Sony:

• Sony HDR-TD10 – Sony’s first 3D consumer camcorder
• Sony HDR-CX700V / HDR-CX560V / HDR-CX360V – an update to Sony’s consumer AVCHD product line
• Sony HDR-PJ50V / HDR-PJ30V / HDR-PJ10 – innovative little cams with built-in LED video projectors!

Canon:

• Canon HF G10 / XA10 – small, but with a clever convertible design and features aplenty for the demanding consumers / prosumers
• Canon HF S30 – an update to the S-series product line (maybe the last iteration?)

Panasonic:

• Panasonic HDC-TM900 / HDC-HS900 / HDC-SD900 / HDC-SD800 – 3-CMOS camcorders in continuation of last year’s widely recognized HDC-TM700

PS: if you like the photo on the right, here’s another one. All pictures from CES 2011 for Friends of HD Video: credits to Astroman from Arizona.

How often have you wasted time searching the Web for good camcorder / DSLR reviews, or video accessories, or looking for solutions to specific problems with your video editing software…

To help solve this problem and make best use of your time, Friends of HD Video is pleased to introduce a new search engine (powered by Google) that is fully dedicated to the needs of high-definition videomakers worldwide.

See the new search box on top of each page on this website? Check it out, as it will give you search results not just on Friends of HD Video, but also on a select list of hand-picked, first-rate websites related to videomaking…

Continue the discussion on our High-Definition camcorders & DSLR forums!

Step 1 – Query

Type your query in the box (observe how the autocompletion feature gives you some suggestions with most common queries).

Step 2 – Broad results

The default All Things Videomaking tab gives you results from all websites in the list, with Friends of HD Video being top first when we have contents here that are relevant to your query.

Step 3 – Narrow your search

Click on each tab to restrict results to select categories:

• The Friendsofhdvideo.com tab only lists results in this website here.
• The Product support tab lists results in all major manufacturers (Sony, Canon…) and software publishers websites – including product pages, knowledge bases, and official user forums (like Apple forums, Adobe forums, EDIUS forums…)
• The Reviews and blogs tab lists results in independent blogs and reviews websites, like ProVideoCoalition, Camcorderinfo, Philip Bloom…

How useful is that?

Having a very specific issue with Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere that might be best answered in the knowledge bases or official forums by those companies? Use the Product support tab.

Want to read reviews about stabilizing accessories for instance? Skip the affiliate / spam / low-value websites that often clog the ordinary search engines, and just use the Reviews and blogs tab here.

We hope you will enjoy this new feature!

[ Jump to the forum discussion: Sony NEX-VG10 (APS-C sensor, interchangeable lens) ]

Two months after a preliminary teaser, Sony announced the new NEX-VG10 camcorder. With a DSLR-sized sensor and interchangeable lenses, this new high-definition video camera brings outstanding, unprecedented options to the videomaking world.

But who is it really for? Should you get a NEX-VG10 or a DSLR? As often, it all depends on what you really need… Now this camcorder calls for a full specs review and comparison.

For answers and more, continue the discussion in our forum thread: Sony NEX-VG10 (APS-C sensor, interchangeable lens)

Here is also, hereafter, a demo video published by Sony.

• What is the best camcorder for our needs?
• How to adjust optimal settings for best video quality?
• How to capture video from the camcorder and transfer it to a computer for editing? Which video editing software is easiest or most powerful?
• How to burn DVDs or blu-ray discs?

To help you find answers to these questions and more, Friends of HD Video now launches a new online community, ready to welcome you.

Read our full announcement to discover what makes us so special… or Sign Up Now!

Sony announced on May 11, 2010 the development of a completely new HD camcorder (read the full press release).

Essential characteristics are:

• Interchangeable lenses, compatible with the “E-mount” interchangeable lenses developed for the NEX-5 and NEX-3 still cameras. For those, see the announcement and previews at DPReview – Sony NEX mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras previewed,
• Compatibility with α DSLR lenses via a mount adaptor,
• APS HD CMOS sensor, that should bring the same image quality as the current crop of video DSLRs from Canon, Nikon…

Any question or comment on this article? Come over discuss it on our HD camcorders forums!

With these two combined announcements, Sony is introducing brand new exciting options in the market: a DSLR sensor in a true camcorder form factor (we shall see how that fits in one’s hand though), and DSLR-like still cameras in a compact form factor.

As Matthew Jeppsen said (Who will Get The Cheese?), DSLR enthusiasts have been enjoying unprecedented benefits for such a low price: high sensitivity and low noise, filmic depth-of-field, high dynamic range, interchangeable lenses. The drawbacks however have been very strong too: intense aliasing, rolling-shutter artifacts, imperfect recording codec, short record times, bad audio, and an awkward DSLR form factor that won’t hold comfortably.

