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The Unofficial DVCPRO HD 720p 24 Thread!!!
Hello all – I got questions!
I am going to be assisting on a show that will be shot on varicam and cut in a dvcpro hd 720p 24 setup. We are capturing firewire using the aj-1200a deck (w/out the sdi option). We have the kona LH, and are on an Xserve with SAN MP. We will be outputting dvcpro hd 24 which will then be upconverted to d5 (24p) and color corrected at a post house.
We are currently on power macs (g5 duals and quads) but are looking at purchasing a couple mac pros.
Some of the stock footage we are using is dvcpro hd 720p 59.94. What is the best way to incorporate that footage?
Should frame blending be unchecked?
Unfortunately I dont have FCP in front of me so I can’t go through the setup options… We will for the most part be using the easy setup (unless anyone has any suggestions).
Forgive me – Do I need to worry about the pulldown? forcing an A frame? Or can I just set it and forget it!?
What about sync issues when capturing?
With the deck we are using, we have to “Print to Video…”!!! (just venting)
Any advice or warnings (even threats!) would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!!!
Clayton
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8 Replies
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[clayton] “What is the best way to incorporate that footage?”
You need to get it converted to 24p. How is the stock footage being provided and are you sure it’s not 24p? After all, the Varicam tapes you will be getting are recorded 59.94 and CP will remove the pulldown upon capture.
[clayton] “Should frame blending be unchecked?”
Are you doing motion effects?
[clayton] “Do I need to worry about the pulldown? forcing an A frame? Or can I just set it and forget it!?”
Choose the DVCPro HD 720p24 easy setup and FCp takes care of the rest.
[clayton] “With the deck we are using, we have to “Print to Video…”!!! (just venting)”
Use the 1400 deck, it’s what the 1200 should have been all along. It’s a dream.
[clayton] “Any advice or warnings (even threats!) would be greatly appreciated!”
Test, test and retest…or else.
Jeremy
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Maybe find some stock footage already in 24p?
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[clayton] “Some of the stock footage we are using is dvcpro hd 720p 59.94. What is the best way to incorporate that footage?”
Drop it into the timeline and render. It is a quick render and it does the pulldown rather well.
[clayton] “Unfortunately I dont have FCP in front of me so I can’t go through the setup options… We will for the most part be using the easy setup (unless anyone has any suggestions).”
As stated before, choose the 720p24 Easy Setup and you will be ready to go.
[clayton] “Forgive me – Do I need to worry about the pulldown? forcing an A frame? Or can I just set it and forget it!?”
Only if you transferred film to DVCPRO HD. Otherwise, no worries. DVCPRO HD is a very easy codec to work with.
[clayton] “What about sync issues when capturing?”
DVCPRO HD has a 2 frame offset. Audio is ahead of picture by two frames. Simply slip the audio ahead two frames when you cut it into the sequence and you will be good to go.
[clayton] “With the deck we are using, we have to “Print to Video…”!!! (just venting)”
Uhhh, says who? I have Edited to Tape with the 1200. The 1400 is better, but the 1200 is just fine. BUT, you have to experiment to find out what offset you get in terms of TC. My offset was 9 frames, another person had 20 frames. There is no consistancy.
[clayton] “Any advice or warnings (even threats!) would be greatly appreciated!”
CLick on Underdog and read my blog. From the beginning…iffin you like. I edited 2 History Channel docs so far, and am starting on my third.
Shane
FCP Preferences set to UNCONTROLLED ADVICE
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
Thanks so much for the responses!
The stock footage is definitely 59.94 (for some reason). We have a good deal with the owner, so I’d like to use it. I was hoping I could convert it using the panasonic frame rate converter but that didn’t work (got error message). Ideally I would like to convert it somehow, but if I gotta render, I gotta render. I guess I could just do a batch export of the renders to avoid rerendering since I won’t need to reference source tc.
Frame blending – Yes we will be doing motion effects. I was told by someone that there are pulldown issues caused by frame blending.
The 1200 deck we have has no sdi out and therefore we can’t use the rs422 connection. As far as I know, you can’t “edit to tape” with firewire control.
I have experimented with timecode offset and got that straightened out. The 2 frame a/v sync offset I will check in the prefs. Hopefully it’s already checked in the easy setup if it’s a DVCPRO HD thing.
Anymore personal experiences (related to the topic) would be appreciated.
Thanks again,
Clayton
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[Shane Ross] “DVCPRO HD has a 2 frame offset. Audio is ahead of picture by two frames. Simply slip the audio ahead two frames when you cut it into the sequence and you will be good to go.”
Never have seen this. Curious where you’re seeing this or heard of this Shane. We never slip audio on our DVCPro HD timelines.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters
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[clayton] “but if I gotta render, I gotta render”
You can try and use compressor to convert your footage form 60p to 24p. Graeme Nattress has a plug in to do it (www.nattress.com) or do as Shane says and put it tin the timeline and render and see if that will pass QC.
[clayton] “Frame blending – Yes we will be doing motion effects.”
Sorry, i didn’t mean motion effects, I meant are you going to do speed ups and slow downs? If so, you can probably do that with the DVCPRO HD footage really easy and have buttery smooth slow mo. That’s what the frame rate converter is for. With progressive footage, you will have to play with the frame blending. I usually turn it off for progressive stuff.
[clayton] “As far as I know, you can’t “edit to tape” with firewire control.”
The 1200A will allow a really weird edit to tape through firewire, but it’s not frame accurate. Like Shane says, you can try and do it, but I’ve never been successful. The 1400 is much better (as it inserts and assemble edits) through rs-422. Like I said it’s a dream. The 1200 is sorely lacking in this feature.
[clayton] “I have experimented with timecode offset and got that straightened out.”
That’s not what Shane is talking about. Shane is talking about how the varicam records 24p material. For technical reasons the audio is 2 frames off. Changing the tc offset in your preferences will not fix that. The tc offset has to do with capture, not with sync.
Jeremy
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Seen this on three shows I have worked on thus far. First, THE MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR, the BLOOD DIAMONDS, and now ANDREW JACKSON. Only happens on footage shot on the Varicam. The HVX-200 footage is spot on. I have also seen up to 8 frames off sync, but that was footage captured using my laptop and a PCMCIA firewire card. Bad card I suppose.
You don’t get this? Even Gary Adcock acknowledges there is a 2 frame offset.
Shane
Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net -
[clayton] “The stock footage is definitely 59.94 (for some reason). We have a good deal with the owner, so I’d like to use it. I was hoping I could convert it using the panasonic frame rate converter but that didn’t work (got error message). “
Try CT to remove the redundant frames, you cannot extract frames with the FRC that are not flagged by the camera or suitable NLE.
[clayton] “The 1200 deck we have has no sdi out and therefore we can’t use the rs422 connection. As far as I know, you can’t “edit to tape” with firewire control.”
The RS 422 on that deck works without the SDI connection- but you will not have the Up or downconvert functions
[clayton] “he 2 frame a/v sync offset I will check in the prefs. Hopefully it’s already checked in the easy setup if it’s a DVCPRO HD thing.”
the 2 frame offset is corrected when capturing via FW. Not over HDSDI –
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
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