What to do about video

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JDueckPhoto

New Member
Im switching from crop to all FF so I grabbed a D4 and I have found the video to be a nice feature. I took some video last week for testing but even recording at 1080p and burning to DVD it looked low res and spotty. DVD is normally only 480p, I think, but the video wasn't even close to as clear as a typical DVD.

The goal is to take 720p video (or 1080p) and play full size on a TV screen with some great detail. I'd like to use 720p to reduce files sizes if possible. If I could deliver a DVD to a client with some clear video it would be huge.

Thanks!
 

BobH

Administrator
Staff member
OK, I'll preface this by saying I don't know much about video, especially DSLR video...

That said, 1080 video is Blu-ray quality. It should look amazingly sharp and crisp. If it's looking "low res", you've got a setting wrong someplace, or you're losing quality in the transition. The quality you're seeing should be every bit as good as you get from a Blu-Ray movie.
 

JDueckPhoto

New Member
Yup I think you're right Bob and thats my thinking here too. But 1080p from a point and shoot doesn't look like 1080p from a full frame DSLR so there is a difference in the recording system besides just the number of horizontal lines (at least if I understand this all right). I know I can do better with it because the D4 is a pretty serious video camera.

I need to process the files better because they even look much better on the computer. 1080p videos right off the D4 look great so I want to transfer that to a TV screen because that could be impressive.

I did some more research on this and I found that I can use an advanced video coding to burn an HD DVD using a 4.7 gig DVD. I will need to get new software and I wont get a lot of video time but... I assume this has to do with the compression of the files: if you are interested check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT0VLR2_4_Y
 

JDueckPhoto

New Member
But... It looks like a standard DVD player wont play a AVCHD video so back to researching. Maybe a blu-ray player will because its the same codec.
 

Snuffy2

Member
Oops, sorry, I said thats about the best answer you can get, but looks like Bob come up with the best one tonight...again!
 

BobH

Administrator
Staff member
Yup I think you're right Bob and thats my thinking here too. But 1080p from a point and shoot doesn't look like 1080p from a full frame DSLR so there is a difference in the recording system besides just the number of horizontal lines (at least if I understand this all right). I know I can do better with it because the D4 is a pretty serious video camera.

Yes, the difference is in the recording system.

Ever wonder why a D7000 costs $800 and the D4 costs $6,000? The difference isn't just in the sensor. Much of it is in the processer. When the camera captures video, it has to store it. P&S cameras do that by compressing the video to a size they can manage.

Top end DSLRs like the D4 and D800 do a much better job of compression. Not only that, but they can also output raw video via HDMI. This review talks about the D800, but I expect it also applies to the D4.

From a hardware perspective, the camera's main distinguishing feature is the clean HDMI output. This can take unprocessed video from the image sensor, feed it into a recording device, and do the processing there. That means you can record raw video and process it later—a useful, if niche, advantage over the 5D Mark III. The camera is also a healthy competitor on the audio front. It has both a stereo mic input and a headphone jack, which are essential to monitor and adjust the audio as needed.

http://gizmodo.com/5897968/nikon-d8...upgrade-but-is-it-the-best-dslr-for-the-money

So the quality is definitely there. It's just a matter of figuring out the best way to capture it.
 

JDueckPhoto

New Member
Oops, sorry, I said thats about the best answer you can get, but looks like Bob come up with the best one tonight...again!

I dont think you were off, like you said the DVD players are limited in what they can play. Im interested in using DVDs for HD work but it seems almost like the DVD needs the right player to even make that worth it. Its time to dive into video so I'll post some stuff when I get something worth posting.

Like Bob said, the uncompressed out option is a nice feature and will be another new thing for me to learn about.
 

climbbike

New Member
I've had good luck taking video with my d7000 and putting on a DVD for my high def TV. I don't remember for sure . . . but I think I used Cyberlink Power Director. More recently, I've been using Adobe Premier Elements 9 and found a really cool (and free) video converter called "Any Video Converter". It does have an output for DVD option, you might try that.

Keep in mind, resolution is only a small part of what determines if video is high quality . . . . the bit rate you choose, format, number of passes, etc, all affect quality. I've been very frustrated a number of times playing with video but I usually (eventually) get good results.

If you are try to get good quality to DVD, assuming it's not a long video, which I doubt it is, since it's off a DSLR, just make sure you keep everything at the highest quality settings possible.
 
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