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HI guys,

Mostly, I'm just a hobbyist ... home movies and such that are nicely shot and exceptionally well edited. I did make one niche documentary six years ago and I still sell it online.

Until recently, it has never occurred to me to update my gear. I don't watch broadcast television ... and I find conventional DVDs on high-def screens very grainy in image quality ... downright unwatchable ... so to this day I still watch all my DVDs (homemade and store-bought) on a big tube television set.

Personally, I don't want a high-def TV for watching old movies and 70's TV shows on DVD. I'm perfectly happy with my tube TV, my constantly crashing and un-backup-able 2001 Kron, and my standard-definition Sony PD150 which I just had serviced and cleaned.

Heck, 20% of my viewing pleasure still comes from videocassettes, which I can get at the Goodwill for 25 cents a piece.

But ... now... I have some ideas for some new niche video products. Only problem is … I haven't followed the conversation about high-def at all. I'm wholly and utterly ignorant. Pretty much all I know is that BluRay won the format war … and I know I can look up 720p, 1080p, 1080i should that information become important.

That's the extent of my knowledge. I honestly have no idea whether my Sony PD-150, my old Kron, and single-layer DVDs would be just fine ... or whether they would result in a bunch of refund requests when I start selling these new DVDs I want to make.

God help me. I just don't keep up with what other people are doing.

And googling "do-I-need-to-dump-my-90's-era-camcorder-and-standard-definition-editing-appliance-in-favor-of-ten-thousand-dollars-worth-of-new-high-def-cam-and-editing-gear-if-I'm-going-to-make-another-sellable-DVD" didn't really yield much.

Can anyone help me here?

1) Is anyone in the lower-mid-range video business … like a budget wedding guy or a niche how-to video … still using standard-def stuff to churn out acceptable product in high volume?

I've sold hundreds of copies of my DVD online and two weeks ago I got my first ever refund request … the guy berated me for selling a DVD in standard definition when (he said) the "commercial standard" now is high-def. No one else has ever complained. So now I'm left wondering if this guy is the first of a new generation of customers who would not tolerate a standard-def product … or if he's just a dork who needed to complain about something.

2) How does manufacturing a high number of copies of a high-def video work? My 50-minute standard-def movie fit wonderfully on an inexpensive 4.7GB DVD. Running off copies was cheap and painless. I understand that high-def discs are some 25GB. Are you guys with your new Casablancas buying these expensive discs for large volume runs? Are even decent bread-and-butter wedding shoots (or whatever) these days getting burned to BluRays?

3) It doesn't make sense to have a new high-def camcorder and edit your footage on a standard-def old Kron, does it? That new S-3000 editor … it comes stock with a conventional DVD burner. Ultimately, that means the finished product can't be any better in resolution than my ten year old Kron, correct?

4) Is my gear still perfectly acceptable for budget projects? I really don't want to pay for a new editor ... I would only get one if my old Kron is flat-out obsolete, which it certainly isn't for home movies.

Note: "Budget" does not mean poorhouse. I'm talking about niche videos … competent (non-broadcast) megachurch sermon DVDs … homemade documentaries … non-Rolls-Royce weddings … small business promo videos ...

… the stuff that working joe videos are made of.

What constitutes "reasonable and acceptable" these days, when just about everybody has a high-def TV set they're watching these things on?

-JOHN

ps. Please, no retailer plugs ... I'm asking for real advice from genuine hard-working Casablanca users.

.Buy a CANON XF-100 for under 3K

.For your type of work, also check out the Canon XF-300-expensive but 50Mps and it works GREAT in BOGART and is Broadcast Quality at 4:2:2. It is used for the TV Show "COAL" on SPIKE TV.

.Update to a S6000

You are now in business in the 21st Century.

I can only "speak' for the NY METRO area: Almost all the SD videographers are noticing their business becoming less and less which is shameful. Even those videographers in the special event market are archiving in HD and offering a WIDESCREEN SD DVD for now. That is really changing according to our membership. http://www.liva.org and check out http://www.fredtims.com
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Tape is DEAD. Not happy about this. Still the best way to archive and more durable than a mechanical HD or expensive flash media.

HDV format is gone after this year.

SONY and CANON's last HDV tape year.

SD 4:3 TV's are gone. 4 Ever.

WIDESCREEN production is the present.

After last nights Video Meeting, looks like HDSLR's are being used more and more. NOBODY shoots SD 4:3 in our video assoc.

There is NEVER a GOOD time to upgrade. Everything changes every 6 months. I just jumped right into it.

