Last AlphaDog's Editors' Lounge featured cinematographers, cameramen and editors discussing their experiences working with the HDV format on episodic television, feature films and documentaries. They offer their advice on how to get the most out of HDV in production and post, and warn against what will happen if you don't.

Flimmaker Scott Billups talks about using the Canon XL-H1 (recording serial digital out to disk) in conjunction with the Thomson Viperon the caveman comedy feature film Homo Erectus, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival this year. By taking the necessary precautions and choosing the right shots, the production saved thousands on rental costs.

Cameraman Jody Elred on using the Sony Z1U on network television series like JAG and NCIS. Elred talks about making the footage from the Z1U, which does not have a true 24f progressive mode, match the 24fps footage coming from the Sony F900 and the 35mm film camera.

Cinematographer James Mathers on using the Canon XL-H1 on underwater shots for a documentary in Southeast Asia. Mathers dscusses the pluses and minuses of the HDV format.

Save it in post? Not with HDV. Editor Terence Curren and the rest of the panelists discuss editing options for HDV, how many of the past workflow problems will soon be mitigaed with the arrrival of a professional HDV deck from Sony and what are the best practices for ingest, editing and compression codecs for HDV.