By George Avgerakis with technical assistance from Ben Insler, January 1, 2004
The introduction of the JVC HD10, the first high-definition camcorder selling for under $4,000, has the potential of finally jacking HD into common usage, consequently lighting the revolution in teleproduction that we have all been expecting for several years. Respecting the magnitude of this launch, and predicting the introduction of competition camcorders at NAB 2004, Videography editors have allowed me to review the HD10 in three episodes.
I like "episodes." My first article on the HD10, which ran last month (October Videography), reminded me of the Star Wars title, Phantom Menace. I'd heard a lot about the HD10 before it was finally placed in my hands. My first hands-on experience with the camera was a demo of a rather shaky prototype at NAB 2003 -- I knew JVC was not having an easy time getting all the elements sorted out under the tight deadline required to beat the competition to market. JVC did get it sorted out, I'm happy to say, and one of the first production models accompanied my remote production team to the Hard Rock Café - Rolling Rock Battle of the Bands concert video in Pittsburgh, which I co-produced with Preeti Shrivastava of Lil' Princess Productions.
This episode could be easily titled, "The Clone War." As you will see, the exigencies of editing a real production while simultaneously writing a review of the editing system can drive a person to explore some rather unusual workarounds. In this case, we had to clone the entire bin structure between two editing software systems. Luckily, one of Preeti's camera operators, Ben Insler, signed on to edit the production, supplying both the camera operator's experience of the shoot and his extensive computer savvy derived from years of animation and video editing experience.
The final episode of this review will take you through the actual production of the rock concert tape, which our company is attempting to sell to a new HD cable network. The network, fully aware of our efforts to review and test the HD10, was as interested as we were to find out if the camera could succeed in producing HD material that is of high enough quality to be broadcast on cable. At this moment we don't know the answer to that question, although we do know that the camera can produce HD that looks great on our plasma screen and is far beyond anything we've ever seen on a $4,000 camcorder in any venue. Perhaps the title of the third episode will be Profitable Conclusion. Only time will tell.
@SubHead:HD Software For The HD10
@Body1:Although the camera comes bundled with nonlinear editing (NLE) software, potential buyers may be interested to know that several manufacturers are rushing to produce additional software with a wide variety of features. These include CineForm's Aspect HD, which works as a plug-in for Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Apple's Final Cut Pro 4. (Apple has not yet announced support for the JVC cameras under Final Cut Pro.)
@SubHead:Connecting The Camera
@Body1:In order to begin editing, the JVC HD10 must be connected by FireWire to a Windows computer running appropriate editing software. When properly connected, the camera appears as a normal online device--like a hard drive or digital camera. Unfortunately, this connection process proved extremely difficult to complete on a cloned machine (based on an ASUS P4C800 motherboard, with a Pentium 4 3.06 GHz CPU, 2GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro4 980 XGL running Windows XP).
@Body: Installing the camera on an Alienware computer that had been designed specifically for our review turned out to be just as difficult. Both computers recognized that the camera was connected, and the camera could be controlled from Windows Movie Maker; however, we could not control the camera with any capture utility (either the bundled JVC/KDDI software or the CineForm Aspect HD software) and we couldn't view the incoming signal feed on either computer's monitor.
During the review, we were not aware that the camera has to be switched to the correct mode (either DV or HD) for the computer to recognize the camera. If you're in DV mode, Windows Movie Maker will open and recognize the camera but not capture HD. This issue is addressed on CineForm's Web site, and tech support is ready to discuss the problem if you call. Unfortunately, we learned about this situation after we had spent time on a cumbersome workaround.
We believe JVC should supply instructions for installing the camera on any suitable computer/software platform without a problem. Chasing responsibilities from JVC to the computer manufacturer or NLE software company is a waste of the user's time and will not be tolerated in a competitive marketplace.
@SubHead:Bundled Editing Software
@Body1: I thought one of the coolest things about the HD10 was that it comes bundled with nonlinear editing (NLE) software, so users could consider the cost of getting into HD as the cost of the camera and that was that. The NLE is a "light" version of MPEG Edit Studio Pro (version 1.2), a complete system created by KDDI R&D Labs of Japan (http://avs.kddlabs.co.jp/indexe.html for the English version).
@Body:I was hoping that I'd be able to say nice things about the NLE. Sorry, folks, I can't. This software is almost impossible to use as an editing device. The main problem is with the monitor window that represents the program playback of the timeline. Every time you slice or trim the ends of a clip, the monitor window disappears, as does the cursor for the timeline. If you re-click the "play" button for the timeline, the monitor reappears, but the playback starts again from the beginning of the timeline.