Hey John
Just my 2 cents here. I have 2 Sony PD170's and 2 dvw100 Panasonics, both SD camera's. I edit with a several year old Renommee and in my business HD would be a waste. I shoot primarily stock car racing although I have shot a lot of different things. I just shot a mud bogging last week end. I probably deliver 300 DVD's a month or more. That's not going to set any records but it has provided a good living for 28 years. I also do a fair amount of transfers VHS to DVD 8mm to dvd and so on. HD looks nice and I'll probably go to it one day, but I make a reasonable living at something I love, and shot in SD. I have only had maybe 20 complaints in all these years and most of those were because I missed something they wanted to see. I have also done 5 TV show's using SD on cable TV net works and I had a series of shows I shot for broadcast in the Phillipine's and I currently send video to a station in Davio City, Phillipines every week All in SD I hope this will help you in your decision making process. Bob....

Bought the 4k pro for editing HD video, bought the $4000 camera solid state, shot a few projects in Sd wide screen and they worked out fine good quality. Started shooting in HD the last couple of projects. The media cards split the scenes anywhere its wants so you have a bunch of files with random splits. The process time to load into the 4k is forever and the processing time is days, if you can get it to work. The amount of video you can put on a standard dvd is limited to like 45 min and with Dual layer can get more on the dvd. They say Blue Ray is what you need, but I hear that Sony is not happy with BlueRay. You have to invest in another BR drive and if you want to duplicate you have a new BR duplicating unit. I am new at HD and am probably doing something wrong with the loading, but I have had the best luck loading small projects on to my Mac and using imovie. (my kids gave me the Mac as they are sure its the way to go) I think the next thing will be HD video on the SD cards, I am sure I will have to upgrade to do that. I had a long learning curve when I started with my first of 2 Avios and with SD on the 4K. Its a learning process and with help from people on this forum I will get up to speed with HD. The camera I bought can shoot in both SD wide screen and HD at the same time so I will be using both modes using whichever I feel gives me the best bang for the buck.

Here is the future-now:


http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... cc_gglsrch

Durn Lou that thing is so little. It took me years to decide I could shoot decent video without a 30 lb. camera on my sholder. That thing is a culture shock. As small as it is I hope it has a jim dandy image stableization. I can just see that on one of my tripods. My customer will think I firgot the camera. LOL! Bob...

LOL!!! OK....here is a larger one. This should also empty your bank account.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/12 ... c_ag_3dp1/



BTW: Canon XF-300. There will be a firmware update in the summer for 3-D.

flvideo wrote:Durn Lou that thing is so little. It took me years to decide I could shoot decent video without a 30 lb. camera on my sholder. That thing is a culture shock. As small as it is I hope it has a jim dandy image stableization. I can just see that on one of my tripods. My customer will think I firgot the camera. LOL! Bob...

Now theres a camera. I'd have to get a belly brace to hold that lens. And I'd have to put some Ballest on the rear to balance the empty wallet. Hefty price. I used to dream big, Ikegami, But I got over that illness. Do you think 3D is in our future for production? Bob...

Thank you for all the replies, guy.

And some of ya'll ... for making my gear seem totally obsolete.

Geez, here I am in standard definition 2D ... how 2010 is that?

Bob, thanks for the encouragement regarding your gear which is on par with mine. I think I'm hearing that with abundant lighting, my standard def Sony PD150 will still offer up footage that will translate well onto a HD screen.

So an important lighting question to help me maximize my old gear a couple more years ... (please remember I don't keep up with gear of any kind at all ... I'm a hobbyist with no clue about the industry or what's considered functional equipment) ...

I was watching some exercise videos on YouTube and the room and the lady's face and body were remarkably well lit. The camera panned around and in the picture you suddenly see the two or three tripod lights. These are obviously professional lights just from the look ... classy tripod and that shape with the side flip panels that say "professional lights".

For my hobby work, I've always used two 1200 watt (I think) Home Depot tripod shop lights. I think they were about $25 a piece, so I'm getting 2400 watts of light for $50. Except for one blown bulb, they've lasted years now.



Now my finished DVDs never look as bright as this exercise lady did, but I just assume that's because her studio had even more wattage and probably an overhead light.

Question: What on earth is the difference between cheapie Home Depot shop lights versus these professional lights that motivates industry guys to pay so much more for them?

The bulbs are pretty much the same, aren't they? Or is this some special kind of light? Where is the value in paying so much more?

John I don't own any pro lights. I do have a couple of those construction lights but I don't use them I find that with my PD170's I see what I see with my eyes and I can't ask for more than that. I think the PD150 is comparable to the PD170 I used one several years ago that belonged to a friend and it was fine. My Panasonic's I only use in good light they seem to require more light. I'd say HD is in my future but not soon. I would rather have a camera that shoots on a format where I can put in my editing appliance and edit it without having to dump it in the editor. Good luck on your decision. Bob...