ShadowBox Pictures’ Jeff Young uses HD equipment to shoot spots,
including this one for a new product from Turtle Wax.
the number of TV stations broadcasting in HD actually points to the biggest
issue producers face with the technology.
“Shooting HD is really not the issue —
it’s finishing in HD,” Karlin says. “Editing
and completion in HD is expensive.”
With TV stations not fully up to
speed, distribution can be tricky. “
Unfortunately, many local or cable stations
are not equipped to handle HD,” Karlin
continues. “Distribution to these stations
is a real issue because short-form DRTV
generally uses customized phone numbers
and/or URLs, then HD productions get
down-converted to standard definition.
Right now, finishing in HD is best for
non-customized productions or commercials with vanity numbers or URLs.”
Garnett adds,
“There’s a difference
between shooting and
editing in HD and delivering fully HD spots
— that is, HD dubs
shipped to stations. The
truth is that 90 percent
of viewers are not able
to watch in HD. So if
you produce entirely in
HD, then your 4: 3 dubs have to be letter-boxed, and that makes things too small.
Alternatively, you can shoot for cropping
the sides on 4: 3. But, that takes excep-