It will be very exciting to see if Sony manages to overcome these issues in this new product. And also, despite the low depth-of-field that makes focusing so difficult to achieve, can Sony manage to make this a product that ordinary prosumers / hobbyists can truly enjoy carrying around and travel with – or instead will that be again basically a tool for indie film makers only like the current video DSLRs.

Product availability expected for Fall 2010.

To overcome this issue, you need to understand and take advantage of one essential audio production technique: dynamic range compression. It does not need to be complex however: with a free software tool and no more additional work than a simple drag-and-drop, here is a practical tutorial to help you reach fantastic quality in your voice-overs.

Introducing The Levelator…

Any question or comment on this article? Come over discuss it on our Audio forum!

Why do we need to compress audio dynamics?

When adding a voice-over, your video typically ends up having 3 distinct audio components:

• The video soundtrack as was initially recorded by your camcorder (e.g. ambient sound),
• Background music that you may add,
• The commentary’s voice.

These 3 components fight each other for a share of the overall audio volume. For example, if at one point in time there is a loud noise in the ambient sound, it may cover the music or the commentary (which you don’t hear clearly anymore).

The issue you are facing here is two-fold:

1. In digital audio there is a maximum loudness threshold that you are not allowed to exceed. If your overall volume exceeds that limit, what then happens is called hard clipping: the audio sounds distorted, saturated. As a general rule, you must avoid hard clipping at all times.
2. The human voice has wide audio dynamics. It is very difficult to speak with a constant volume: sometimes you speak louder, sometimes softer, even within the same sentence (ordinarily people tend to end sentences with a softer tone). And some specific voice sounds – such as plosive consonants (‘p’, ‘t’) – introduce very rapid peaks in audio levels. So every time you pronounce those consonants for example, you are at risk of introducing audio saturation.

This is illustrated by the following diagram, which represents the 3 components in a typical voice-over soundtrack. Since voice is not constant (there are gaps between sentences), you may want to increase music volume between sentences, then decrease it again as your talent speaks. But even then, sometimes the voice is momentarily too strong and hard clipping occurs.

You could think that the obvious solution is to decrease the overall volume of voice? If you do this, you will effectively remove the audio clipping and distortion, but the soft parts of the recording may become even more difficult to hear (which is quite unpleasant for the audience watching your video). Because, again, the volume of voice is not constant and varies over time.

Benefits of voice dynamic range compression

The key here is to compress audio levels and decrease the dynamic range of your voice recording. In other words, think of it like reducing the variations of loudness by making audio levels more stable, more uniform over time. If you can compress voice loudness by making the softest parts louder, and the loudest parts softer, you will obtain 2 major benefits:

• The softest parts of the voice-over will be much clearer and pleasant to hear,
• You will reduce the risks of hard-clipping and saturation. When the volume of voice has been leveled this way, you have many more options at your disposal for mixing the voice-over with ambient sound and background music.

Enhance your voice recordings with The Levelator

Enters The Levelator. The Levelator is an adaptive audio dynamic range compression software, which improves the voice dynamics by performing automatic loudness adjustment. Although this very simple (and free!) utility was originally built for podcasts, it works equally well for voice-overs. You only need to drag and drop your raw voice recording (WAV file) onto The Levelator, and it produces another processed WAV file while leaving the original one untouched. There are no settings available, so you cannot tweak it to your liking, but this does not really matter: the default results of The Levelator are extremely satisfactory.

For example, here is a sample unprocessed voice recording. It is impossible to increase the overall volume because there are already a few audio peaks that are close to the hard-clipping threshold. And yet, there is considerable waste of dynamic range as the voice tends to fade towards the end of each word group.

Here is the same voice recording after it has been processed by The Levelator. Audio levels have been normalized: the voice sounds louder, and the end of word groups is much easier to hear. This makes a considerable difference when mixed with the ambient sound and background music, with splendid results and an excellent overall quality for the voice-over.

Other audio peak limiter software

If you would like more control when compressing audio dynamics, you can also use Audacity which includes a compression filter. But it is more complex to use, with not-so-magical results.

This post brings you a short color correction tutorial, which teaches you how to fix your night shots to remove the red color cast and make them look more natural.

Another opportunity for color correction…

Any question or comment on this article? Come over discuss it on our Editing, media authoring, and color correction forum!

Best practices for shooting video at night

First off, there are some best practices that you need to know primarily, if you want to be able to shoot good video at night:

• Use manual focus. If you leave focus on automatic, focus hunting will occur because the insufficient light prevents the camcorder from locking on subjects.
• Use manual exposure and avoid too much gain. If you leave exposure on automatic, the camcorder will boost exposure by introducing gain, with 2 ghastly consequences: the night will not look black anymore but greyish; and the digital gain will be causing ugly noise in your picture. Gain is okay, even necessary, but not too much. For instance on the HDR-FX7 / HDR-FX7E, do not let gain exceed 9dB, or 12dB maximum maybe. On other camcorders the exact value may be different but the principles are the same.

