Canon’s brand-spankin-new HV20 HDV model was released in Japan recently, and consumer video geeks everywhere have been wetting their collective pants over the news. Well now it seems that the camera will officially be arriving here in the States in April for around $1100. The HV20 is no doubt aimed squarely at the consumer market, but it includes some suprisingly juicy features.

*24 fps from a progressive CMOS sensor
*”Cinema” color mode (I know, these modes are always a crapshoot but we’ll see)
*Instant AF autofocus system
*3 lux light sensitivity
*HDMI output

The HV20 is the successor of the HV10 crown. The HV10 has proven to be one of the more popular models of the last year, and didn’t fare poorly in reviews either. Camcorderinfo put the HV10 up against a Sony HC3 and was very positive about the Canon. They suggested the HC3 had an advantage though, due in no small part to it’s included HDMI port (the HV10 doesn’t have HDMI). So it will be interesting to see the reviews of this new model.

UPDATE: B&H is now accepting pre-orders on the HV20.

Updates to the Weblogs Inc. owned digital video blog DVGuru have officially ended. As of today, the site has closed it’s doors. I can only assume that archives and content will remain available online (can’t see why this wouldn’t be the case).

DVGuru was one of the many sites on my personal daily read list, and I’m sorry to see it shut down.

Final Cut Pro trainer Larry Jordan has a whole series of training videos at Lynda.com. Over at Creativemac you can watch a free video tutorial excerpt on understanding Final Cut’s video scopes.

Larry starts by covering the basics of color theory and then moves on to the Histogram, RGB Parade, Waverform, and Vectorscope, and how they relate to monitoring and color correction. He touches on the Vectorscope’s “flesh line”, and also on determining if colors or luminance is within broadcast safe limits. It’s a great tutorial, and suprisingly lengthy for a freebie.

Jordan also offers a free monthly newsletter on all things FCP/Mac production, I highly recommend it. And if he ever gets out of video, I’ll bet the guys over at Pzizz would hire him for his voice…

Digital Content Producer has posted a technical primer by Steve Mullen on de-interlacing methods and standards and the Full HD initiative. Pretty in-depth read.

Pixel Aspect Ratio probably means nothing to most people, up until it all goes south in a project. Get it right and you may breeze through life blissfully unaware. Get it wrong, and your footage and graphics can look chunky, distorted and just plain wrong.

If you would like to know more about the pitfalls of square vs non-square pixels and a host of related information, here’s a handy reference. After Effects gurus Chris and Trish Meyer of Cybermotion have shared Part 1 of a Pixel Aspect Ratio primer over at Artbeats (PDF). They cover the background details on the sometimes confusing array of resolutions and ratios in digital video, and offer a few AE specific tips as well. Stay tuned for Part 2 where they will dig a little deeper into the topic.

(GeniusDV has a related post on creating images in Photoshop for Video.)

JVC and other manufacturers are rolling out a new standard of HDTVs that will natively run at 120Hz . The change from NTSC’s 60Hz should smooth out playback of 24 / 23.99 fps DVDs, as 24 divides evenly into 120. This means that the content can be played back without the fugly 3:2 pull down, so there are no added motion artifacts or characteristics. A little napkin math reminds us that 120 is also a multiple of 30 / 29.97 fps.

From what I understand, the new LCD displays don’t actually play back at 120 fps, but refresh internally at that rate. The only change you see is a smoother moving image.

In related news, self-professed “frame counter” David Bordwell has a unique essay on the topic, and how the differences in formats effect the impact of an edit. A fascinating read (found at DVGuru).

Cannot remember where I spotted these links, so apologies to whatever site I’m not attributing. Editblog excerpts and links to a fantastic interview with Alfonso Cuaron, the director of Children of Men.

Editblog also has a post on the making of a sweet polar bear commercial spot. Excellent reading (and viewing).

Camcorderinfo posed a question to readers recently, what format their next camcorder will be. The results are in; HDV is the leader (though not by much), with AVCHD 2nd (see the explanation for this one), and the venerable MiniDV taking up the rear of the three formats that actually count in this poll. To me, this informal poll points to AVCHD making inroads in the consumer market first, before potentially spreading into prosumer and pro models. Unless you are Tore Nordahl, in which case you believe that AVCHD already won the format war. Or something like that…

Videomaker Magazine has chosen the best consumer video production products of 2006. Among that list are the picks for camcorders of the year.

