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DVCPRO50, HD, Others – Format Properties
Hi Guys
Just wondering if some of you could explain or point to resources to get an in-depth understanding of video formats and codecs in both SD and HD. We are trying to understand each format DV, DVCPRO50, etc. etc. and their properties i.e. rate, bandwidth, file sizes etc.
In addition, we were wondering that what would be the best way to capture them for example, DVCPRO50 transferred over portable using Firewire; is that sending a 25Mb compressed signal or full 50Mb signal and can be captured using 8 or 10bit uncompressed OR should we use the Component or SDI out to do 8 or 10 bit uncompressed. Also the difference in this situation of using SDI versus Component (if we go this route).
Any help is appreciated. Are there any books or white papers on the net or a vendor’s site please.
Thanks so much
Regards
Sam -
5 Replies
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Marco Solario’s site has a lot of info.
https://codecs.onerivermedia.com/
Ed -
Sorry about the spelling Marco, it’s Solorio to the rest of us. 🙂
Ed -
Usually best to capture native over firewire.
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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[Graeme Nattress] “Usually best to capture native over firewire”
Graeme, can you please explain this to me? I know that maybe mathematically it works out, but in my experience, there’s no question capturing uncompressed 10 bit yields better quality. For example, shooting green screen material on an SDX900. Pull the key in dv50 and then using the same clip, recapture @ 10bit and then pull the key. NIght and day difference. Same with Varicam/HDCam originated material. COlor correcting in 10 bit and creating graphics in 10 bit always yields better results for me hands down. When going to make DVDs, the 10 bit material always holds up better. I know you are a knowledgeable guy, I just don’t get why you say to capture native.
Jeremy
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Rendering to 10bit uncompressed can have an advantage but capturing as such doesn’t confer any, especially in the DV50 case where both the native format and the SDI output are 4:2:2. Remember, FCP itself will uncompress the data to 4:4:4 before rendering takes place, and if the timeline is set to be uncompressed, I don’t see any difference.
For DV, it’s more complex: https://www.lafcpug.org/Tutorials/basic_chroma_sample.html
Graeme
– http://www.nattress.com – Film Effects and Standards Conversion for FCP
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