Looking for tips on doing video for large screen

[wgkenney]

Hi all,

I recently got a 50" gas plasma screen for my home and am enjoying the HD world. Unfortuately, my home DVDs don't look so good on the big screen (they look fine on the smaller screen of our previous TV).

Are there any tips on things I should do different in recording or editing my video to get a better video for use with the larger screen.

I currently have a JVC GR DV 3000U and I use Vegas 4 for editing and DVD arch 1 to build my DVD's.

I know this isn't the best camera out there, but I'm not ready to upgrade yet, so any help or tips here would be great.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Does it have a 16:9 record mode??? That would probably be a good place to start.

Kevin

[wgkenney]

It does have a wide mode that is 16:9, but I don't think it is a real 16:9. I will experiment some with that tonight. Thanks

[yoda313]

It does have a wide mode that is 16:9, but I don't think it is a real 16:9. I will experiment some with that tonight. Thanks

Hello,

That will probably help.

Also, I know it will reduce the max time you can fit on a disc but use the HIGHEST quality possible. You can always shrink it later. Shrinking it will lose a little quality but if you record at the highest it will be a smaller quality hit.

Try it out with short clips to see what looks better.

Kevin

[GreyDeath]

I don't know if you can do this with your camera, but if it has a Progressive mode for recording, that would probably be a big help in picture quality. Otherwise, it's recording in NTSC and has the 2 fields so nothing you do will make your home movies as sharp as a commercial DVD.

I use Vegas 4 and it does have templates for Widescreen video, you just have to adjust the settings to make it Progressive. Of course, you also need a DVD Authoring program that will accept the anamorphic format.

Other than that, what Yoda said is another good bet. Encode at the highest quality possible. You still should be able to fit 90min. on a DVD-R single layer.

[wgkenney]

There has been a lot of discussion on where the camera has progressive scan. The general concensous is that the digital wide is, in fact, a progressive scan mode.

I had forgotten the template for wide format in Vegas. I'll have to shoot some short video and play with the progressive scan mode, wide mode, and the vegas templates.

[edDV]

Start saving your money for a HDV cam. Two current choices. Avoid the JVC HD10, get the Sony HDR-FX1
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/article.php?filename=In-Depth-look-at-the-HDR-FX1%5C's-features

and keep up with HDV technology at
http://www.sonyhdvinfo.com/
http://www.hdv-info.org/
http://www.hdvideoguys.com/

If that's too much look into a good 3xCCD DV cam, starting with the Panasonic PV-GS200
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/panasonic-pv-gs200-camcorder-review.htm

When your DV video isn't looking good on the big screen its more to do with the poor quality of your lenses and camera section of your camcorder rather than any limitations in the DV format. Prosumer DV camcorders cam look very good on the big screen.

[wgkenney]

Thanks edDV,

Are there specific settings on my camera that will have a more significant impact on the big screen that others. I've been working on learning how to work the manual adjustments for better video.

Or is it that the quality of my camera in general will be hard to get up to big screen standards.

I'm still out a little for an upgrade. But I do want to look for my next camera to be HD capable. I'm guessing that the media format and other areas will be up to speed in the next year or two to allow us to get that HD onto a format to get real HD on the big screen.

[edDV]

Its the quality of your camera and lenses.

To see how good your DV recorder section is, recoder a good source, like HBO off your cable box with S-Video connectors. You will be amazed how good a VCR the camcorder is.

The DV recorder section is almost identical to what TV news pros use.