'AQUA KIDS' SHOOTING IN HD

BALTIMORE, MD - The popular children's program Aqua Kids (www.aquakids.tv), which educates young people about the importance of protecting marine life, is being shot in HD.

George Stover, producer/director of photography for the program, which is produced by Adventure Productions, LLC, here, originally bought JVC GY-HD110 cameras to shoot a pilot for Discovery Channel called Stuart Cove's Great Shark Shootout. The team was impressed with the footage quality and decided to use the cameras on Aqua Kids as well.

"We love the cameras because they are lightweight and compact, which is perfect for us since we shoot on location throughout the world," says Stover. "But what really sold us on the GY-HD110 was the lens. JVC has a real lens, unlike a lot of other cameras that have a little piece of plastic on the front."

Aqua Kids is now in its second season. The team produces 26 episodes per season, and approximately three hours of footage is acquired for each episode. The nature of the show requires that production often take place in salt-water locations and Stover says he's yet to have a camera go down due to moisture or humidity.

The show is shot on mini DV HD tapes and is edited in HD using Final Cut Pro 6. The studio also relies on JVC's BR-HD50 ProHD deck.

Currently, Aqua Kids is airing in 16x9 SD, but the transition to HD will be seamless come February of 2009, when HD is mandated.