Technology & Equipment

In life there are very few constants. Likewise, the same applies for the technologies of video production. For 50 years those constants were embodied in the vacuum tube, transistors and analog signal processing. With the advent of digital imaging and audio technology in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the relative constants that defined the analog world were “disruptively” over-turned! Digital technology has introduced a new way of capturing images and sounds, processing them, recording them, storing them, manipulating them and distributing them. Today, the new constants are change and choice. Technological changes brought about by digital processes are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and afford a dizzying array of equipment choices in a wide range of price-points that can confound and confuse the average person. Whereas, constant vigilance is required to stay current with the pace of technological change and innovation in video production equipment, it is also true that it’s no longer simply a function of the gear that will determine the quality of your video productions—even your smart-phone can shoot HD video now! No, equipment is no longer the primary defining factor in determining the quality of your video production. It’s you, your knowledge, talent and creative vision!

 

There are many primers out there that break-down and explain the processes of how visual and aural perceptions are electronically transduced by cameras and microphones into either continuous analog signals (sine waves) or discrete digital signals (a stream of binary “0s” & “1s”).1 Although we live in an analog world with nearly infinite variability in the brightness of light, the hue and saturation of color as well as sound frequencies and loudness; the digital realm is one of the measurably discrete or finite with fixed values. With the technology of today’s video production equipment you are working at the interface between the analog “reality” that you experience every day and the digital binary world of electronic signals for picture and sound storage and manipulation. But, humans cannot see or hear “binary.” So digital images and sounds must be converted back to analog in order to be enjoyed. Below are two “primers” that will help explain the analog-to-digital-to-analog process provided by the good folks of the Xiph open source community.2

A Digital Media Primer for Geeks [http://xiph.org/video/vid1.shtml] is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) license.3

Digital Show & Tell [http://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml] is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) license.3

Both the Digital Media Primer for Geeks4 and the Digital Show & Tell5 videos above have associated Wikis where you can get more in-depth information on the technical foundations of modern digital media (the concepts of which apply equally to both audio and video) as well as the multiple facets of digital audio signals and how they really behave in the real world.

Understanding the encoding and decoding of images and sounds that your camera records may seem archaic and unnecessary—the fact that it happens within the electronics of your camera without your direct intervention should be enough, right? Well, not really. Each camera &/or audio recording device has its own set of codecs (short for “coder–decoder” or “compresser–decompresser”) that process the analog signal into a digital signal differently; you need to know how these different codecs affect the quality of your images and sounds, which are best for what situations, and how they might impact your post-production workflow.

 

Video Codecs 101. By: Lou Quillio.

In most cases, the “default” settings of your equipment will likely suffice. But, as you become a more sophisticated video producer, you may find yourself needing to ask more of your equipment. Understanding the codecs available for capturing, editing and finishing your video will then become more important. All codecs involve some form of trade-off between the amount of compression the video and audio signals under go and the resulting quality of the images and sounds. If you compress too much, the quality loss of your video and audio may be intolerable; if you compress to little, the file-size of your final project may be too large to download quickly or fit on conventional distribution media (e.g., DVDs). Below are two videos that help explain—and perhaps simplify—the often times perplexing “devil’s choice” between the various codecs and containers available to video producers. As Larry Jordan observes, frequently video producers ask the wrong questions about codecs and equipment; assuming the camera they currently own is sufficient to the task at hand. However, it is important to determine, first, what codec will yield the best image and audio quality for your project’s intended distribution medium, and then select the camera that will best serve this purpose.

What is a Codec? By: Larry Jordan.

Codecs and Containers: The wonderful world of video files. By Florian Fahrenberg.

There are a lot of “buyers guides” and video equipment “reviews” available on the newsstand and posted to the Internet and half the time they are dated almost as soon as they are published. If you are constantly chasing the “best” &/or “newest” technology before your purchase anything, then you will never buy a camera or make a video. Don’t take this the wrong way, the latest and greatest equipment is certainly cool and a chance for the more technology minded video shooters to “geek out” over the hottest new gear. However, the trick is to not fixate on the newest or most advanced gear but to choose the best equipment for your budget and the type of productions you wish to do and learn to use that equipment really, really well. This does not mean that all production equipment is created equal, nor does it mean that certain cameras, tripods, lights or audio gear—otherwise comparable—would not perform better than other equipment under specific production conditions. Owning the newest, cutting-edge equipment with the largest imager chip,6 greatest dynamic range7 or best resolution, signal-to-noise ratio or compression technology8 does not always mean you have the right tool for every job.9

In 2010, Zacuto produced a 3-part web series that pitted the best video-capable DSLR cameras of the day against film-based cameras. It was the first time that digital video equipment was pitted against film equipment under carefully controlled conditions. The camera assessment tests included: resolution, latitude, sensitivity, speed & ultra high speed, noise, color, and green screen. The results are reported in the videos below:

Zacuto Great Camera Shootout 2010: It's all About Latitude from Zacuto on Vimeo.

Zacuto Great Camera Shootout 2010 Webisode 2: How Sensitive Can You Get? from Zacuto on Vimeo.

The Great Camera Shootout 2010 Web 3: The Revolution Begins... from Zacuto on Vimeo.

Similar camera tests were done in 2011. As the technology of DSLRs and digital cinema cameras improved and more manufacturers entered the market, Zacuto produced the 3-part web series, Revenge of the Great Camera Shoot Out 2012 complete with production logs and camera technical data.10 The tests were designed to put nine cameras through three different shots under the same rigorous lighting design to see how the cameras stacked up against each other under the same grueling conditions. Be sure to view each episode in its entirety and draw your own conclusions. What is clearly demonstrated is that different cameras perform better under different conditions—each having their own strengths and weaknesses. The trick is to choose the right tools for the job and to continue to learn and develop as a visual storyteller. What Zacuto emphasized through their shoot outs has already been said, “It’s not the gear that determines greatness anymore, it’s you!” Or, to put it another way, “cameras don’t make movies, people do!”11

 

  1. Analog vs. Digital, https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/analog-vs-digital/all.
  2. Xiph.org Video, http://xiph.org/video/.
  3. Creative Commons Licenses, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.
  4. Digital Media Primer for Geeks: Wiki Edition, http://wiki.xiph.org/Videos/A_Digital_Media_Primer_For_Geeks.
  5. Digital Show & Tell: Wiki Edition, http://wiki.xiph.org/Videos/Digital_Show_and_Tell.
  6. Galt, John, The Truth About 2K, 4K and The Future of Pixels (2009), http://library.creativecow.net/galt_john/John_Galt_2K_4K_Truth_About_Pixels/1.
  7. Zacuto, The Great Camera Shootout 2011: Episode 1 ~ "The Tipping Point" (2011), http://vimeo.com/24334733.
  8. Zacuto, The Great Camera Shootout 2011: Episode 2 ~ "Sensors & Sensitivity" (2011), http://vimeo.com/26772177.
  9. Zacuto, The Great Camera Shootout 2011: Episode 3 ~ "It's Not So Black & White" (2011), http://vimeo.com/29708051.
  10. Zacuto, Revenge of the Great Camera Shoot Out 2012 (2012), http://www.zacuto.com/shootout-revenge-2012.
  11. Luzi, Evan, “Cameras Don’t Make Movies, People Do,” The Black and Blue, http://www.theblackandblue.com/2011/02/23/cameras-dont-make-movies-people-do/.