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DVCPro HD Graphic size??
I’m trying to create graphics for a DVCProHD 720P project, Do I create the graphics at 1280X720 or 960X720? Both images when imported into the timeline look squished and do not play realtime, I have to lower the playback quality to get them to play. I think I’m doing everything correctly. Is this a Panasonic thing? Will the graphics always look squished vertically in the canvas, but look OK when I lay back to tape? Is there a way to fool the timeline so that the graphics look correct in the canvas? This is my first time working with this format so please take it easy on me. Thanks, John
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11 Replies
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sounds like your sequence settings are off if you’re seeing squished graphics and non-realtime playback. 960×720 gives you realtime playback in a DVCPro HD timeline if you have a fast enough system.
I always create my graphics at 1280×720 in case we decide to go with an 8 or 10bit uncompressed HD timeline later.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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Wont some some squishing occur just because of the square/nonsquare pixel ratio thing? I think ALL DV based formats, including DVCPRO HD, will somewhat stretch a graphic made in square pixel space. The solutions are to either use a non-square pixel work environment in Photoshop are use your Distort tool in FCP to make it look normal on television. Isnt that right?
-Christopher Johnson
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[Christopher S. Johnson] ” I think ALL DV based formats, including DVCPRO HD, will somewhat stretch a graphic made in square pixel space.”
DVCPro HD is a square pixel format.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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John,
You should be able to create a 1280×720 TIFF in Photoshop. This is without any sort of pixel aspect ratio turned on in Photoshop. Drop it on the timeline and it should be the correct size. You will have to render, of course, to make the material match the codec to playback. The actual camera image from a Varicam, for instance, is 960×720 anamorphic. The codec takes care of correcting that to 1280 wide, but your media statistics inside FCP will still read the frame size as 960 wide.
Sincerely,
OliverOliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
Good to know, Walter. Thanks for the correction.
-Christopher
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[Christopher S. Johnson] “Good to know, Walter. Thanks for the correction. “
My pleasure Chris. I just started working with the DVCPro HD format about 5 months ago so there’s a lot of things that I learned from trial and error so far. Also, we have a Varicam forum on the Cow which is a tremendous resource for anyone getting into the format.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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That is good to know. I’m going to be editing a show this Summer, shot on HDV, and edited in the DVCPRO HD codec (in FCP 5). I was looking for a forum here, after spending much time over at the always entertaining HDV forum, about DVCPRO HD work-flows. It looks like both the Varicam and P2 forums are a composite of this need.
The article on DVCPRO HD workflow over at kenstone.net has been helpful as well.
What has been your experience of an HDV clip that has been rendered in a DVCPRO HD timeline? Say with a CC filter on it. Many artifacts?
-Christopher
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DVCPROHD isn’t a square pixel format. It’s either 960×720 or 1280×1080 on tape, on disk and inside FCP. We were all lead to believe that HD meant the end of the silly non-square pixel thing but unfortunately it isn’t true. Apple had to add a new pixel aspect ratio in FCP4.5 to cope with the non square pixels of DVCPROHD.
This is a good article for getting started with the technicalities:
https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/dvcpro_hd_workflow_balis.htmlMartin
Digital Heaven, London UK
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[Martin Baker] “DVCPROHD isn’t a square pixel format.”
Interesting, because in both AE and FCP the formats show up as Square Pixel formats.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Creative Genius, Biscardi Creative Media
https://www.biscardicreative.comNow in Production, “The Rough Cut,” https://www.theroughcutmovie.com
“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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[Walter Biscardi] “Interesting, because in both AE and FCP the formats show up as Square Pixel formats.”
Walter,
I believe DVCProHD is recorded to tape – and treated in the codec – as 960×720 rectangular pixels. The codec is decoded to the screen as 1280×720 square pixels. This is part of the “magic” Apple is doing in how the codec is treated natively inside QT. If you open a file natively in QT Player it shows it as 1280 wide. If you export aTIFF from FCP on the other hand, it is 960 and squeezed. You are correct that the full-bandwidth version (1280×720) is square pixels and that the FCP canvas displays DVCProHD as square pixels. On the other hand, turn off “view as square pixels” and it will be 4×3 squeezed. BTW, I don’t think that Motion corrects for the aspect ratio issues in the right way.
Sincerely,
OliverOliver Peters
Post-Production & Interactive Media
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com
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