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1080p25 settings issue and AJA KONA LHe?
Hello everyone,
I am completely new here (and the bulk of my experience has been with Avid systems) but hope I can become an active and contributing member of this community! From all the lurking I’ve done it seems like a great place to hang out and contribute and learn!So…We are in the midst of setting everything up for an animated TV series that is to be delivered to us as 1920×1080 progressive 25fps Quicktimes for each shot, using NONE as a compression (because the animation studio are not using Macs). The biggest issue we have right now is how to get, if possible, a Final Cut sequence to be, confidently, in 1920x1080p25 (that is, HD, progressive, 25fps).
We are using the following setup:
Mac OS X version 10.5.5
Processor 2 x 3.2 Ghz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Memory 10 GB 800 MHz DDR2 FB-DIMM
AJA KONA LHe
Monitor: JVC DT V24L1 Multi Format LCD MonitorFirst question: If I use Easy Setup to start my project, there is no “AJA KONA LH 1080p25” option in the pulldown list. If I use the “AJA KONA LH 1080i25” setting to at least get me to the audio/video settings screen to then manually change things around, I can finally get my Sequence Preset to read “Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) 1920×1080 25p 48 kHz” and my Video Playback to “AJA KONA 1080p25 10 bit (1920×1080)”. Is this normal that there is no Easy Setup nor sequence preset called “AJA KONA LH 1080p25”? And why does my aspect ratio in my Sequence Settings say “HDTV 1080i (16:9)”? Will this make the entire sequence “interlaced” or will setting the Field Dominance to None make it truly progressive? Ultimately, is any or all of this a limitation of the AJA KONA LHe card itself or Final Cut that seems to disallow 1080p25 out to the monitor? From what documentation I can find on the AJA Kona card it seems it might very likely NOT support this format!!! Anyone confirmed this?
Second question: Is it possibly the monitor? I have read all the tech specs on it and it claims it should be capable of receiving this kind of output. I have gone into the AJA control panel and made sure that it is sending out this signal. But is it truly sending it out or is the control panel possibly giving me options I cannot actually successfully use with the AJA KONA LHe? If I set the outputs in the control panel to 1080i25 or 1080p25, it seems to make no difference as to what successfully displays from FCP correctly, i.e. I can successfully display when Video Playback is set to “AJA KONA 1080i25 (1920×1080)” but not the progressive Video Playback set to “AJA KONA 1080p25 (1920×1080)”!!!
Third question (and in a slightly different ballpark): In terms of file type we should be requesting from the animation studio, I am almost certain that in the Microsoft PC world there is no Quicktime 10-bit Uncompressed codec nor the Apple ProRes 422 so we are expecting “None” to be used. I know I will have a render on my hands after I import these files and put them in my timeline with either Uncompressed 10 bit or Apple ProRes HQ as my Sequence codec but does anyone recommend one over the other? From all I’ve read I think I will go with ProRes. Does anyone believe that doing some sort of transcoding before importing (or after???) would help before i start laying the NONE material into my timeline and having to render any time a change is made? Has anyone else had a similar workflow in the animation editing world recently?
Thanks for any and all help! Extremely appreciated
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19 Replies
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[Robert Yates] “Third question (and in a slightly different ballpark): In terms of file type we should be requesting from the animation studio, I am almost certain that in the Microsoft PC world there is no Quicktime 10-bit Uncompressed codec nor the Apple ProRes 422 so we are expecting”
Hi Robert make your self a big favor and get the graphics with “Sheer” (www.bitjazz.com)
YUV/RGB, 8/10b, 422/444 and with Alpha. No gamma issues. Cross platform and free reader. The files are a 60% the size of the similar Apple codec.[Robert Yates] “First question: If I use Easy Setup to start my project, there is no “AJA KONA LH 1080p25” option “
Set NONE and you will have a Progressive sequence.canAbout the setting on the AJA, sorry but I can’t help you.
Rafael -
Thanks Rafael! I’ll look into that!
Also, after posting the above questions, I finally found a document from AJA that lists the supported video formats of this card and 1080p25 is not in that list…but…oddly, I found another document that does list it as a supported video format so I am not sure which is in error at this point other than I don’t seem to be able to get the monitor to accept a forced attempt to make FCP Video Playback 1080p25. I get an “Out of Range” message on the JVC monitor.
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Hi Robert,
Out of range means that the AJA is not sending any video signal.
But don’t worry too much. You can read a Progressive signal as interlaced without problem.
Whatever the field you read first, whatever the monitor you use, will always look Progressive.
The opposite is not that easy. Interlaced footage have always to keep the field order, and even doing so it can looks really bad in a Progressive monitor.
Rafael -
Thanks! So in the AJA control panel does it matter if I set it to output 1080p25 or 1080i25 as long as my FCP sequence setting is as progressive as I can get it (FIELD DOMINANCE: NONE)?
