Editing HDV

CANOPUS EDIUS 4 REVIEW

Editing HDV

When HDV was released in 2005, it brought High Definition video to the masses. While DV is 720/576 @ 25mbps, HDV shoots 1440/1080/50i @ over 100mbps. It is then compressed by the camera down to 25mbps, the same as normal DV rate onto normal DV tapes in a format called MPEG 2 Transport Stream or m2t. Editing raw m2t takes considerable computer power. To overcome this, some companies have the m2t converted to another easier format (codec) to edit as it gets firewired into the computer.

Canopus is one of those companies, having produced a codec called Canopus HQ. Even on a slow 3GIG PC the m2t stream is converted on the fly to this Canopus HQ codec in real time. Editing with this makes it very easy for your computer to handle and you are are still in 1440/1080/50i. Canopus HQ codec is very good quality and I personally think it is better than other codec's out there that do that same. It can handle colour correction very well, something other popular 8 bit codecs seems to fall down on. This is very important for underwater footage to be able to do and in real time. If you would like to find out more about the Canopus HQ codec please go to HERE.

Editing In HDV Gives You A 1440/1080/50i Resolution To Edit In

So why should edit in HDV resolution when you have not got a HD DVD player? Editing in HDV will give better quality regular DVD's and most current PC computers can play Microsoft's HD wmv format, which can be burnt onto normal DVD's. This allows at least an hour of HD quality. There are also more and more DVD players coming out that can play the HD WMV format. This allows the option of playing the footage on a computer and out to a HDTV via cheap PCI cards. Also when, outputting to normal DVD size you can zoom in quite abit when editing still giving you great quality when you have made your DVD.

As HDV is a higher resolution than DV it takes more power to edit in real time and, even though I was only using a 3 GIG HT Intel PC, I still managed real time editing. I could have one video clip with variable slow motion and colour correction, along with a title and a second video clip in a moving pip with slow motion and colour correction, while playing back in realtime. Many transitions happen in real time as well when fading from one clip to the next. Edius can sustain more real time performance, but not over a longer time. If you have a Core2Duo CPU, then you can double that and with the new Core2Quads out soon, you will end up with considerably more real time performance. Interestingly, even though it does have to render, it stills plays through at a slower speed when it hits that area of the timeline. You can also still scrub over the timeline without a problem. A quick hit on some keys and it renders out that area to see how it looks at full speed. The video is also displayed at full resolution while you edit in the editing window.

One video clip with Colour Correction and Slow Motion
Second video clip in a moving PIP with Slow Motion and Colour Correction
One Title
Realtime conversion to the Canopus HQ codec on the Fly
Audio Tracks

The above is an example of what I could do on my 3 GIG HT intel CPU PC. It suits me, as Colour Correction and good Slow Motion in real time with the real time conversion on the fly to the Canopus HQ codec is most important to me. I also confident that a faster CPU will be just around the corner...

Adding Titles Is A Snap, Using QuickTitler, Title Motion Pro Or The After Market Heroglyph.

Quick Titler

For fun I loaded up the following files on the HDV timeline to see if I could edit mixed formats in real time.

1440/1080/50i m2t (HDV)
1440/1080/50i Canopus HQ (HDV)
DVD VOB file
QT H.264
WMV
DV 16.9

Once these were loaded, I hit play and away Edius went playing the whole lot back in the timeline. Editing with the Canopus HQ codec Edius does really well. Even though it can edit raw m2t, I would personally suggest converting to the Canopus HQ and editing with that. It truly is a multi format NLE!

Here is another link to a Whale Shark clip we used slow motion on. (28megs wmv)
Here is a link to one with vary slow mo and vary colour correction all in real time. (15megs wmv)

Another feature of Edius I liked is that when editing in HDV I can zoom in slightly without too much quality loss using the Video Layout tool. Just hit F7 and up it comes up, so you can zoom in on a clip or adjust it to fit if it is a different size/format.

Video Layout Tool. Just hit F7

Here you can see a bit of Vignetting caused by the underwater housings flip marco being bumped Because of the Canopus HQ codec, you can zoom in slightly to get rid of it. I also added a heap of Colour Correction to this clip and it still played back in real time.

I also love the ability to grab a HDV screen grab with just one click straight from the timeline in full resolution without having to adjust its pixel aspect ratio in photoshop to get it correct. Here is an example

It is easy to make photo montages. Just import the folder with all the pics, drag them to the timeline, select them all and apply a transition to them all and that's it. Just add music and encode out. I even imported 120 jpeg pics each around 3.5 megs in size (440megs) into the HDV timeline. I added basic fades and it all was done in about a minute.

120 x 3.5+ jpegs (440megs) Into The HDV Timeline With Transitions Was A Snap

The Region Filter Lets You Change The Colour On Even a Fish As it Swims Around

Once you have finished editing your HDV, use the speed encoder to make your m2t file then use the TS Writer to preview and feed the m2t files back to your HDV camera in 1080i format. You can do this outside of Edius.

Mpeg TS Writer