| adamwilt.com > the DV, DVCAM & DVCPRO Formats | copyright © 1998-2018 Adam J. Wilt | ||||||||||||||||||
| DV - contents and links | search | ||||||||||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||||||||
What's here...
Don't quite see what you're looking for? These are the major pages on this site...
| you are here > |
|
Detailed listing of this site's DV contents, and links to other sites. | ||
|
The DV Formats Tabulated; standards documents & where to get them. | |||
|
DV formats, sampling, compression, audio, & 1394/FireWire/i.LINK. | |||
|
linear & nonlinear; hard & soft codecs; transcoding; dual-stream NLE. | |||
|
16:9; film-style; frame mode; slow shutters; image stabilization, etc. | |||
|
DV sampling, artifacts, tape dropout, generation loss, codecs. | |||
|
Tips & tricks, mostly DV-related; getting good CG. |
The answers to your DV-related questions should be here... but if they aren't, send me the questions so I can answer 'em! And if you see a wrong answer, let me know: send me the right answer so the next reader can get the straight dope instead of a bum steer... Also see the Comparisons/Reviews listings, and check out the Links (way below).Where a link for [pix] exists, a separate window will be launched, so that you can continue to read the text in this page while the images are loading. The pix pages' menu banners have links to the other available (on-site) pix pages, so that you can browse pix completely separately from the main text pages. (Of course, if you're using an ancient browser that doesn't understand "target=", the separate browsing won't occur... and if you're on a slow link, and/or using lynx or NetHopper, skip the graphics; you don't really need them anyway!)
This work is my own, but has been generated from many sources. I especially wish to thank Jan Crittenden at Panasonic, Stuart English (who was with Panasonic, now at RED), Earl Jamgochian at Sony, and Jim Miller (formerly with JVC) for their help in answering a variety of tricky questions and in correcting assorted technical details. Guy Bonneau's intelligent discussions of codec internals has also been very helpful; and thanks to the late Ralph Fairweather (Apple, 2-pop), and the late Charles McConathy (founder of ProMax), both pillars of the Mac NLE community (but I'm not Mac-centric; I use both Mac and PC and like them both. Sorry, no platform wars here!).
- Technical Details - The DV formats tabulated; standards documents and where to get them; NLE file formats.
- DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO - What is DV? What's the difference between DV, DVCAM, and DVCPRO? Digital8? How good are the DV formats compared to other formats? What are the DV artifacts I keep hearing about?
- Digital-S, DVCPRO50, DVCPROHD100, HD Digital-S - What are Digital-S and DVCPRO50? Four codecs for HD?
- 4:2:2, 4:1:1, 4:2:0- What are 4:2:2, 4:1:1, and 4:2:0 anyway? Why does PAL DV use 4:2:0? Can I chroma-key with 4:1:1? Can I use 4:1:1 DV sources for upconversion to HDTV?
- 1394/FireWire - What is 1394 and/or "FireWire"? Why are DV and 1394 always discussed together? What does a 1394 connection do for me? Is 1394 that much better than Y/C or component analog?
- locked vs unlocked audio- What's the difference between locked and unlocked audio? Will unlocked audio hurt me? How do I deal with it? How do I intermix locked and unlocked audio? Does unlocked audio explain why my audio loses sync in Adobe Premiere?
- Closed Captioning - Does DV support line 21 Closed Captioning (EIA-608-A)? Which DV devices support Closed Captioning? What about DTV Captioning?
- Setup (pedestal) on DV, or the lack of it - Why doesn't DV seem to have any setup? Are all digital formats like DV in this regard? How's it handled for broadcast? Are DV-native NLEs broadcast legal? How do I handle lack of setup on my NLE's analog outputs? Can I fix it by adding setup on capture? How do I define my pedestal level in my show? Is the "7.5% setup in my DVCAM camcorder OK?
- linear editing - Can I use DV in linear editing? What sort of linear editing gear can I get in DV? What sort of machine control is there? How accurate is it? Is DV timecode the same as SMPTE timecode?
- non-linear editing - What's non-linear editing? What's special about DV non-linear editing? Who makes non-linear editing stuff for DV? What gear is available? What about "dual-stream" and "real-time" DV NLE? Can I build a PC- or Mac-based NLE system myself? Where do I learn more details about specific NLE configurations and products? How much DV fits in a Gigabyte? Why is there a 2 Gig limit? How can I avoid it? What are SCSI-1, SCSI-2, Ultra-SCSI, etc.? What about Ultra-DMA? What do I really need? Why doesn't my non-linear editor see timecode if it's already on the tape?
