is Hi-8 acceptable to broadcast quality

[Guest]

is there any one have experience work with hi-8 for broadcasting?

 

[Digigenic]

I don't think so, typically, most Hi-8 cameras, run tape at 15 fps. Broadcast typically utilizes a 60i (sixty interlaced frames per second) format.
If Hi-8 has been used before, it must have been processed in an awkward way to get it through broadcast. Given today's advancements in DV and HD, it's questionable as to why someone would intentionally want Hi-8 for broadcast.
It would be kind of cool though to see that format in broadcast...the harshness of it, it's choppy feel, blown out and grainy, could be interesting from a creative perspective.
If such a broadcast materializes, I'd like to know where and when I'd be able to see it... 8)

 

[MarkG]

I don't think anyone would use it for drama shows, but Hi-8 used to be the low-end format for TV news: I know at least one local TV station in the UK which used Sony Hi-8 cameras for much of their news footage in the 90s. Provided it's shot with a 3CCD camera, edited on a decent system and graded properly it can look pretty good and pass broadcast tests. And, hell, most of 'Blair Witch' was shot on Hi-8, so if you have a good marketing plan or a good story you can make millions with a Hi-8 camera (also, some of 'Natural Born Killers' was shot on Hi-8 so it's even been used now and again in bigger movies when they wanted that particular look).

That said, I wouldn't use it myself unless I couldn't afford to shoot with a decent DV camera. The quality difference isn't vast, but it is noticeable.

I don't think so, typically, most Hi-8 cameras, run tape at 15 fps.

I think you're confusing Hi-8 with Super-8 film, which does use lower frame rates than normal video or film footage. Hi-8 is 30fps interlaced in NTSC and 25fps interlaced in PAL, just like DV.

 

[aPerfectCircle]

wasn't hi-8 brodcast quality like in the eary 90's?

:lol: hehehe

 

[cintellect]

The hi-8mm format, like most video formats, runs at 30fps(actually 29.97fps at 60 interlaced fields per second). It's resolution is only slightly higher (325 scan lines) than that of standard 8mm or vhs (at 250-300). It's closer to being on a par with s-vhs at (400 scan lines). One of the main drawbacks to using any 8mm tape format is how it records audio. The audio track doesn't run at the edge of the tape like most other formats, it runs in between the slanted video recording tracks. This can cause real sync problems in the editing room, regardless if the edit is linear or non-linear. You would be much better off using dv(at 525 scan lines), or just a different analog format like s-vhs...which is still used by some small market television stations.

 

[DerekEastham]

Hi-8 was a Broadcast format in the smallest of the small markets upon it's first release. However, since the 80's, one form of Beta or another has been the industry standard. Even with the advent of HD, Beta is still in command of the broadcast world.
Most stations are still pure beta... with their primary formats ranging from BetaSP to DigiBeta. Other stations have HD studios, meaning that their HD production comes only from the studio, also meaning that their field work is done on the next best thing... which at the moment is classified in the broadcast world as Digibeta & BetaSP.
There are very few, but a couple, of broadcast stations which Shoot HD in the field... but that number will grow over the years as the technology becomes cheaper.

 

[cintellect]

Very true Derek. Beta, in various forms, continues to be the dominant broadcast format. However, small market station use of DV for efp/eng is on the increase. Depending on how small the small market station is, s-vhs is still the most widely used format at the lower levels.

In response to the administrators original question - if the project is for broadcast, beta is a much safer bet than hi-8. I guess any decision on format should largely depend on the intended target. Is the project for one of big 3, pbs, or a smaller market station?

 

[sinjinza1984]

Hi8

Hi8

Hi8 wasn't really ever broadcast, even in the 90s. The standard has always pretty much been Betacam, BetaSP, or DigiBeta. It doesn't really matter what you shoot on, as long as it has been transferred to one of the Beta formats for broadcast, however larger broadcasters won't accept material that wasn't shot on at least DV.

 

[DAS19]

for the sports production company I work for we use betacam cameras that shoot directly onto betacam tapes. Which is then given directly to the tv station it will be broadcasted by. They actaully wont accept anything but betacam.

 

[BigBeaner]

Yes Super 8mm which is actually shot on film sometimes runs at a slower framerate, usually 18fps. Most high end Super 8mm cameras have a 24fps option or more (or less). And Most Double/Standard/Regular 8mm film cameras run at 16-18 fps or so.

 

[Alessandro Machi]

I see this topic is kind of old, but if anyone out there still wants to shoot on HI-8, I recommend looking into digital-8, as it is a surprising good quality format (identical codec to mini-dv) and the sony cameras were pretty good.

I don't think Sony makes digital-8 camcorders anymore (but I could be wrong), but there are lot of digital-8 camcorders floating around. Try to get one with a microphone input however as some of the digital-8's pick up the recording head when shooting in quiet locations and the result is a very loud screeching sound in the background that I don't think can be equ'd out.

The reason you don't hear much about betacam sp is those who work in that format have no reason to goad the young kids into that format since it's analog technology, although it still is considered a very viable format even in 2007. I suppose that will change when HD becomes the law of the land in a couple of years.

 

[element80]

Some stations don't even accept stuff shot on regular miniDV. It's usually gotta be DVCam or DVCPro.

 

[Alessandro Machi]

Acquistion is a separate issue from what you actually send out, and that is why almost any original video recording can be "broadcast quality" if it's color corrected, video corrected, audio corrected and then remastered onto what is considered a broadcast quality format.

 

[David Mullen ASC]

"Broadcast quality" is whatever a TV station or network decides they want to broadcast - if you were the only person to get footage of a jet plane crashing with a cell phone video camera, suddenly it would be deemed "broadcast quality"!

In more typical circumstances, just hedge your bets and shoot on decent video equipment. Consumer Hi-8 is pushing your luck.

 

[Alessandro Machi]

One of the more interesting projects I edited a few years ago was documentary done by two teenagers as they traveled Costa Rica with peers from their school.

They were given two 1-chip S-VHS camcorders that had been used for several years as wedding video cameras. When the footage was first reviewed back in the states the image rolled quite a bit. However, once the analog image was time base corrected it actually looked fine.

The final master was made onto betacam sp and it held up fine and would make a fine documentary for television. I never pursued it because the teens chose to use music they didn't have a release for. The cameras actually added their own touch to the film as by the end of the shoot, the cameras were toast and that became evident by just looking and listening tot the footage, it was kind of comical and yet it worked for the end of the film.