Best Consumer Camcorder - Canon Elura 100 ($399)
Best High Definition Consumer Camcorder - Canon HV10 ($1,299)
Best Hard Drive Camcorder - JVC Everio GZ-MG505 ($1,300)
Best Prosumer Camcorder - Sony HDR-FX7 ($3,500)
Breakthrough Camcorder of the Year - Panasonic AG-HVX200 ($5,995)

There are quite a few other products on the list besides camcorders, one that caught my eye was the Manfrotto 560B Monopod that features retractable feet and a “fluid foot” that allows smooth pans. Very interesting and unique concept, seems like it would be very handy. You can read a review of the 560B at Videomaker also. You can find the innovative monopod at B&H for $150.

(Via DCN)

Another great post over at Jake Ludington’s blog, how to use freely available ffmpegX to convert video files into Flash video for web use. He’s even got instructions on how to embed the videos in a web page using Joroen Wijering’s flash player. Did I mention that the ffmpegX software is free?

Windows fmpeg users should check out SUPER, a gui frontend to ffmpeg, mencoder, and various other command-line tools.

Last month we mentioned that an enterprising hacker had bypassed HD-DVD’s AACS encyption scheme, rendering the high-def discs vulnerable to copying and transcoding (see “fair use“). Now The Register is reporting that AACS on Blu-ray has also been cracked, and by the same hacker that broke HD-DVD. Talk about street cred…

To top it off, Slyck has an interview with the hacker, known as “muslix64″ on the Doom9 forums. A few snippets…
*I’m just an upset customer. My efforts can be called “fair use enforcement”!
*Not being able to play a movie that I have paid for…made me mad
*…AACS is totally busted.
*If you can play it, you can decrypt it! …The only thing they can try is to slow people down.
*The consumers will benefit. I hope it will enforce fair use, not piracy.

In a post entitled “How to edit AVCHD M2TS files from Sony HDR-SR1 camcorders“ Jake Ludington outlines a workaround for editing AVCHD footage. Nifty. You’ll need Windows + PowerDVD Ultra, VirtualDubMod, and AVISynth to get the job done.

(Via Camcorderinfo)

Watching the NFL playoffs this season you may have noticed a new replay camera in use. It’s the Phantom v10 from Vision Research, and it will be utilized again by CBS during the upcoming SuperBowl to provide super slow motion replays.

The v10 uses a CMOS sensor to capture 480 progressive frames per second at 2400 x 1800 in your choice of 8-bit or 14-bit (that’s a 4×3 frame ratio, by the way). At lower resolutions the frame rate can be cranked up as high as 1000 fps. The HD-SDI tap offers 720p, 1080p, and 1080i at 24, 25, 59.9, and 60 fps. All in all, it’s a really interesting technology. Just look at the heatsink on the side of that thing!

FresHDV previously mentioned Vision Research during NAB last year, we had the exclusive scoop on the new Phantom HD and Phantom 65 models.

Why is it that I never hear anyone talking about the JVC HD200U and HD250U camcorders? About 9 months ago I posted a rant on why they seemed to be under-rated, and they were brand new at that time. Since then I’ve heard very little in the news about them. From a specs standpoint, they seem like strong models…24p/60p HDV to tape (12 or 5-frame GOP), HD-SDI 4:2:2 8-bit tether, PL lens mount via the HZ-CA13U adapter (admittedly not cheap at $4,400) and a handy “Image Inversion” feature for use with image-flipping 35mm adapters like the Cinevate Brevis or Red Rock M2. Seems like a solid feature set. So who is using the JVC cameras, and why? Who isn’t, and why not?

In the Sundance Day Three report at HD4NDS, Mike shares some details on the new F23 CineAlta camera from Sony.

*24p capable
*2/3″ 3 CCD 1920 X 1080 imagers (with improved dynamic range over the F950)
*Can do 10 bit 4:4:4 up to 30 fps and 10 bit 4:2:2 up to 60 fps.
*14 Bit A/D
*Single or dual link HD-SDI, fiber optic tether solution in the works (available later)
*Framerate speed ramps are possible in-cam
*Records to SRW-1 HDCAM SR deck (can be mounted on top, in back or via tether)

Sony has made it clear that this model is not intended for the “digital cinema” market, but for high end video instead. Think “24″ or “Battlestar Galactica” production. I’ve also read that the B4 lens mount has been rebuilt with stronger and more temperature-stable material than the 900-series cameras.