Digital Video - November 2008 - (Page 10)

IN REVIEW PANASONIC AG-HMC150 CAMCORDER Our university’s police department asked us to shoot a crime prevention video. We had started this project in HDV and wanted to see how well the AVCHD footage could be edited with the existing footage. My students and I grabbed the pre-production HMC150 camcorder provided by Panasonic and went to work. My first suggestion is to replace the 2640mAh battery for the slightly pricier 5800mAh battery, a heavier unit that improves weight balance and offers longer run time. Obviously, the images on this camera are superior to the DVX100 because you are shooting in HD. But in its own right, the HMC150 performed brilliantly in low light. Also, it doesn’t take long to appreciate tapeless acquisition. Files can be selected and played back immediately, and it’s easy enough to delete unwanted footage in the field and conserve storage. On the down side, sometimes you have to cycle through several menu layers to make adjustments on the HMC150. And unfortunately, the HMC150 inherited the DVX100’s >DEFINING AVCHD S While the HMC150 has a number of controls on the camcorder itself, you’ll need to access various menu layers for some functions and adjustments. tiny menu joystick, one of my few knocks against the original. Other than that, no real complaints. My first real issue was in post, as Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 on my Sony Vaio laptop was unable to access the footage. Check your NLE to see if AVCHD is a supported format; you might need to invest in a third-party solution or upgrade to a newer version of your software. By the way, it turns out the AVCHD footage looked better than our HDV footage, so we reduced the record quality to compensate. DV ony and Panasonic jointly introduced AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) in 2006 as a new high-definition recording format to compete with Mini DV and HDV. AVCHD is based on MPEG-4 (H.264) and can record full-frame 1920x1080 images, which is more resolution than older MPEG-2 codecs and HDV. As part of its AVCCAM line, Panasonic has produced several AVCHD camcorders that record HD footage to SD and SDHC Flash memory cards. “Our line of AVCCAM products will continue to grow into a full range of professional products,” said Robert Harris, vice president, marketing, Panasonic Broadcast. “We now offer the 1lb., handheld AG-HSC1U camcorder and the AGHMC70, which is the first shoulder-mount AVCHD camcorder.” The new AG-HMC150, to be delivered this month, will be featured at DV Expo. Harris says that AVCHD offers reliable, cost-effective recording and “eliminates the playback time required for ingest from tape,” he explained. “SD cards are also truly reusable. Memory capacity has increased while cost is decreasing.” Why choose AVCHD over HDV? Harris said AVCHD provides “similar quality and longer recording times at lower bandwidths and higher-quality recording at a similar bandwidth than MPEG-2. This translates to lower storage costs and faster transmission times.” Chuck Gloman is program director of the TV/Film Department of DeSales University. Contact him at chuck.gloman@desales.edu. > AVCHD STACKING UP BY THE NUMBERS 10 dv november 2008 www.dv.com http://www.dv.com

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Digital Video - November 2008 Contents AG-HMC150 Camcorder I-Cuff Eyepiece Protector Instant Expert Avid Media Composer 3.0 DT-B9L 1DU Monitor Flolight LCD500 Dark Red Close-Up: Chop Shop Socky Prime Mover Tools & Technology: DV Expo Toolkit Click to Play DV101 Production Diary

Digital Video - November 2008

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