Lacero said:
You make absolutely no sense. Shooting HD for your serious productions mean you are future-proofing it for when there is a demand for HDTV. Guess what? There is already a demand for HDTV, otherwise, why else do you think companies are introducing HD DVDs, HDTV sets, Apple is going HD for their pro apps. It's here already. To say you won't shoot HD because the demand is not their is simply ridiculous for someone who self-professes to be a serious editor and videographer.
Moviecutter makes complete sense. The hype of HD is much bigger than the reality of HD. Looking at the field of video production as a whole there really isn't a very big sector of the industry that needs to be shooting HD let alone can afford to upgrade to an entire HD workflow. If enough of your client base is asking for HD then it might be time for you/your company to start getting into HD. But there is no reason, professionally speaking, to get into HD just so you can say, "Hey, we do HD."
As far as "future proofing" goes, it all depends on your content and your clients. Will an infomercial, commercial, music video, corporate/industrial video, event video, or a news story need to be future proofed? Probably not. You also have to look at the cost/benefit angle. Will moving to HD bring in enough new revenue to justify the cost? Will my current clients pay more for HD? How many new clients will I attract w/HD?
The demand for HD on the consumer level is low. HDTV aren't exactly flying off shelves. I wouldn't call Voom a raging success. Sony and Co. are trying to create a demand for HD where one doesn't naturally exist (HD DVDs, Sony's low end HDV cameras, etc.,.).
The company I work for now produces behind-the-scenes content for big budget movies and TV shows, and I dare say that 99% of our work is shot, cut, and delivered SD. A couple projects are shot HD but delivered SD, and 2 projects have been shot HD and delivered both HD and SD.
Going back to the first thing I said, moving to HD because there is a legit demand from your clients for HD is one thing. But moving to HD just to move to HD isn't a good business call, IMO.
Lethal