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DVPRO HD codec confusion
I am a first-time Final Cut Pro 6 user editing a project shot in Europe on the Panasonic HVX201A (it exists in the German market) on P2 cards at, evidently, 720Progressive at 50 frames per second.
The logged and transferred clips appear in a widescreen format in the Final Cut viewer.The system now is set for using the sequence codec of DVCPRO HD 720p50 and it says the playback output video is DVCPRO HD (720p50) (1280X720) and edit to tape the same settings. When I select a clip and look at the format it shows frame size 960 X 720, pixel aspect HD(960X720). I know there is a pixel dimension difference to be accounted for but I still don’t understand if all those different pixel ratios are normal to see.
Both the rendered format footage and the mov footage look fine.
I must create a DVD for a widescreen office reception area television on the PAL system here in Germany. Being from the USA NTSC environment I am unfamiliar with PAL in combination with widescreen displays.
My question—–I have already created a quicktime mov that looks fine dropping the frame rate down to 25 from the native 50 on the footage, but DO I STAY WITH THE DVCPRO HD settings for all sequences if I want the final best output? Or is there a higher resolution codec that also deals with motion effects in the crispest clearest fashion? DVCPRO HD looks good but is there a better option for my end product display environment?
For a large widescreen television which may not be an HD display how do I obtain the best on-screen clarity for my end product DVD?
Should I switch to another superior codec and re-render the things I have done so far and then stay with that same codec for the Quicktime final movie?
I read the forum for help but have not found the post that specifically helps my own situation.
Thanks for the most relevant suggestions!
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2 Replies
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[David Hunter] “When I select a clip and look at the format it shows frame size 960 X 720, pixel aspect HD(960X720). I know there is a pixel dimension difference to be accounted for but I still don’t understand if all those different pixel ratios are normal to see. “
This is correct. DVCPro HD is an anamorphic format and FCP automatically scales the footage out to full raster 1280×720 during playback.
[David Hunter] “My question—–I have already created a quicktime mov that looks fine dropping the frame rate down to 25 from the native 50 on the footage, but DO I STAY WITH THE DVCPRO HD settings for all sequences if I want the final best output? Or is there a higher resolution codec that also deals with motion effects in the crispest clearest fashion? DVCPRO HD looks good but is there a better option for my end product display environment? “
We’ve been using the DVCPro HD codec for almost 4 years now and we stay in that format within FCP. Some folks use ProRes. The only time I use ProRes is for rendering out of Color. We don’t capture to / edit ProRes yet as I’ve seen some weird artifacts and issues with captures from time to time with ProRes captures.
But we have edited / delivered DVCPro HD projects for years and the image quality is outstanding just staying in that codec.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
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Walter…you da man!
Thanks for your response! It gives me confidence to go and quite worrying about this issue.
By the way, I have been watching your Tutorials for the past week and already had your very helpful realtime sequences tutorial bookmarked for quick reference.
Gracias!
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