What is your encoding workflow for HDV Content ?
 

For content shot in HDV (Mostly on HVR-V1, HVR-FX7, HVR-Z1) , what is your post production work flow ?

1. Do you load up the movie using the Firewire or use decklink hd extreme to capture and color correct ?

2. Once the content is ingested do you do any post work before edits ?

3. If the final out put you need is for web in H264, what do you use to Trans-code ?

I just started doing some work on bunch of HDV tapes and interested in finding out what others are doing.

I never do any post work until after an edit is complete. Its stupid to waste time color correcting parts that will not be in the final out put. If I am just cutting/posting HDV with no compositing, firewire does the job. If I need to composite, I use Intensity Pro card to capture uncompressed.

On Mac, I use DVKitchen for transcoding and on PC, Adobe Media Encoder.

Do you find Intensity Pro card good enough ? I am thinking if I should by the decklink pro ?

I have been happy with Adobe Media Encoder (working with elemental accelerator)

Uncompressed is uncompressed. Though the Intensity only captures using HDMI, you need the Intensity Pro for composite capture. You are honestly ok with using Firewire capture. The quality is the same using either workflow unless you plan on compositing which is where uncompressed is preferred.

What do you use for composting software if mostly the work is color correction. Have you tried to get cinematic quality (24p) on HDV footage.

Thanks

Jay

I use Final Cut Studio as my preferred suite mixed with After Effects. Motion is nice for quick text composites and smoothcam but if I need to ainmate, key, etc... I use AE. Though I will say that I have been using Apple's Color more and more lately to give my content a more filmic look. Check out Apples Final Cut Studio page to see what Color can do for the filmic look.

Hi Melissa... you seem to know your stuff.. can I see an example of your work??

Have you looked at any products from http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/

I have used RG plugins before but Color fits my work flow and is a bit more professional grade than Looks or the like. Not bad for smaller budgets though I really do like their bleach bypass preset.

http://www.vimeo.com/6447257


This is the last video I did some color work on. Not sure if my color grading sections made into the final edit but this is the general style I shoot and color I always try to grade my content to.

I own a Sony DSR-11 HDV/DV/DVCAM deck that I use to capture my video through a regular firewire connection. My preferred capture application is the HDLink software that is part of the Cineform Prospect HD suite of software which also functions as a plug-in for Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 or 4. It captures uncompressed HD or HDV video & audio to a hard drive and can automatically convert it from .m2t to an intermediate .avi format. One nice thing about the HDLink software is that it automatically uses scene detect to split the files upon capture which makes it very quick and easy for a clever cameraman to edit, and it also can automatically de-interlace the video upon capture which is convenient for someone who is using a camera like the Sony FX-1.

If I am only doing a basic edit in Premiere Pro and delivering the edited video on a mini-DV tape like I do for many of my clients, I will do basic simple correction or apply filters for sharpness and contrast in real time without rendering right on the Premiere Pro timeline and then I export, which transcodes the movie back to HDV and exports to tape in a sequential process.

If I am instead doing the full encoding job to the end use format like WMV, Flash etc, I will export the edited, and color corrected video from the timelime to an intermediate AVI, and then I will encode using my preferred batch video encoding application such as Videocharge, Sorenson Squeeze, or Adobe Flash Encoder depending on which format(s) I need. During this encoding process I will add any watermarks at the exact size they are needed so that they do not get re-sized and so they stay sharp and crisp.

They outsource to us :thumbsup

in vegas I color correct the 'time line' so there is no 'waste of time'

I used to play with Vegas but you wont find it in any production house and run the risk of getting laughed out of the room in mainstream. Vegas is nice for those that do not have to play well with other but many of the functions/features Vegas offers are poorly thought out or just simply go against long standing workflows that mainstream editing needs.

hmmm that kinda just makes the color flaws move arround :)
That is if you have inconsistant colors in the video of course

lol, of all the people in here i really did NOT think these words would come from you :thumbsup (no offense meant)

Expect hatemail from 80% of the GFY members next week :1orglaugh

That video is awesome!

:1orglaugh No offense taken. I have spent the majority of my career in mainstream or teaching in a classroom on how to produce mainstream. The biggest thing I have learned in mainstream is that its about work flow and comparability. Vegas is great for one man shops that do not need to send things to other editors or to Avid or FCP. I would assume Vegas does well for those producing and editing short clips. But when you compare defining in and out points and inserting to the time line, there is a reason FCP, Premiere, and Avid are very similar in 3 pt editing.

Vegas used to be awesome when it was under Sonic Foundry's control but once Sony took over, a lot of the innovation went out the window. Its not a bad NLE but there is a reason a lot of professionals look at it as a toy. In the link I posted above, there is no way you could produce something like that with Vegas and its color correction tools.

Yeah, Dirk is a special guy that will be really huge one day. Definitely one of the more modern standards in music videos these days.

that's why you have to have a good capture

I'm not actually 'playing'. I produce web/dvd content. works fine for what I need.

this is kinda funny actually. since FCP is incompatable with just about everything, even it's self on some occasions, it's the fault of vegas. surly you can see the humor there?

so you can tell the difference between a vid clip of a gonzo blow job edited with vegas or FPC, for 3x the cost and effort? I doubt very seriuously if a surfer could or would even care.

and the bottom line for content production is ROI. I'm not really seeing the ROI on a mac/FPC system to be honest about it.... to each his own though. $.02

Dont misunderstand what I am saying, "playing" well with others means being able to easily integrate it into a work flow. You cannot export a Veg file and open it in FCP and everything just work like you can with FCP and Premiere or Avid and Premiere. In your case, you do your own thing and it works for you. But try taking Vegas project to a production house, provided you can find one that has Vegas on a system there. That's what I meant by playing well with others.

If your post producing on a mac, you can encode with imovie superfast and add transitions, titles, etc on final cut if you wish, or if your mac is 1.5ghz or less. Also I would suggest at least 2gb of ram to spped things up. imovie renders much faster than final cut becuase final cut will be deinterlacing per frame upon import, unless your preferences are not default, as well as setting default keyframing tags, etc, imovie on the other hand, imports using just raw data, about 1/2 the time imho.

It all depends on what the end result would be. For the majority of content I have seen thus far, FCP would be overkill because a lot of content just isn't deliberately shot using any of the rules in film making.

FCP projects can be imported into Premiere Pro CS4 complete with transitions, effects, etc...

Will the surfer be able to tell or care? Who knows. But there is a reason Andrew Blake's material looks the way it does and garners more second looks instead of just being seen as a skin flick.

While ROI is always key in any business, knowing how to squeeze the return is dependent on knowing how to maximize your system. I have seen great work done with Vegas but it was accomplished by someone who had a ton of years of editing experience and even then, they had to rely on other apps to make up for Vegas' shortcomings.

Again, if it works for you, awesome. NLE's are merely tools in a toolbox. Its the editor and their vision that uses their tools to create beautiful art. :)

WOW... nice video. actually gave me the creeps lol.

yes I've seen all the webmasters here on GFY extreemly excited about all the sales they are making to blake's/nin's sites. conversions are off the hook for sure. $.02

Who cares what webmasters think? Blake is making a mint still and isnt looked at as some fucking freak. He is an artist that works in pussy.

personally I'm happy for blake however I have very little interest, if any, in his product. I'm also very sure there are very many others with very similar concepts . $.02

This is very true and while in my opinion Vegas is easier to use and very good, its very different than the tried and true NLE's.