Banish Those HDV Filmmaking Headaches!

HDV Filmmaking by Chad Fahs

An Authoritative Guide to the Brave New World of HDV

470 pages Thomson Course Technology $49.99

High definition video is the latest technology to enable filmmakers to capture the best possible image at lowest cost. Because it shares tape transport with DV format, it is often see as the next step up, but this is not DV, it is a very different animal and it has far more capability. It carries a lot more digital information and with more control over it, so there's much more that can go wrong, making HDV sometimes a little tricky to handle.

For anyone making that upward step to hi def technology, here is the ultimate guide to the HDV learning curve - one that can get you to the top quickly, easily and safely, with no drop-out.

HDV Filmmaking is authored by digital film expert Chad Fahs, to join his suite of  titles on Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio, Flash MX and many others.  This is one of the first guides to cover the field. HDV for the unprepared, can  quickly turn into something of a digital minefield, but not if you are armed with this title.

"This is one of the first guides to cover the field. HDV for the unprepared, can  quickly turn into something of a digital minefield, but not if you are armed with this title." James MacGregor

Fahs covers the ground from choosing and operating cameras to configuring an edit system, at both basic and advanced levels. Colour correction, editing and mixing audio and using 3D and animations within the system are all dealt with in clear unambiguous English.

This clear, sectioned text is liberally supported with clear photographs, line drawings and screenshots and important individual topics within broader sections are easily picked out in their distinctive half-tone panels. There is a substantial index at the end that makes everything in HDV filmmaking accessible, fast.

Fahs has drawn on his considerable experience with the HDV format, but through a series of well-chosen interviews, he has also called upon the collective wisdom of a variety of filmmakers, pixel magicians and media gurus to help his readers avoid digital disaster. This is not just the word from the horse's mouth, you get the whole herd in this package, but you set your own learning pace, whether it is a hi def walk-through or an urgent gallop. This is the guide that not only takes you through the post, but past the post into delivery. A must-have manual for any HDV digital director.

                  CONTENTS LIST

PART 1           INTRODUCTION TO DVD

Chapter 1        Understanding High Definition Formats

Chapter 2        Choosing an HDV Camcorder

Chapter 3        Installing and Configuring and HDV Editing System

PART 2           AQUIRING HDV VIDEO AND AUDIO

Chapter 4        Operating and HDV Camcorder

Chapter 5        Lighting for HDV

Chapter 6        Designing Effective Compositions

PART 3           EDITING AND EFFECTS FOR HDV

Chapter 7        Editing HDV

Chapter 8        Color Correcting Video

Chapter 9        Editing and Mixing Audio

Chapter 10      Creating Graphics and Effects for HDV

Chapter 11      Working With 3D Animation and Effects    

Chapter 12      Delivering HDV Content

Index