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720p25 to FCP5 results noisy pictures. Workaoround?
Hello
I’m digitizing a film who was shot with a varicam 720p25 (for later PAL downconverting) with the kona2 and the AJ1200 over HDSDI. The shots were done in a dark cellar with poor lightning conditions.
As I have been adviced on a HD workshop, the best way to edit the 25p material is to digitize it 10Bit UC for best results on later color corrections and composites. the dp was well shocked as he saw his pictures upconverted from the AJ1200 in 1080i (over a DeckLink on a 23″ cinema display). The pictures are noisy in the dark parts as well as in the lights, it looks rather like DigiBeta than HD quality. The poor image quality might be a simple mistake of the dp, forgetting that the DVCPRO HD compression on tape will look much worse than the straight signal from the camera on the set monitor. But even pictures shot at daylight have a strong noise in the shadows.
Does anyone know, if there is a workaround to get the pictures in better quality?
A possible source of error could be:
– the kona2 control panel shows on the hdsdi input: 1080i25 (should be 1080i50 or 1080p25 in my opinion)
– FCP5 Kona capture presets are as well 1080i25
Thanks for any help.
Romanski
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15 Replies
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Why do you upconvert from 720p to 1080i. I also did that for a try out and also noticed a detoriated picture. Might be that the upconvertion in the player isn’t that good. Why don’t you capture in 720p in 25 fps? Worked well for me.
Kool En De Anderen
dual 1.8 gig G5/Mac OS 10.3.9/Kona 2/Hugh 800 G diskarray, fibrechannel/FCP 5.02/AE 6.5 Pro
http://www.koolendeanderen.nl -
Did you compare playback on a color critical CRT versus the Cinema display?
The varicam only records in 720 progressive not 1080p or 1080i.
Always capture in 720P do not cross convert to 1080i during capture.
On output depending on what the delivery requirements are you may need to cross convert.
During the editing process always stay in progressive mode.
Tony Salgado
Tony Salgado
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Hello Itamar
how did you do that’? Nether FCP5 nor the Kona2 support 720p25 in any settings. Or can’t I find it?
Thanks
Roman
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Hello Tony
Unfortunatelly I don’t have a CRT in HD size or with DVI connectors. But you are right, I should check it and I’ll go therefore to a posthouse somewhere.
I would love to edit in native 720p25 mode, but as long as HD PAL is not SMPTE verified, Panasonic, Apple and Aja don’t seem to support it. The AJ1200 will automatically upconvert it. I also haven’t found any workaround to get it native captured. I could get theme as they were variable frame footgae, native with 60p and then use the framerateconverter, but this results in bad looking motions and pans.
Or did I missed here something?
Thanks
Roman
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Here are the steps to create a 720p 25 easy setup.
1) Setup FCP with a Kona 2 720p 23.98 easy setup.
a) Go to Easy setup menu ().
b) Make sure the SHOW ALL checkbox is checked.
c) Select one if the Kona 2 720p 23.98 easy setups (uncompressed or
DVCpro HD – your choice).
2) Create a varicam 720p 25 capture preset.
a) Go to FCP audio video settings -> capture presets (tab).
b) Click on: Automatically makes a copy and puts you in
the preset editor.
c) Rename capture preset to Kona 2 varicam 720p 25.
d) Change FPS from 23.98 to 25.
e) Exit.
3) Create a varicam 720p 25 sequence preset.
a) Go to FCP audio video settings -> sequence presets (tab).
b) Click on: Automatically makes a copy and puts you in
the preset editor.
c) Rename sequence preset to varicam 720p 25.
d) Change FPS from 23.98 to 25.
e) Exit.
4) Go to FCP audio video settings -> Summary and click on. Name it Kona varicam 720p 25 “codec name”. This easy setup is based
on the new capture preset and sequence preset you created in steps 2 and 3.
Note: playback remains at 720p 59.94.Got it from Rudy from AJA.. Also take a look in the FAQ in the AJA website on the Kona 2 support page
Kool En De Anderen
dual 1.8 gig G5/Mac OS 10.3.9/Kona 2/Hugh 800 G diskarray, fibrechannel/FCP 5.02/AE 6.5 Pro
http://www.koolendeanderen.nl -
Thanks for the guide. So I capture the footage over the Kona2 and RS422 device control? Which codec is used (DVCPRO HD, 8Bit, 10Bit)? And the AJ1200 must therefore be in 60Hz mode?
Roman
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You use the Kona 2 720p 8 or 10 bits uncompressed mode or the Kona 2 DVCPRO HD mode. The only thing that matters is that the footage is shot at 25fps and that the capture mode is also 25 fps. The Kona then knows ot has to throw away the duplicate frames. I’m not sure about the AJ 1200. I don’t think you have to choose 50 or 60 Hz. That has no relevance as far as I know. The playback speed remains 59.94 fps.
Kool En De Anderen
dual 1.8 gig G5/Mac OS 10.3.9/Kona 2/Hugh 800 G diskarray, fibrechannel/FCP 5.02/AE 6.5 Pro
http://www.koolendeanderen.nl -
[Itamar Kool] “The only thing that matters is that the footage is shot at 25fps and that the capture mode is also 25 fps. The Kona then knows ot has to throw away the duplicate frames. I’m not sure about the AJ 1200. I don’t think you have to choose 50 or 60 Hz. That has no relevance as far as I know. The playback speed remains 59.94 fps.”
No, it should be set to 60. and it should be set on 60 Hz in the camera for the proper PAL (25fps) Config.
This process is the same for shooting offspeed footage and having it properly capture in FCP when using a Kona card.
(meaning faster or slower depending on how it was shot)itamar – it would have been nice to see you at IBC.
Gary Adcock
Studio37
HD and Film Consultation
Chicago, IL USA -
[gary adcock] “itamar – it would have been nice to see you at IBC. “
Hi Gary,
Yeah, really wanted to go. Had everything set. But then things (work) got a little out of hand. Hopefully next year???Kool En De Anderen
dual 1.8 gig G5/Mac OS 10.3.9/Kona 2/Hugh 800 G diskarray, fibrechannel/FCP 5.02/AE 6.5 Pro
http://www.koolendeanderen.nl -
Hello Itamar
So i tried out the handmade 25p easy setup according to your list. I have put the AJ1200 in 60Hz and as far as i can see in the vtr-userbits, the tape has been recorded in 25p@60Hz (not 59.97).
So far the capturing worked fine, only that in motions and pans the captured pictures were split horizontaly, and the lower part of the picture were shiftet a few pixels to the left. A really strange thing who’s confusing me even more now.
What could that be?
Roman
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