From: "Ableza Institute" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: DV Camera for Streaming Video
I must respectfully and strongly disagree with the reply from Mr. Strong.
While he is certainly correct in the technical information he states
concerning computer screen resolution and relative file sizes, his statement
that "the quality of the camera doesn't matter much" is a common
misconception.
In any video application, the quality of the source image determines the
quality of every other stage in production, post production and content
delivery. While some of the low-end cameras, whether they be home
camcorders or even (gasp) web-cameras are capable of producing images that
might satisfy low-end uses like video conferencing, for any other production
application, the higher the quality the more satisfying will be the end
result. Lower quality source footage means lower quality output, and in
digital editing, where files are being handled by some sort of compression
algorithm, video input cards, etc., any defects in the source footage will
be amplified through compression and manipulation.
Especially in a web-streaming application, where the movie file has been
compressed down to the fewest possible pixels, a poor quality source image
will look very bad to the user on the other end of the stream. This is the
reason I always recommend the highest possible quality for shooting source
images, right up to film.
I use three cameras, depending on the job and the budget. I have a Sony
TVR900 mini DV camcorder we use for low end production (it looks pretty
great for a small, relatively inexpensive camera), a Canon XL-1 for
mid-range, and a new Sony BVP550 Digital Betacam for high end. I sometimes
use footage from the Digital Betacam for web streaming, and it looks so much
better than the other two, I wish I could afford to shoot it all the time.
Bottom line, get the best camera you can afford. Get one with three ccds.
Get a good tripod and a good microphone. Get a lighting kit. Make your
images look as good as you possibly can, and you will be much happier.
Cheers.
David Yohn
"... the dancer drops an eagle feather. The drums stop. This is the kind
of silence that frightens the white man." -- Robbie Robertson
----- Original Message -----
From: RealForum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, September 03, 1999 5:44 PM
Subject: Re: DV Camera for Streaming Video
> From: Michael Strong <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: DV Camera for Streaming Video
>
> The quality of the camera doesn't mean much when you are talking web
graphics.
> A monitor can't show better that 72 or 96 dpi anyway. Extra quality in the
> source image doesn't show up in the end display but does show up in large
> download times. For example a still image (such as a JPEG) can be huge but
the
> size is wasted. You need to create the image(s) you wish to place on the
web at
> their intended web size. Then you can maniplate contrast, brightness,
> sharpness, to fit that intended-as-a-final-size image. Anything else will
get
> killed by any automatic re-sizing which will apply an algorithm which is
almost
> always worse looking than if you had designed it for the final result.
>
> That means that very inexpensive cameras are fine for web streams. The
most
> important image factors have to do with lighting, contrast, etc. rather
than
> the originating quality. The original quality of even the cheapest cameras
is
> better than what you can reproduce on the web (in still or video).
>
> I can't begin to count the number of people who ask what is the best
camera for
> good pictures. It has almost never, ever, been a function of the camera
alone.
> I was originally taught, more than three decades ago, that when I pressed
the
> shutter button I had to have the camera set for whatever I intended as the
> final destination. It was true then and it is the same now.
>
> I was also taught about viewing distance and grain size. Today that same
> concern about granularity and viewing distance translates nicely into how
well
> the output device (i.e. computer monitor) can present the image.
>
> Mike
