Best Method of watching HD footage on SD equipment

[spudgun]

I would be most grateful if you could advise of the most expedient method of burning DVD's to give the best quality on SD equipment.

I have a Canon HV30, a HIGH Definition camera. Naturally, I intend to capture and EDIT in High Def, (Videostudios 11+). Unfortunately, as I have neither a HDTV nor a HD Player, I shall be watching the burned DVD in STANDARD definition.

My question is, what would be the best method to employ to ensure the best quality? Converting into SD prior to the burn? Or can I keep it in High Definition and simply make a Standard Definition DVD?

Also, when I 'CREATE a FILE' prior to burning, can this file be then subsequently used to burn into differing formats?

Very many thanks in advance and congratulations on a splendid Forum.

[Ken Berry]

To 'future proof' yourself i.e. have video ready for burning to HD format (Blu-Ray?) when you do have the relevant equipment to both burn and play it back, I would download the HDV in that format from your HV30 (I have a HV20) using Firewire. As you would realise, that will give you high def mpeg-2. I would then edit it, and then render it to a new high def mpeg-2 using the same properties as the original mpeg-2. Then I would simply store that new file somewhere (or of course play it back on your computer software DVD player such as PowerDVD or WinDVD).

And with the edited project still in the timeline, I would render it once again, but this time to a standard definition DVD-compatible mpeg-2 using high quality settings, and burn that to standard DVD. The quality of the latter I think you will find is better than a SD DVD from an SD DV camera.

If you have time on your hands, you could follow the procedure in my first para above. But then, for the standard def DVD, you could capture everything again but in SD DV format, edit in that format, and then convert it to SD mpeg-2 for burning to SD DVD. But I suspect this might be overkill, and I further suspect the end quality, while still very good, might not be quite as good as doing it by my preferred workflow in the second para above. However, I stress in this regard that I have never done it this way (i.e. capturing in SD DV) to test it.

[spudgun]

Ken, you are a gentleman and a scholar, and I very much value your input.
Many thanks. I will be working with Videostudio 11+; so presumably I will simply 'Create a file' when I have completed the editing and maintain the HD format. Presumably this can then be re-opened and rendered in any number of alternative formats.

[Ken Berry]

That is right...