-
DSLR for AIR in local broadcast
I’m about to start cutting a few :15 promos for a client of ours. The shoot was all 5D Mark III footage at full HD, 1920×1080, 30p (29.97) as well as stop motion stills I think on the D1. These spots will be airing in local stations across PA. Obv, stations will want 1080i, which with 30p footage should be an easy standards conversion to 29.97 (59.94i) Upper Field first, right?
My question is, first with the stop motion spots, I’ll simply set my sequence up as ProRes 422, edit and export native for my MASTER. But for the live action spots, should I just edit native using the 1080p30 DSLR preset in Premiere CS6 and from those sequences, export out of Premiere a ProRes 422 MASTER @ 30p. Then use either Compressor, AME or AE to do the standards conversion to 29.97 Interlaced and ultimately the station deliverables (which will probably be some sort of Quicktime, mp4 or DVCProHD digital upload through DG Fast Channel, now Extreme Reach, I think)? Would AE do a better standards conversion then Compressor or AME? I do have a Decklink Studio 2 card, but no method/device to output to, to allow the card to do the standards conversion, so my only option right now is software conversion.
Appreciate your thoughts and help!
OSX 10.7.5 with a 3.39 Ghz Intel Core i7 on a built up Hackintosh
16 GB of RAM with OSX on SSD, (2) internal HDDs RAID’d 1 for project files and External RAID 5 for all project assets (media, GFX, stills, etc.)
BMD Decklink Studio 2, FSI BM210, KRK Rokit 5s, Mackie 802 -
3 Replies
-
Presets for Premiere mean very little – they are templates for sequences but they won’t make or break a project if you choose one 1080p29.97 template vs another. That said, since you’re on Mac, CS6 should smart render ProRes so I would alter any selected sequence presets to the “custom” editing mode so you can unlock and choose ProRes as your preview render codec.
I would export out a ProRes master at 29.97p.
The thing about 29.97p (frames per second) is that conversion to 59.94i (fields per second) is that the upper and lower fields are generated from the same frame – it’s a conversion programs rarely screw up.
From there I would choose AME for DVCProHD export (quality over Compressor if Compressor exports this format is splitting hairs I’m sure). For h.264 delivery I suggest FFMPEG for encoding – the reason being is that keyframe structure is pretty strict and it’s difficult to really get that fine control with AME or Compressor, plus I think x.264 is a squeak better than MainConcepts’ encoder and miles ahead of Quicktime’s encoder.
——————–
Angelo LorenzoNeed to encode ProRes on your Windows PC?
Introducing ProRes Helper, an awesome little app that makes it possible
Fallen Empire Digital Production Services – Los Angeles
RED transcoding, on-set DIT, and RED Epic rental services
Fallen Empire – The Blog
A blog dedicated to filmmaking, the RED workflow, and DIT tips and tricks
Can your post production question fit in a tweet? Follow me on Twitter -
Thx Angelo. Two things, I should have stated I normally would edit DSLR footage native as export ProRes Master but this being for broadcast I just wasn’t sure if I should transcode to ProRes before edit, a la the old FCP days to give me the 422 color space vs the 420 of H.264. I know the footage won’t any better hut won’t 422 give me the better color space and more head room for color correction? That being said I don’t plan plan on any heavy grading, probably some basic corrections and bring it all into broadcast safe.
And 2, we have Sorenson Squeeze as we’ll, which I don’t like all that much, and prefer Episode, which we don’t have, but do you know if Squeeze uses FFMPEG? Or at least the option to choose that. Because yes I believe AME and Compressor are both Quicktime based.
OSX 10.7.5 with a 3.39 Ghz Intel Core i7 on a built up Hackintosh
16 GB of RAM with OSX on SSD, (2) internal HDDs RAID’d 1 for project files and External RAID 5 for all project assets (media, GFX, stills, etc.)
BMD Decklink Studio 2, FSI BM210, KRK Rokit 5s, Mackie 802 -
[Matt Campbell] “I just wasn’t sure if I should transcode to ProRes before edit, a la the old FCP days to give me the 422 color space vs the 420 of H.264.”
If you do noise reduction you’ll get better mileage from your color grade – noise reduction resamples every pixel. If you go straight from 420 to 422 otherwise, you’re not gaining anything. Really only worth it for heavy banding or other issue solving IMO.
If you have Squeeze, I would just use that as it gives you access to the MainConcept’s advanced settings for H.264.
AME actually has two h.264 codecs – the MainConcepts with a simplified interface (select H.264 as your format) and Quicktime’s internal (Select Quicktime as your format). More reading about what you get for GOP structure here: https://www.fallenempiredigital.com/blog/2013/05/06/understanding-premiere-pros-h-264-export-encoding-settings/
——————–
Angelo LorenzoNeed to encode ProRes on your Windows PC?
Introducing ProRes Helper, an awesome little app that makes it possible
Fallen Empire Digital Production Services – Los Angeles
RED transcoding, on-set DIT, and RED Epic rental services
Fallen Empire – The Blog
A blog dedicated to filmmaking, the RED workflow, and DIT tips and tricks
Can your post production question fit in a tweet? Follow me on Twitter
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up