True, Uninhibited 24-frame Progressive HD and HDV Editing

At the IBC conference last week, cameras were shown with increased data capture rates, most editing system went native for true, uninhibited 24-frame progressive HD and HDV editing, and several companies showed products that HDV shooters to record HD-SDI straight out of the camera, uncompressed. The show was also noteworthy in that both Avid Technology and Panasonic chose not to exhibit at all on the show floor (although Panasonic did have an off-site press conference).
JVC showed its new GY-HD251 ProHD HDV camcorder, a follow-up to the company's popular GY-HD100 camera-of which the company has sold more than 20,000 worldwide. The new camcorder offers 720-line progressive acquisition at 25 and 50 Hz as well as 1080i HD at 50 Hz (1080i/50). Europeans use the 50 Hz PAL format for production and broadcast.
The company said the new capability for 50 and 60 Hz was requested by users looking to get better pictures and to create a variety of special effects. There's also HD-SDI output with embedded audio. Both Canon and Fujinon said they would soon offer new 1/3-inch bayonet mount lenses for the camcorder. JVC's 200 series camcorders are equipped with dynamic shading compensation to minimize lens aberrations, JVC said.
JVC also said Adobe, Apple, Avid and Canopus would support 720p editing at 25 and 50 Hz.
The new GY-HD251 will ship to Europe in October for €9,400 ($11,885.99). For more, visit www.jvcproeurope.com.
Sony introduced the HVR-V1E, a 1080/50i HDV camcorder for European shooters, which employs three ClearVid CMOS sensors and the company's Enhanced Imaging Processor, which together provide high sensitivity, low noise level and a wide dynamic range. The camera features a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 20x optical zoom lens with F2.8 at the telephoto end. An optional digital extender enables the telephoto focal length to be increased by about 1.5 times to a maximum of 1100mm at 35mm conversion.
[Sony U.S. will introduce a NTSC version, called the HVR-V1U, in New York this week.]
The new camera provides a time-code preset function, a TC Link to synchronize time code between multiple cameras, HDMI output, two XLR professional microphone inputs, and a camera profile feature that lets the user adjust camera settings for multiple cameras during multi-camera shoots. Eight hours of battery life is also provided.
All of the major NLE manufactures will support native editing with the new camcorder, which will begin shipping by the end of the year. A consumer version, the HDR-FX7E, will also be available then.
For more, visit www.sonybiz.net.
At the higher end, Grass Valley introduced a new 14-bit HD camera with dual-link outputs for acquiring images at 1080/50p or 60p. Company representatives said this is a good camera for those considering shooting at 1080/60p, such as mobile production companies and production studios that work with a variety of clients and formats. Many have said that 1080/60p is ideal because you can derive any other HD format from a 1080/60p master.
Grass Valley's Infinity HD camcorder also made its real-world production debut, when it was used during the IBC conference to capture segments for the internal IBC TV channel. Users said it took great pictures, but they were having trouble getting audio out. This issue was resolved by the end of the show, and IBC TV producers said they were pleased that segments were produced much quicker than in past years.
Grass Valley also introduced a number of turnkey EDIUS v4.0 editing workstations from its newly acquired Canopus business: EDIUS HD (for SD and HDV productions), EDIUS HDLE (for those that haven't made the move to HD-SDI production but expect to do so), EDIUS NX (a cost-effective platform for DV and HDV workflows), and EDIUS SP (designed for those working with analog Betacam SP sources).
All of the systems offer support for native HDV editing in 1080/24p, 1080/25p, 1080/50i, 720/24p and 720/25p.
For more, visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com.
Blackmagic introduced its DeckLink HD Studio, a 10-bit uncompressed video capture and playback card that features SDI, HDMI and analog component I/O connections. Users can work in HD1080i, HD720p and NTSC/PAL video resolutions.
All HDMI and analog component YUV video connections switch between HD and SD at will. DeckLink HD Studio also offers two-channel AES audio and professional analog stereo XLR I/O connections. RS-422 control and genlock/HD tri-sync input for multicamera shoots are also included.
Blackmagic Design drivers are included, providing software support for Apple Final Cut Pro HD, Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0, Apple Shake, Adobe Photoshop with custom plugins, Adobe After Effects, Discreet (Autodesk) Combustion, Eyeon Fusion, and many more.
The card is available for under $1,000. For more, visit www.blackmagic-design.com.