- "hard" codecs vs "soft" codecs- What's a codec? What are "hard" and "soft" codecs? Which codec is better?
- Codec Problems - What's the "white clip" problem? How can white clipping be avoided, and what are the drawbacks of doing so? What other codec problems are there?
- transcoding to and from M-JPEG- Can I transcode between DV and motion-JPEG? Which is better for editing: DV or M-JPEG? What about MPEG-2 editing?
- 16:9 widescreen - What is 16:9 widescreen? Why should I care about 16:9? How do you get 16:9 pictures?
- frame mode, slow shutters, and "the film look" - What is this "frame mode" I hear so much about? How do I get "film look" shooting with DV cameras? What do the slow shutter speeds do for me?
- those funny free-spinning lens controls- Why don't consumer DV cameras have "real" lenses with focus marks? How do I work with these lenses?
- Image stabilization - What's EIS/DIS? What's optical stabilization? What about Steadicam/GlideCam? When do I use what kind of image stabilization?
Didn't find what you wanted here? Try Comparisons/Reviews (below), and Links (further below).
Format comparisons:
- DV and Hi8
- DV and Betacam SP
- Guy Bonneau's DV and M-JPEG compression discussion
- The EBU's DV25 and DV50 multigeneration tests with Beta SP and ITU-R BT.601
- Offsite:
- DV Magazine's PQA Analysis of 3/4", Hi8, BetaSP, DV formats, DigiBeta (PDF file), from http://www.archive.org
Camera comparisons & reviews:
- Side-by-side: Sony VX1000 and Canon XL-1
- The Canon XL-1 reviewed by Bobby Love
- The Panasonic AG-DVX100 24p DV camcorder
- Offsite:
- Comprehensive: Chris Hurd's DVinfoNet, covering the Canon XL1 & GL1 and Sony VX2000, DSR-PD150, & DSR-250
- Detailed: Using the Sony DCR-TRV900 Camcorder
- I reviewed the VX1000, TRV900, and Canon GL-1, and then compared them, at 2-pop.com. Unfortunately 2-pop's late-2001 redesign broke all existing links (see mistake #6) and by all appearances the old content has simply been deleted (mistake #5), but I've relinked to the text (sans graphics) at the Internet Archive (Thanks to reader Stacy Kagiwada for the tip!)
- I reviewed the Panasonic DVCPRO AJ-D215 at 2-pop.com; as preserved by the Internet Archive.
- I reviewed the DSR-11 for DV Mag, as preserved by the Internet Archive.
- 24p - Panasonic AG-DVX100P
- On-site or Wilt-written format and equipment reviews
- Online video textbook
- General DV Info
- Cameras
- Audio
- Nonlinear Editing
- DV Filmmaking
- CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, VideoCD, etc.
- Web & Email discussion lists
- USENET
Basic questions on CCDs, NLEs, color sampling, and the like? I wrote a column for DV Magazine called Technical Difficulties in which I cover these non-DV-specific sorts of things.
- A variety of DV tips and tricks can be found in Video Tidbits.
- Vynny Ward's excellent DPS Spark Help File is now hosted here.
Online Video Textbook:
Television Production by Ron Whittaker, Ph.D., “A Comprehensive On-line Cybertext in Studio and Field Production”.
General DV Info:DVCentral was the starting point for any English-language news, views, reviews, and opinion on the DV format. Infrequently updated, but has many useful links.
In Europe, Jan van der Meer's excellent Global Digital Videographers Club (now offline) was the place to start. Both English and Dutch content were available. (As far as I can tell, his was the first independent website dedicated to the DV format.)
Nigel Cooper's DVuser is "the UK’s premier free online DV magazine, which is aimed at anyone who is involved in digital video production in some form or another" and well worth a look.
German-language DV info: SlashCAM/VideoX. Dense, packed with info. Pity I don't read German. :-)
DV Format is a source for press releases, articles (some purloined from earlier versions of this website, grin), and reviews. It's one puzzle-piece in the Digital Media Net website empire.www.supervideo.com has a lot of specs and pix of Japanese and European DV products, as well as the USA stuff, and plenty of rumors, commentary, and opinion. You'll need a fast connection for best results: it's a graphics-intensive site. Also, be warned that the <FONT COLOR> HTML tag is very heavily exploited... :-)
I have detailed info and links about the Panasonic AG-DVX100 24p DV camcorder.