Additionally, it seems impossible to shuttle the cursor frame-by-frame on the timeline. Ben tried, unsuccessfully, using the left and right arrow keys, the method most commonly offered in NLE products. A button appears in the clip monitor window that allows frame shuttle on individual clips, but no similar button appears for the timeline. We spent some time looking for other methods to execute the necessary function but could find none. This seems to indicate that you cannot shuttle back and forth over an edit, even two frames, to check the continuity of the edit in this software. Once the monitor reappeared, Ben could replay approximately three seconds around an edit point to view it, but there appears to be no way to fine-tune the edit down to the frame level.
It should be noted that the KDDI software, developed in close conjunction with JVC, promises virtually transparent editing quality. KDDI's NLE works completely within the MPEG-2-Transport Stream format of the HD10. Aspect HD converts the footage to an AVI format for editing and then converts the AVI back to the HD10's native MPEG-2-TS format for printing to tape. CineForm claims that their system is superior to KDDI's and also claims visually lossless editing quality. We hope that the problems we experienced with the bundled version of KDDI's software are indicative of software glitches common to an early release and press demo situations. I'd like to see both JVC and KDDI quickly correct the problems and provide us with another review opportunity.
While we were not successful in editing with the bundled software, we were successful in bulk capturing all the tapes of the Battle of the Bands show we intend to produce for the new HD cable network. This capture was completed on the KDDI software, and the MPEG-2-TS formatted scenes were preserved on a USB 2.0 hard drive. This drive was attached to the clone ASUS platform prior to the arrival of the Alienware computer, which was supplied by CineForm with their Aspect HD software installed.
Aspect HD Editing Software from CineForm
As noted above, we could not capture footage from the HD10, but we were able to convert all the footage stored on the ASUS computer's hard drive by installing the hard drive on the Alienware computer and using CineForm's proprietary CFCapture software program.
Although we were not able to test the camera capture utilities of the CineForm software, we understand that CineForm's video engine converts the MPEG-2-TS HD source format into CineForm's proprietary editing format automatically when capturing from a camera. CineForm's conversion software uses very light compression in order to maintain the visual quality of source clips. The compression reduces the bandwidth per HD stream to roughly 6-10 MB/s (48-80 Mb/s), which allows two simultaneous real-time HD streams on a 7200 rpm drive
. Using a RAID 0 configuration and a single Pentium 4-based PC, CineForm will enable up to four simultaneous HD streams with transitions, effects and motion.
Employing CFCapture to convert the footage we acquired with KDDI proved quite easy. The conversion ran at about real time, but the system tended to crash on extremely long clips. CineForm offers a white paper on its Web site (A New Approach To High-Definition Video Production) that claims that KDDI's software sometimes incorrectly breaks clips at the wrong points, resulting a failed conversion on long files because of the incorrectly marked scene breaks. This could have been the problem we encountered when we were unable to convert long KDDI-captured sequences.
CineForm's technical support team remarked that their tests revealed that KDDI can sometimes completely lose short scenes upon capture. We did not experience such a problem, however. I believe the longest clip we converted successfully was about 19 minutes. Conversions of this length or shorter run fine. A 48-minute clip always crashed. Perhaps this error was caused by a memory problem specific to each computer. The CFCapture software, however, is not configured to inform the user of such problems.
Our test case was a 48-minute clip of the band Puddle of Mudd in concert. Although the software appeared to convert the entire clip, it actually created a small AVI file that played deceptively well under Windows. We weren't able to import this AVI file into Premiere.
The conversion program does not notify the user when the conversion is complete, and it does not provide any warning of failure when a file is too large for it to process. We eventually got around this problem by editing our 48-minute piece into six roughly equal parts and batch converting these overnight. We have no idea how long the actual conversion took, but in the morning, each of the six sub-clips imported into Premiere 6.5 without a problem.
Editing with Aspect HD and Premiere
Our test of Aspect HD from CineForm was conducted on the Alienware computer. Aspect HD works as a plug-in for Adobe Premiere 6.5. Those who are familiar with Premiere will find no learning curve in adapting to HD with the CineForm software. Though we had some minor reservations regarding the Alienware computer and Premiere software, which we'll mention later, the system operated flawlessly and allowed us to achieve real-time effects and playback in HD, viewed on the computer monitor.
It is important to note that, while most DV editing systems allow you to view playback in real time on the computer, the final output (to a VTR or television monitor) must be rendered. Aspect HD is no exception. Real-time external monitor previews are available if you have a video card like a Matrox P750 or Parhelia. These cards accomplish real-time preview to an external monitor by grabbing the video overlay channel on the graphics card and converting it to an NTSC signal.