And I’m not sure if this matters, but my aspect ratio in my sequence settings always says HDTV 1080i (16:9)? Will this affect whether not it will be a truly progressive output on my monitor?
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[Robert Yates] “Thanks! So in the AJA control panel does it matter if I set it to output 1080p25 or 1080i25 as long as my FCP sequence setting is as progressive as I can get it (FIELD DOMINANCE: NONE)? “
Right. The card is working just for monitoring.[Robert Yates] “And I’m not sure if this matters, but my aspect ratio in my sequence settings always says HDTV 1080i (16:9)? Will this affect whether not it will be a truly progressive output on my monitor?”
This is nothing to do with Progressive or Interlaced. That means that your sequence is 1920 x 1080 Square pixels.
Rafael -
Thanks yet again!
To clarify: so if I have my sequence set up correctly, the AJA control panel setting of 1080i25 will still display a progressive image?
Does this mean that the video playback setting in FCP is overriding the control panel setting? Or do the two need to match to know that I am truly monitoring interlace or progressive?
Also, you mention square pixels. I was under the impression that HD was square pixels but I just watched a tutorial that states the complete opposite, that they are rectangular. If I am being given shot (not shot with any camera but created in Maya for an animated series) with an HD frame size but square pixels, will be problems down the road when I get to onlining and outputting this to a deliverable format such as HDCAM SR?
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[Robert Yates] “To clarify: so if I have my sequence set up correctly, the AJA control panel setting of 1080i25 will still display a progressive image? “
Your Progressive picture will be played as Interlaced, but as long as the two fields have bee shoot as the same time there is no motion blur between the fields. The picture will look Progressive.[Robert Yates] “Does this mean that the video playback setting in FCP is overriding the control panel setting? Or do the two need to match to know that I am truly monitoring interlace or progressive? “
The AJA is working “downstream” from FC. The AJA setting don’t interfere with the FC setting.[Robert Yates] “Also, you mention square pixels. I was under the impression that HD was square pixels but I just watched a tutorial that states the complete opposite, that they are rectangular. If I am being given shot (not shot with any camera but created in Maya for an animated series) with an HD frame size but square pixels, will be problems down the road when I get to onlining and outputting this to a deliverable format such as HDCAM SR? “
There are basically two flavors of High Definition:
– HDTV: It uses Square pixels (1920×1080/1280×720). Is the format of HDCam
– HD: Uses HD pixels (1440×1080/966×720). Is the format used by HDV and DVCProHD.
Think that in the end the two formats “build” the same screen. Is like making the same wall with two different kind of bricks.
If you go to HDCamSR, use always the first setting.
Cheers,
rafael
Rafael -
Thanks a million! We’re still working with our tech people to see if we can’t get FCP/AJA card and the monitor to accept a truly 1080p25 signal but if what you said holds, then I guess we don’t have much to worry about. Still, those who will be approving the shows will obviously want to know that what they are seeing is interlaced or progressive absolutely 🙂 So we still have to have the proof that it is. This will definitely help make our case more believable,
Thanks again! -
Robert,
there are some errors in Rafael explanation that I will try to straighten out.[Robert Yates] “To clarify: so if I have my sequence set up correctly, the AJA control panel setting of 1080i25 will still display a progressive image?”
The is the function of the format all 1080 content for broadcast is handled in what is called a Progressive Segmented frame- the Camera Captures the content as progressive- On a HD monitor- that content is played out as interlace making the 25i single play back onscreen as 50 fields. This is the same as 25p standard def content playing back at 50i they are the same.
Once again
ALL 1080 Broadcast content is played back as interlace on displays or during transmission, whether it be 24.0 23.98 or 25.It is only in post that the content is handled progressively
Secondly While FCP can control some of the functions of your Kona Card- the card does many things without FCP’s knowledge, one of which is any hardware card in an FCP system forces your computer to output proper, legalized video out over HDSDI.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production WorkflowsInside look at the IoHD
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/adcock_gary/AJAIOHD.php -
[Rafael Amador] “There are basically two flavors of High Definition:
– HDTV: It uses Square pixels (1920×1080/1280×720). Is the format of HDCam
– HD: Uses HD pixels (1440×1080/966×720). Is the format used by HDV and DVCProHD. “Yes there are 2 types of HD for broadcast. 1080 and 720.
Pixel dimensions are related to how content is recorded- Camera native content is compressed horizontally to assist with data compression. while the data is compressed – both software and hardware do properly output the content as the correct frame raster. (your kona card assures that is the case)
Some formats do not horizontally compress the signal, uncompressed content is always full raster so there is not any derivation from standard. IF you are capturing thru the kona card everything is done for you when it comes to these dimensions.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production WorkflowsInside look at the IoHD
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/adcock_gary/AJAIOHD.php
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