New Panasonic DVX-100A

Robert Wiegert · July 27, 2004

I just received my Panasonic and did a few 24p test with it and noticed that the recorded footage when played back seems really staggered but not as bad as seen through the view finder. I started with the F6 settings and tweaked them a little bit to match the suggested settings from DV Filmmaker so I don't think it's a setting problem so is there anything else I might have overlooked or is this just how it's recorded and can be fixed in post? Also I'd love to purchase a anamorphic lense adapter but am a little strapped for cash right now so has anyone used the "Squeeze" mode on the DVX100 and have you experienced any loss of resolution or detail? or should I shoot in 4:3 and change the aspect ratio in post?

Help would be appreciated!

Thanks

J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR · July 28, 2004

If you're looking at the image played back on the camera's LCD it is going to look studdery. That's normal. Play it back through a regular TV and it will be smooth.

Preston Herrick · July 29, 2004

The pulldown in 24pa mode of the F6 setting also has a slightly different motion cadence than 24p normal due to it's intended purpose. I just finished shooting a short (www.RadioMechanics.com) and the footage looks killer. In the end, there should be no difference in motion on playback between it and telecine'd film.

Vivian Zetetick · July 29, 2004

My understanding of "squeezed" mode shooting vs shooting with the anamorphic adapter is that the difference between the two is only *really* apparent when the footage is blown up to 35mm for theatrical screening. At that point the anamorphic footage is slightly better looking -- perhaps much better looking. It is often said that the two cannot be told apart when the footage is encoded to 24p DVD and displayed on a monitor. If that is true, and DVD is your target format, you are better off with the additional lens options than the anamorphic adapter.

I use the DVX100a in "squeeze" mode with the additional wide angle lens, and would love to see a side-by-side comparison of my footage vs anamorphic footage on a TV monitor. It looks pretty good as it is.

I too was worried about the motion cadence (or staggering effect) I saw on 24p footage shot with the DVX100a, and thought this was going to be a real problem. However, following some advice on this forum, I shot tests using different shutter speeds, and encoded a 24p test DVD. I then watched this DVD with friends and asked them to choose the sequence on the DVD which looked "the best" to them. All unanimously chose the footage shot with a 1/48 shutter speed setting. To all of our eyes the footage looked no different -- motion-wise -- than any movie we had seen on DVD. It was also mercifully free of those dispiriting video artifacts like stair-stepping on diagonal lines and chunky pixels boiling in the shadows.

Phil Rhodes · July 30, 2004

Hi,

> It is often said that the two cannot be told apart when the footage is encoded to > 24p DVD and displayed on a monitor

I'd bet small amounts of money I could tell, assuming a reasonably competent DVD encode.

Phil

Robert Wiegert · July 31, 2004

Great advice! Thanks a million I feel much better now!! I'm shooting the first scene of my newest feature tomorrow and i'll let you know how it turned out!

Thanks Again!

Rob