Here is the original night shot. Although it was taken with an HDR-FX7E, this tutorial can apply to all camcorders.

So this picture does look fully red, and that is what we want to correct. Note however that there are 2 spots which have the right color: the grey cars, and the little shop’s white light. This occurs because there are multiple light sources in the scene:

1. Everything which is lit by street lights looks red, because the street lights are red. These are called broken spectrum lights because they produce only tiny bits of the whole light spectrum. Compared to daylight, the subjects you are shooting cannot reflect their true color because the light they receive is too narrow. In such situations, Manual White Balance is ordinarily useless because, even with a proper White Balance target (such as X-Rite’s ColorChecker White Balance Card), the camcorder is unable to establish white balance against broken spectrum street lights.
2. Those parts which are lit by car lights, or the little shop, have accurate colors because the car lights, or the shop’s lights, are strong enough to overcome the red street lights. This way they are able to provide the subjects with the wide spectrum necessary to reflect their true color.

This, we need to keep in mind, because we will need to fix the red color while preserving the correct parts.

First step: fixing the red color from the street lights

This first step is to apply Primary Color Correction, which means color correction that applies to the whole image. Here we’re going to steer the whole color away from red/orange, therefore applying a strong bias towards the complementary color (cyan). This screenshot was taken from EDIUS Pro, but there are similar features and you can obtain the same results with the 3-way color corrector included in any high-end editing software, such as Apple Final Cut Studio or Adobe Premiere Pro.

Here is the result: the red cast has effectively been removed. But those parts which were neutral (grey / white) have now turned cyan / green and this needs to be fixed in the final step.

Second step: recovering the grey & white areas

This second step is to apply Secondary Color Correction, which means color correction that applies only to parts of the whole image. Here we’re using an HSL key (Hue Saturation Luminance) to qualify only those parts of the picture which match the specific hue of green that we want to eliminate.

Then the simple trick is to desaturate those parts, that is remove all color from them so they turn grey / white again.

Here is the final result: from the initial horrendous red-looking footage, we have managed to produce much more acceptable video, which looks realistic enough to use in your final edited video without the audience screaming. As the best special effects are those which go unnoticed, here only the well-trained eyes will realize that the video was color-corrected.

What is “industry-shaking” in all this?

Get the answer and more after the break with a Q&A report about the new PMW-EX1R and PMW-350, and also a short test of a fascinating device by JVC which converts 2D video to 3D – in real time, please.

Visiting Siel-Satis 2009…

New Sony PMW-EX1R and PMW-350: Questions & Answers

Q: We have all read the spec sheets and brochures available for download right on the day of the announcement [press release, PMW-EX1R product page: US / EU, PMW-350: US / EU, and a sponsored hands-on test]. As per the “industry-shaking” teaser, the audience was a little bit… well, underwhelmed. The name PMW-EX1R let us think this camcorder could be using a new EXMOR R sensor (for improved sensitivity and S/N ratio), and actually it does not?

A: The PMW-EX1R is an evolution of the PMW-EX1 (which it replaces). The main improvements include:

• Better handling,
• Improved IR filtering to fix the IR / far-red contamination issues which have been reported (the filter is now built-in),
• SD capability,
• Improved viewfinder,
• Cache Recording which lets you push REC up to 10s after the event occurred, and still get the shot successfully recorded.

Q: So it is about the PMW-350 then? In a nutshell, what is the compelling value proposition brought forth by this new camcorder?

A: PMW-350 brings all the features and benefits of memory-based solid-state recording to a full-featured shoulder-mount 2/3-in HD broadcast camcorder, that you can complement with the usual range of accessories (upward-compatible battery packs, RF transmitter…)

Q: What is the target market segment, who is it for? From the specs and form factor, it seems like a refreshed design taking inspiration from the PDW-F355 XDCAM HD, replacing Professional Disc with memory cards and taking the transition to CMOS. Is it again about extending XDCAM HD features to (slightly) more accessible segments? (*)

A: No, these are different – for instance regarding weight (**). Actually the PMW-350 is targeted at users of DVCAM shoulder-mounts (for ex. the DSR-570 series), to help them make the transition to HD. Solid-state recording with CMOS means lower power consumption and lower weight: although PMW-350 fits a variety of situations, the ideal scenario is ENG (field reporting). Documentary is excellent too, although this creates even stronger requirements (compared to short-lived news) to address the IT archiving challenge (i.e. disk-based archival as opposed to tapes or Professional Discs). And solid-state recording brings additional flexibility in processing footage.

Q: What are the post workflow options (not mentioning the HD-SDI & HDMI live feeds)?

