Posted by Vincent at bg-tc-ppp1020.monmouth.com on November 27, 1999 at 19:45:48:
In Reply to: *Vincent*, Re: Digital Video posted by Justin Q Ramond on November 27, 1999 at 03:14:43:
: How recently did you talk to the Skywalker guy? As we know, Lucas is shooting Episode II in digital and I doubt he would settle for anything less than film quality or above. The guy's a pefectionist and a heavy visual director, if nothing else.
Actually I think all the guy gives a shit about is selling toys and is a lackluster filmmaker at best, but I digress-
I talked to the Skywalker guy last week, and if the system Lucas ends up using on STAR WARS EP. 2 is the same one they've been talking about (1080 progressive scan high-def at 24 FPS), then it is FAR below the picture quality achievable using standard 35mm. Factor in that they will be CROPPING the 16:9 high-def image top and bottom to achieve a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and it REALLY lags behind 35mm.
: Have you read the specs on the new camera he's planning on using? The prototype was unveiled (a joint effort from Sony and Panavision). Read the press releases and specs. You seem like the tech buss and would probablh be able to make a good assesment of the quality. Supposedly, the new camera solves all the old problems of digital video (contrast, resolution, etc.)
It does not solve all the problems- that won't happen for quite a while. What the camera does is give you very nice HDTV, but it doesn't match 35mm film at all. It has essentially the same reslotion as current HDTV (1080 lines, or 1080 X 1920 pixels), which is not equal to 35mm, and as stated above, the plan is to crop the HDTV image top/bottom to get a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, so only about 800 of the available scanning lines will be used.
Basically, video has a LONG way before it can equal film on the capture end in real time, so even if digital makes inroads as far as exhibition, 35mm film will be used on the capture end for as far as the eye can see.
Vincent