Digital Film?

Technology is changing our lives everywhere, and has recently made a large impact on the film/video production industry. In just the past few years, major motion pictures and network TV have begun filming totally in High Definition digital ‘video’ - but it’s impossible to tell, because it looks just like film.

The Beauty of 24p

Back in the old days of traditional film, nearly all productions were recorded at 24 frames per second. This standard gives the look of film that you are accustomed to seeing in a movie theatre for any major motion picture. When broadcast television came along, there was limited bandwidth for broadcast, so engineers came up with a clever way to interlace the lines on the screen, and fool your eyes into seeing the entire picture. Rather than broadcast at 24 complete frames per second, they devised a method to only broadcast every other line on the screen, 30 time per second, for a total of 60 interlaced frames (60i). This 60i format is responsible for the look of video that is shown on broadcast news and sporting events, and very likely, your personal video recorder.

As technology has improved, it is now possible to shoot and replay High Definition footage at a true 24 frames per second, which has the look of traditional film, as in any major motion picture. The Panasonic HVX200 cameras that we use record this footage directly to a digital flash storage, exactly like many digital still cameras use today (only much larger). The benefits of shooting straight to digital are many - no tapes and no dropouts, instant review of footage, reduced cost, and the ability to edit without reduced picture quality - almost instantly. While many call this technology digital video, we prefer to call it digital film, because the end product (which our customers actually see) looks like film, and not at all like video.

Our Cameras

The Panasonic AG-HPX300P is the latest addition to our stable for 2010. This camera will serve as our standard remote camera. Light weight and shoulder mount form factor make it great for capturing moments where a tripod just won’t do. The HPX300P is an HD broadcast quality, native 1080p 3-chip camera, that records in broadcast standard DVCPRO-HD or the new AVC-Intra100HD.

The Panasonic HVX200 is a our standard workhorse, a camera beloved by indie filmmakers worldwide (click here for a list of films shot with the HVX200), it typically serves as the main component, tripod-mounted camera for the wedding ceremony, capturing the main video as well as 4 channels of digital audio. The HVX200 captures up to 1080p video in DVCPRO-HD.

We choose Panasonic for several reasons, but mostly because Panasonic cameras have exceptional film-look capabilities, widely regarded as the best in the industry.

High Definition Format

Our preferred method is to record in the High Definition format 720p, at 24 fps. 720p is the High Definition format chosen by Fox, ABC, ESPN and others. If you’ve watched the SuperBowl and marveled at the level of detail and color fidelity, then you’ve been watching 720p HD. While 1080p HD has become dominant recently in Big Box stores, unless you sit within 6.5 ft of a 50″ 1080p HDTV set, it’s not humanly possible to tell the difference between the resolution, therefore we’re sticking with 720p for foreseeable future.

Top of the Line - Cutting Edge Gear

In addition to cutting-edge camera technology, Soundwavz also uses some of the best professional filmaking equipment on the market. Our motto is ‘Buy the right tool, the first time’. An example of how this manifests itself can be found in our wireless microphones. We chose Lectrosonics UCR401 reciever and SM transmitter. One transmitter/receiver set costs more than some cameras (and 10x the average microphone), but the results are more than worth the expense. This philosophy is evident in all our equipment, and is a strong foundation on which to build a professional production.

Viewing in HD

Once you receive your finished film in the mail, how can you watch it in HD? Unfortunately, our choices are limited today. Sony has won the HD format war and Blu-Ray is the winner, but Sony is sitting on the rights to the technology, and currently, unless you want 1500 copies or more, we can’t create a Blu-Ray for you. Until then, we will deliver on standard DVD, which looks spectacular, or we can deliver in true HD on Apple TV (which you could just download from our web site). We’ll also deliver an H.264 file for download, or Flash for YouTube if you would prefer.