Amazingly comprehensive; the starting point for Canon XL-1 data: Chris Hurd's DVinfoNet site with sections for the Canon XL1, XL1s, GL1 and Sony DCR-VX2000, DSR-PD150, and DSR-250, among others.
John Beale's GL-1 pages.
John Beale's stunningly excellent Sony DCR-TRV900 site: Using the Sony DCR-TRV900 Camcorder, which covers other cameras as well.
Some information on enabling DV input on nEUtered cameras:
Camera Guides for Beginners: Understanding Video Capture is a gentle introduction to shooting video with DSLRs.
- Smart DV is a UK site for DV-in on Panasonic & Canon camcorders
- Software and cabling to fix some Sony cameras
Danny Grizzle recommends ProRec as "the best professional audio website on the net, with tons of reviews and practical knowledge from serious recording engineers with a background in film/video." I have to concur; it rocks.
The other best professional audio website is Jay Rose's Digital Playroom. His tutorials should be required reading (nudge, nudge) for anyone serious about audio.
Equipment Emporium has useful, practical articles online, oriented to field recording for film & tape. Lots of cool gear, too (see VARs and Vendors).
Creative Cow hosts discussion lists for just about any aspect of hardware, software, craft, aesthetics, and business that you can possibly imagine. As well as a whole bunch you probably never imagined you could ever imagine!
Canopus (now GVG) hosts forums for their products.
Getting DV into and out of a Mac or a PC used to be pretty difficult and several folks spent lots of time tracking the hardware and software available. Richard Lawler maintained The Silver List with PC-related DV information but ceased updating it in September 2001. It's a good overview of the gyrations one had to go through in the pre-OHCI 1394 days to edit DV on a PC.
Note: most of the sites listed below have a more comprehensive links listing than I do.
Some labs that handle tape to film:
- DVFilm (formerly FilmTeam), Austin TX, USA, specializing in DV to 35mm transfers, both PAL and NTSC. Great links page!
- Swiss Effects, Zurich, Switzerland, PAL to film specialists.
Check out Jim Taylor's excellent DVD FAQ for answers to all your DVD questions.
Andy McFadden's CD-Recordable FAQ, including info on Video CDs and Super Video CDs.
CDR-Info has news, firmware and software updates, hardware tests, another FAQ, and more.
DVCentral's DV-L mailing list is dedicated to all things DV-related. Like any list, the caliber of the discussion varies, but there are a lot of good folks involved. Highly recommended - but subscribe to the digest; it's far more manageable than hundreds of individual email messages each and every day.
Creative Cow (no, really: "creative communities of the world", they claim; I think that Ron & Kathlyn just like cows) appears to be the place where many of the serious discussions are going on these days. As of mid-July 2003, the way to start is click on the cow to enter, click on "Change Forum", then click on "categorical" to list the fora by category or "categorical (w/ descriptions)" for more info. Most of my professional colleagues are forum leaders there, including folks I know from manufacturers and vendors, as well as working professionals. There's no forum specifically DV-related, but there are fora for most NLEs, various bits of production equipment, local user groups, and general craft-related discussions.
USENET
rec.video.professional and rec.video.production newsgroups discuss pro/industrial/broadcast issues (for the most part) including the DV formats. Professional is somewhat moderated (but, apparently, not very actively the last time I looked); production is definitely more of a free-for-all.rec.video.desktop focuses on nonlinear editing. It tends to have a more amateur/newbie audience than the professional and production groups -- which can be a help or an annoyance, depending on your own level of experience.
Paul Newman in the UK adds, "there is now a rec.video.dv hierarchy on usenet. The group rec.video.dv.tech is reasonably active as is the top group rec.video.dv."
These listings are not comprehensive or complete, not by a long shot, and they are no longer actively maintained.
You won't find a better videotape format in terms of price/performance for standard-definition television than DV or its related formats DVCAM and DVCPRO. Also, DV is the first broadcast-quality format small enough for a camera master to fall into a cup of tea (trust me on this; no need to try it yourself).I first experienced DV in October of 1995, when I saw a Sony DCR-VX1000 hooked up to a 32" Sony XBR monitor. I was impressed enough by the live pix from this consumer 3CCD camera, but completely astounded by the off-tape playback, which at first glance looked as good as live video. I lay awake for three nights, thinking "the world has changed: Digital For The Rest Of Us..." before buying a VX1000, and selling my pro/industrial EVW-300 3-chip, interchangeable-lens Hi8 camcorder to pay for it. With the advent of DV-native digital editing in 1997 (the DPS Spark), things only got better... and they've improved a whole lot since then.