The final result, when rendered, can be output from the computer to the JVC HD10 camera in native MPEG-2-TS mode or to a DVHS deck. You can also output to any HD digital media format, including Windows Media 9, for distribution or HUFFYUV for downtime compositing. These are currently your only options, although as Sony and Panasonic roll out their versions of MPEG-HD, we can expect additional solutions soon.
Alienware Concerns
The Alienware computer is an awesome device to behold. It is built on a rugged, well ventilated chassis that recalls the "brick outhouse" designs of Intergraph computers years ago. Internally, the components and wiring display a concern for efficiency and thoughtful, handmade craft. It is easy to see why this brand commands a premium price.
Perhaps we were expecting processing speeds of mythical proportions when we started attacking our edit with careless abandon. On some editing routines -- admittedly, these were complex, aspect ratio changing setups -- the machine would hesitate for 5 to 25 seconds. At first, Ben assumed the computer had crashed and would reboot. When he took the time to wait and see, however, it turned out that the computer was actually crunching numbers and was simply not able to notify us of the fact.
It is important to realize that HD editing is an extremely computation-intensive task for any computer to resolve. Most editors, selfishly pursuing their imaginative desires, fail to realize that, once in a while, the machine needs to "take a breath." During those moments, continued input is not ignored; it is simply added to the already burdensome list of "to dos." When your computer seems to freeze up and become unresponsive, either wait a few minutes, or do a three-fingered salute (control+alt+delete) and examine the Processes tab under Task Manager (if even that responds).
An indication that the computer is simply crunching and not crashing in Premiere is the tendency of the computer to loop a short (.25 second) clip of sound over and over. If this should occur, go grab a beer. Nothing is seriously wrong.
Other than this small point, the Alienware hardware performed beautifully throughout our test. Ben often left it on, in mid-edit, for an entire day as he went off on errands out of house. Returning, he'd hit the Spacebar and see the machine leap back into action, playing the timeline without a snag.
Exporting
The final stage of any HD edit is to get the finished timeline rendered and back onto a suitable playback tape. Final renders in Aspect HD are done to a proprietary AVI file or may be exported to any other format without rendering the timeline first--a big time saver. While the proprietary AVI file can play back on any Aspect HD-equipped NLE system, it cannot be simply exported to tape, either in the HD10 camera or the DVHS VCR. This is because CineForm HD exports are intended primarily as master archive files or as workspaces to be imported into Adobe After Effects.
Aspect HD's exporting routine works fine. CineForm's tech support proved extremely helpful, always responding within 24 hours of our help call. Tech Chief Thad Huston was patient and well versed in his company's software, leading us to believe that customers will not be left out in the cold when in need of assistance. Information received from tech support was accurate and worked first time around.
Exporting the Aspect HD files back to the JVC HD10 camera began by converting the Aspect HD AVI files back to the native MPEG-2-TS format. This is done by setting Premiere to "Adobe MPEG exporter." The process results in a ".ts" HD stream file, which is essentially the same thing as a KDDI ".m2t" file.
Assuming we could connect the camera to the Alienware machine, we would then export this file using CFCapture back to the JY-HD10U in HD format. Unfortunately, we couldn't connect the camera, so Ben took a test ".ts" file back to his ASUS computer and attempted to import it into the KDDI software. Although the ".ts" file is not an import option in KDDI, the software accepted the file when Ben chose to view "all files" (*.*). Once the file was in the KDDI software, Ben was able to hook up the JY-HD10U and print the ".ts" file to the camera using the KDDI/JVC Capture Utility software. After proving the test workaround would work, Ben succeeded in transferring the entire concert clip back to the HD10 and declared that we were now ready to convert the footage to HDCAM format (via component dub mode) for evaluation by our clients. In conclusion, Ben remarked, "It's a Rube Goldberg Machine, but it works!"
Conclusion
Clearly more work is needed on both the JVC/KDDI bundled software and, to a lesser extent (mainly with computer-to-camera connections), the CineForm software. The CineForm connectivity problems we experienced may well be our failure to set up the camera properly and should be easily rectified. Our fledgling test, with some effort, produced a viable HD edit on a camera costing under $4,000 with software costing $1,200.
Next month, we'll tell the story about how a small New York video company, using "newby" talent, went to bat in the majors by using the HD10 to sell a production concept to a national HD cable network. Will we score? Stay tuned!
Bios:
George Avgerakis is co-founder of Avekta Productions Inc. in New York City and author of a second book for McGraw-Hill, "Digital Animation Bible." Reach him and read excerpts of his books at www.bizbible.biz
Preeti Shrivastava is founder of Lil' Princess Productions of Washington, D.C., a media production company and talent management firm.
Ben Insler is a freelance cameraman-editor-animator who frequently works with Avekta and Lil' Princess.
.
|