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cross converting 720p to 1080i
I would like to include some 1280 x 720p footage shot on a Lumix GF1 with 1080i video from a Sony Z1 camera (25fps) at the same time keeping the highest quality for display on a HD screen. I will be attempting this on FCP 3. Can I set a 1080 timeline and drop the 720p into that sentence? Any knowledged suggestions are much appreciated.
Peter Hall
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11 Replies
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[Peter Hall] “Can I set a 1080 timeline and drop the 720p into that sentence?”
You can but it will be pretty ugly. FCP does not do a good job of scaling or interlacing.
The BEST way to do this is through a capture card such as the AJA Kona LHi or Kona 3. We do all day, every day going from 720 to 1080 or 1080 to 720 as needed. It’s a perfect broadcast quality conversion.
If you don’t have access to a capture card, then use Compressor to make the conversion.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” featuring Sigourney Weaver coming soon.
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Thank you Walter. Which setting in FCP will produce the best output for HD screening ? 720p to 1080i or 1080i to 720p? Are Compressor times the same for each conversion?
Peter Hall
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Hi Walter,
What exactly do you mean by this?
“The BEST way to do this is through a capture card such as the AJA Kona LHi or Kona 3. We do all day, every day going from 720 to 1080 or 1080 to 720 as needed. It’s a perfect broadcast quality conversion.”
Do you mean re-caputring from tape? Or doing this from a quicktime? I would use Mpeg streamclip / Compressor, but am curious to know a better way!
Also, does 1080i to 720p actually work? Does it create 25 individual fps from a bunch of interlaced ones?
Sorry if this is basic, just getting my head round it!
All the best,
Charlie
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You connect your camera to the capture card. It’s very simple.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
That would assume that one is using tape wouldn’t it steve? And a conversion on capture is a simple prospect. I asked a different question about quicktimes and how that works.
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If you are coming from tapeless media, you could do it two ways.
1) output to tape using a card to do the cross conversion and reingest
2) compressorMPEGStreamclip is a great program but won’t give you the best results IMHO.
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[Mike Kahn] “2) compressor”
Compressor is always my first stop when I’m trying to do a weird software conversion. I’m often surprised by results that range from excellent to way better than I had any right to expect. As the results from stranger format/frame rate conversions get lower, I then go to Motion or AE or Shake. In the end, the one that sucks the least wins.
That said, going from 720P in any decent codec to 1080i ProRes or uncompressed is usually pretty good via Compressor. Run tests, though, YMMV.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/ -
Thanks folks for the heads up – yeah, its the dreaded MTS files, so its Compressor for me. I still wonder what the better sequence settings are ? 720p or 1080i – I hear so many conflicting reports that I guess I will have to make my own tests to ascertain what will look better – I dont mind smaller PiP of 720 within the larger 1080 if thats the best way to go.
Peter Hall
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Compressor (3.5) doesnt recognise MTS files, although FCP can import through log & transfer. No need to render MTS ( 720p) into 1080i sequence although movement looks shakey and stuttery. Any further suggestions to improve this image movement problem is much appreciated.
Peter Hall
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You can use MpegStreamclip to unwrap & transcode .mts files. Then use compressor to cross convert from 720 to 1080.
Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/
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