Along the way, I found that a lot of people shared my curiosity about DV and enthusiasm for it. I also found a lot of superstition, misinformation, mythology, and FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) masquerading as fact. Some of this is actively spread by folks afraid of or dismissive of the revolution in SDTV imaging and production that DV makes possible, but there's also plenty of heard-it-through-the-grapevine stuff and nonsense that sprouts up organically, like weeds. As a filmmaker, I found the level of confusion to be irritating; as an engineer, I found the FUD infuriating.
Hence this website: I got tired of answering the same old questions over and over again. By putting 'em all on the web, I can say "just go read my FAQ" -- and plenty of people hit these pages (or their many copied and repurposed versions, authorized and otherwise, elsewhere on the web) without ever asking me their questions in the first place. In any case, the word gets out: confusion gets reduced, the straight dope gets spread around, and people can rest more easily at night...
Why me? I'm a filmmaker/videographer with some 20 years of shooting and editing experience, and a video systems & software engineer with nearly that much time in the trenches. Putting this info together and publishing it seemed like a natural thing to do; it was needed.
The focus here is on DV25 formats: DV, DVCAM, and DVCPRO (a.k.a. D-7), with a bit of Digital8 data as well. The audiences I envision when I'm scribbling are the professional videographer and editor and engineers looking for basic info: the corporate/industrial shooter; the TV station engineer; the event videographer; the small postproduction shop; the indie filmmaker; the advanced amateur or "prosumer".
My mindset is that of one coming from the whole low-end to midrange film & video world: Hi8, 3/4", BetaSP, MII; linear A/B roll editing in Y/C or YUV analog; MJPEG compressed nonlinear editing; low-budget filmmaking in Super8, 16mm, or Super 16mm with editing on a bench with long-shaft rewinds or maybe even a Steenbeck or Moviola flatbed if there's an angel funding the rentals (of course, that was back in the days before affordable NLE; nowadays you'd have a hard time finding a Steenbeck or Moviola!).
If you're brand-new to video and/or video engineering, this site might be heavy going. Skim/skip the tech details and go for the stuff you're looking to learn; the tech stuff will always be there if you develop an interest later on – read up on it here.
If on the other hand you spend your days in Henry or Flame suites or doing multilayer D-5 or D-1 linear editing with an Axial 2020, a DVEeous, and an A72 or Texus, you'll probably think I'm too bullish about DV25 and not sufficiently cognizant of the limits of 4:1:1 sampling or 5:1 compression. Rest assured, DV25 is no DigiBeta or D-5; it's not even close to D-9 or DVCPRO50. But while I wouldn't suggest DV for those national ad campaigns or big-budget theatrical shows with heavy-duty compositing, it's the clear price/performance leader for a vast range of productions where money is an issue. Staying 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 uncompressed is nice if you can afford it, but that level of production is simply unaffordable for most people (at least it was when DV came out). And furthermore (this is the really subversive bit), plenty of folks can't see the difference anyway...
There's no advertising on this site, and no one pays me to maintain it. I call things as I see them, not that I'm always objective, but at least there are no hidden commercial motives guiding my writings. My sole purpose here is to convey useful information, not to sell stuff. If you think I've got something wrong, please do everyone a favor and let me know. I may argue points of opinion, but I'll move immediately to correct errors of fact.
Note that I don't maintain contact with other websites repurposing/pirating this stuff, so I can't speak to their up-to-dateness -- nor to their adherence to the call-'em-as-I-see-'em, no-commercial-influence philosophy.
The site changes sporadically as time goes by, but I'm not actively updating it; twenty years after writing the first DV FAQ page, DV25 is a well established and understood tape format, and it's been almost completely superseded by HD formats designed for solid-state recording. Still, if you have corrections, additions, suggestions, or the like, please send 'em to me.
| you are here > |
|
Detailed listing of this site's DV contents, and links to other sites. | ||
|
The DV Formats Tabulated; standards documents & where to get them. | |||
|
DV formats, sampling, compression, audio, & 1394/FireWire/i.LINK. | |||
|
linear & nonlinear; hard & soft codecs; transcoding; dual-stream NLE. | |||
|
16:9; film-style; frame mode; slow shutters; image stabilization, etc. | |||
|
DV sampling, artifacts, tape dropout, generation loss, codecs. | |||
|
Tips & tricks, mostly DV-related; getting good CG. |
| Home | SW Engineering | Film & Video Production | Video Tidbits | >DV< |