posted by Jim_Gunn

DWB, oddly enough, it's the web companies that I film for that are insisting that I film in high-definition (hdv), not the traditional porn companies that release movies on DVDs, at least so far. That's why I was forced to upgrade to a Sony hi-def videocamera and a new dual-core computer and software last year. And it is a good thing that I did upgrade, because I just came back from the shows in Vegas with a couple of more jobs including a big ongoing one and they all need to be filmed in high-definition!

I find that hi-def filming requires a lot more light, and care in lighting, and in makeup as well, than standard definition. But most importantly the post-production is the real hassle. It takes a LOT more hard drive storage space for the files. And it takes a LOT more time to deinterlace the clips, in my case with the Aspect HD plugin in Adobe Premiere to make them look right (there's a technical explanation but suffice to say the vids look perfect only when deinterlaced). And finally it takes hours and hours to render the finished videos to wmv or quicktime, unlike with SD which happened faster than real time even on my old P4.

Unfortunately for all this extra work and a five or ten fold increase in post-production time, most clients will want beautiful looking videos for the same price or perhaps a very small premium over SD if you are lucky. So no more cranking out scenes overnight, each one is now a long process and I probably need a new dedicated encoding machine and a new assistant just to do that.

So if you are filming for your own sites, film in HDV if you want to marker better quality video like the other programs, but be prepared for a bit of a hassle. Eventually even consumers will expect it, and you will have to jump on the bandwagon, like it or not, especially when the HD-DVD and Blue Ray wars are decided and everyone has the set top players.