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Prores 4444 software down-converting
Hi All,
I’m really looking for some info on workflows others find work best when down-converting Prores 4444 1080p footage/projects using software.
I have a FCP7 project with the above settings, however the end target is actually PAL SD for broadcast. I know many people suggest working in a sequence that you will finish in, but everything I’ve been given for this job is 1920×1080 (graded footage, graphics, animation).
I’ve tried a few test exports to PAL SD using FCP (QT conversion), Compressor with various settings, After Effects and also dragging the original sequence into a PAL SD sequence in FCP. These all seem to wield varying results, AE seemed to be the better option.
In an Ideal world I’m sure a hardware conversion would be far better, but I don’t have this luxury. Could anyone suggest specific settings/software they feel would do the best job? Even additional software that I could get, if it’s not too pricey.
Any feedback/comments greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
NicoArt Director says “What do you mean by title safe?”…Bangs head on wall.
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8 Replies
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Not sure if you have access to a PC but Ive been using a various of this workflow for several years and it beats or, at least, equals any hardware converter….and its all free
Hardware conversions are mostly a tape to tape workflow anyway.
https://bellunevideo.com/tutdetail.php?tutid=12
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Thanks for the info Eric. Unfortunately I don’t access to a PC, but I’m interested to check out this workflow for future reference.
Art Director says “What do you mean by title safe?”…Bangs head on wall.
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The best software resizing tool for Mac is, by far, Apple´s SHAKE.
If you can get it, don´t hessitate.
rafael -
Thanks Rafael,
I’ll see if I can locate a copy somewhere…
Out of interest does anyone use Motion for down conversion with good results?
Art Director says “What do you mean by title safe?”…Bangs head on wall.
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[Nico Scott] “Out of interest does anyone use Motion for down conversion with good results?”
MOTION has a very good DOWNSCALING filter (inherited from SHAKE) called LANCZOS. You won´t find it in Filters but in the “Image Units”.
Still SHAKE offers better options than MOTION and works in 32b FP (MOTION doesn´t works FP).
rafael -
thanks for info. Haven’t been able to get me hands on shake so I’ll give this a shot. After reading some other posts I found using AE and applying a small amount of Gaussian blur before down scaling quite effective, as long as you add a sharp mask on the newly created files.
I’ll let you know how i go.
thanks
Art Director says “What do you mean by title safe?”…Bangs head on wall.
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I’ve just tried out LANCZOS scaling in Motion, however it seems a bit messy as I couldn’t figure out an easy way to scale down my 1920×1080 footage to PAL 720×576 (16:9) so it was precise. I just had to change the project settings then drag the slider and reposition the image to sit inside the frame.
Is there something I’m missing?
Art Director says “What do you mean by title safe?”…Bangs head on wall.
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For those who may stumble upon this thread…
I have since decided after many, many tests, that for the moment my best workflow when downscaling is using Compressor (using frame controls of course!)
It’s a shame that it takes such a ridiculous amount of time, but seems to yield the best results for my workflow.
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