Do you think buyers know...

Do you think buyers know that even if they work in SD resolution, they can still buy an HD clip?

Most of my sells (here and elsewhere) are SD versions. I do make available SD versions of SOME of my HD clips, but I generally don't do the extra work to create, upload, and tag SD versions.

I'm thinking perhaps I should start, since SD seems to be "the thing," at least for my clips.

What about everyone else? Do you think buyers know they can get an HD clip if no SD version is available, or do they "move on," either do to the higher price for an HD clip, or the thinking that they can't utilize an HD clip in an SD project?

Personally, I'd try to the the HD clip even if I was doing an SD project, if not for the better quality, but also to be "future safe."

SD is not a good purchase. A buyer can buy a HD and convert it to web, SD or anything. A SD original can only be down converted to web. I have some SD but do not submit same in any other format size. Most guys are rapidly moving to HD. SD will be around for a while but why should a buyer limit it's option? For me I sell HD and really only want to sell HD, no down conversion sells, we already are so cheap for HD that a couple dollars less for a SD makes no sense. There are several old threads on this already. It kinda stirs up a hornets nest ;)

Don

INTERNET FIGHT!!! GO!!!

I think if you have an HD camera, record HD, upload HD, and sell HD.

...and if ya have a SD camera, record SD, upload SD and sell SD ;)
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Scott ... a master at wisdom!

I agree that HD is the better choice, but I was just wondering if buyers know they can still buy HD for an SD project.

I'm debating if I should offer SD clips, too. I mean, I wonder if an SD clip sells, would the same buyer have purchased the HD version IF it was the ONLY option, or if they'd move on because the price was higher, or if they thought they couldn't use the HD version.

I work "in the field," and I still do 99% in SD, because that's what 99% of our clients still want. Most of my output is still on BetaCam SP, despite the fact that we shoot a lot of our stuff on our Panasonic VeriCam 720p!

BetaCam is STILL a widely-used delivery medium in the broadcast/cable industry. I'm not a fan of that, but that's the way it is.

Occasionally, an educated client requests an HD project, but that's RARE.

I didn't realize this was a "hot" topic. I'll drop it now (unless this thread becomes popular...).

no problem. Maybe P5 could make a splash on the front page explaining how HD clips can be used for any project.

Hi!

I can guess that one of the problems why many buyers are using SD is hardware. Practically switching to HD you must have very powerful hardware, a lot of memory and new type of processors. When I started using HD I renewed my hardware because editing programs refused to even start on the old one (also quite powerful).

Zygis

Don't drop the topic :-). We are all adults, this is a hot topic and a good one to discuss your position on.

I had a question for you Odesign... when you shoot a SD client, why not shoot in HD and down convert? Or is that just a waste? The reason I ask is because I eventually want to start doing weddings or events, and wasn't sure how to go about that situation. Do you discuss it with the client prior to shooting and he/she specifies that they want SD?

For our big jobs, we shoot HD, but capture and edit it SD (unless the client wants the final in HD). That way, we always have the HD raw to fall back on if we get a future request for a job to be recut in HD. This doesn't happen much.

For everyday jobs, or jobs that we know will never need to be in HD, we shoot with our SD DSR-450WS DVCAMs. Such jobs are local programming that doesn't need to be in HD.

You may ask why don't we just shoot and cut everything in HD? The answer is simple: storage. A 30-second HD720 clip from our VeriCam could be upwards of 3 GB in size. Since we're constantly working on several projects at once, that's not practical for us. And we only have one HD camera/deck set-up. DVCAM is more feasible for our type of work right now.

I'm sure most designers are aware that they can downsize. They are very well aware in photography so it should be just a natural progression for them to assume the same with footage.

As always, you can downsize but if you want quality you can't upsize. Personally if I was buyer I'd go for the HD, I could always downsize or crop to a specific area and still be able to use in a SD file without losing any quality

Just my opinion
Kim