A: There is a wide variety of options. You can extract files from the memory cards with a card reader. Or use hard-disk mobile storage to offload the video from the cards temporarily. Or directly from the camcorder with the USB connection or iLink / Firewire. You can also use Memory Stick cards (without under-/over-cranking capability though).

(*) US List Prices: PMW-350L USD 20,500 / PDW-F355L USD 26,500.

(**) Editor’s note – This sounds a bit odd, weight is not that different as per the specs: PMW-350L 3.2 kg, PDW-F355L 3.85 kg, DSR-570 3.7kg (all without lens). Power consumption is another matter though: PMW-350L 18 W (recording with VF / AF lens / mic), PDW-F355L 32 W (recording with VF / LCD / manual lens), DSR-570 24 W (body).

JVC DM-TD10 2D-to-3D converter

I had the opportunity to test an amazing device by JVC… This JVC DM-TD10 converter takes a live ‘normal’ HD video feed as an input, and outputs 3D HD video: specialized image processing algorithms are able to separate various focus planes in the video (based on edge recognition, focus, movement) and then create 3D video from the 2D feed.

Here is how the demo was setup:

• An HD camcorder was connected to the DM-TD10 converter,
• The converter output was connected to a JVC 3D LCD display, which is built on polarized filter technology: each scan line is polarized alternatively – odd lines show the image for one eye, even lines show the image for the other eye,
• Polarized glasses separate the 2 images and let you view the video in 3D and full color.

The main drawback is in losing half vertical resolution, but that was not a show-stopper by any means – the viewing experience was really comfortable… With interlaced video, one could argue that you also lose half temporal resolution, but there was no apparent judder.

So basically this demo was actually showing 2 distinct technologies which are there and available today:

• 3D video – splendid and so color rich,
• Algorithmic real-time conversion of 2D video to 3D – fascinating, innovative, amazingly engineered, but maybe bound to stir the same debates of yore regarding old-time B&W movies colorization: do we really want it?

Now, there are still some hurdles to overcome:

• Lower consumer prices for polarized 3D displays,
• Getting the broadcasters on board. Taking one 1080i channel and deciding that it is 3D, is just that: a decision. But the devil is in the details and in setting up an interoperable standard: in addition to a compatible set-top box and display, there must be all sorts of equipment in-between which currently assume that all interlaced scan lines are only separated by time, not by space. Especially devices that work on motion estimation, like MPEG2 encoders / decoders and frame-rate converters. Changing that assumption can hardly be without impact, maybe.

Anyway, the demo was smashing.

Euphonix color grading tablet

A nice device which lets you use all 3 hands 4 hands simultaneously to control shadows, mid-tones, highlights, and other parameters, with Apple Color for instance.

Should we expect a new XDCAM EX with the latest EXMOR R sensors? Handheld or shoulder-mount? This, and the price tag, is anybody’s guess.

But there is a much better solution, at no additional cost.

Any question or comment on this article? Come over discuss it on our Audio forum!

Microphones for PC sound cards have such a low signal, they require overamplification which brings signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to about 35dB in voice recordings (YMMV). This results in a lot of digital noise contamination with a non-natural voice affected by digital artifacts. This could be due to the insufficient quality of motherboard chipsets naturally, so I replaced this with a full-featured sound card. Little improvement. This might be okay for Internet telephony (VoIP) such as Skype, but totally unacceptable for video productions.

I then found a very nice solution instead using my camcorder microphone for live voice recordings:

• You need a DV camcorder, or an HDV camcorder configured to record DV.
• Download and install River Past Audio Capture. The free trial allows for DV/Firewire recordings of up to 2 minutes in a row.
• Use your camcorder as is, or connect an external microphone — in my case, HDR-FX7E with RØDE Stereo VideoMic. Be sure to remove any tape from the camcorder (to prevent noise from the tape mechanism) and connect it to your PC through Firewire (IEEE1394).
• Use River Past Audio Capture to record voice-over WAV files, with live audio recording through the Firewire interface. Again, note that with an HDV camcorder this will only work after you have configured the menu to record DV (not HDV).
• Drop the WAV files onto your editing timeline.

From there, a couple of tips for best quality:

• You need to speak close to the microphone (I found 10 cm / 3 inches to be adequate).
• Standard wind protection is most recommended to protect against sounds from breathing at the microphone.
• Whether you set the camcorder for automatic or manual audio gain is up to you. AUTO guarantees similar audio levels for all recordings, at the expense of some loudness artifacts as you start speaking sometimes (because of the abrupt change in volume, therefore gain). MANUAL will avoid such inconvenience, but you need extra care and control in your voice to avoid audio clipping.

Overall, although professionals might call this a substandard cheapo hack, I found it extremely satisfactory with near-professional quality — more than enough for just any serious hobbyist.