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workflow for project involving a mix of formats
I am editing a documentary that involves a lot of archival footage. I shot my interviews on BetaSP, so I’ve captured (and edited) that footage based on the following sequence preset: uncompressed 10-bit NTSC 48kHz. It’s my understanding that once this preset has been established, this cannot be changed. My dilemma is that I need to use some old archival VHS footage, which (I’ve read) needs to be captured at 8-bit vs. 10-bit uncompressed. The VHS footage in question is pretty bad already, so transferring to BetaSP is probably going to create even more generational issues. Questions:
-Will I have to render all this VHS footage and is there a work-around to this situation (in total, I could be capturing several minutes of this VHS stuff)? For future archival footage for this project, do I always need to get it as Beta SP to avoid the rendering issue?
-What if I need to shoot more interviews and need to do so on a DV format? Is that inviting much consternation and heartache?
Also, for future projects, does anybody have any workflow ideas to put in place at the start to avoid rendering issues with multi-formats?
Thanks for the help.
Carlos
System: MacPro dual core 2.66 GHz, 2 GB RAM, AJA I/O, OS 10.4.1. FCP Studo 5.1.4
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6 Replies
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#1, BetaSP is 8-bit, so you would have been fine capturing as 8-bit.
#2, VHS lacks timecode…and timecode is pretty important when editing. If you lose the footage, or a drive dies, then you have to manually recapture and re-edit the footage. If I were in your shoes, I’d transfer the VHS to Beta, then capture. The loss in quality will be minimal.
[Carlos Castillo] “-What if I need to shoot more interviews and need to do so on a DV format? Is that inviting much consternation and heartache? “
No…just capture it as uncompressed 8-bit too. Or heck, just mix it as is. It will require rendering, but that won’t be bad. It should only require rendering when you are ready to output…it should have a green bar and be playable while editing.
[Carlos Castillo] “Also, for future projects, does anybody have any workflow ideas to put in place at the start to avoid rendering issues with multi-formats?”
Capture everything to the same codec…everything. And 10-bit uncompressed is overkill for BetaSP…8-bit is fine. But DV50 would be just as good, and take up a LOT less space. I mean, a lot. ProRes for SD is another good option.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
#1, BetaSP is 8-bit, so you would have been fine capturing as 8-bit.
#2, VHS lacks timecode…and timecode is pretty important when editing. If you lose the footage, or a drive dies, then you have to manually recapture and re-edit the footage. If I were in your shoes, I’d transfer the VHS to Beta, then capture. The loss in quality will be minimal.
[Carlos Castillo] “-What if I need to shoot more interviews and need to do so on a DV format? Is that inviting much consternation and heartache? “
No…just capture it as uncompressed 8-bit too. Or heck, just mix it as is. It will require rendering, but that won’t be bad. It should only require rendering when you are ready to output…it should have a green bar and be playable while editing.
[Carlos Castillo] “Also, for future projects, does anybody have any workflow ideas to put in place at the start to avoid rendering issues with multi-formats?”
Capture everything to the same codec…everything. And 10-bit uncompressed is overkill for BetaSP…8-bit is fine. But DV50 would be just as good, and take up a LOT less space. I mean, a lot. ProRes for SD is another good option.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Ah…so you can capture at the 8-bit uncompressed codec because it’s a higher standard, no matter if the original footage was shot on analog or digital video? Please confirm, as my ignorance is great in these matters!
Thanks for the recommendation on the VHS, including the time code issue.
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[Carlos Castillo] “so you can capture at the 8-bit uncompressed codec because it’s a higher standard, no matter if the original footage was shot on analog or digital video?”
Correct. Although some formats are 10-bit (like digibeta), and you might want to use 10-bit at that point, or ProRes, that is 10-bit, but compressed so you use less space, and don’t need to use such fast drives. 10-bit quality at 1/3 the data rate.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thanks for the clarification, Much appreciated. A related question to my initial post about working with old VHS: I think I understand about transferring the VHS to BetaSP for the time code. If I ever needed to rebuild the sequence, this would be the most efficient way.
Question: Is there any way to transfer the VHS to a digital format that has time code, somehow bypassing BetaSP? I have to rent a deck to capture BetaSP, so I would have to transfer the aforementioned footage from VHS to BetaSP, then rent a deck to capture the BetaSP. BTW: I did tranfer the VHS to MiniDV a few years back, so I have it in that format, too. Just looking for a practical, economical solution.
Thanks!
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Beta isn’t a digital format…it is analog, like VHS. Transferring to DV is a wise idea. That is digital, and also contains timecode. I did that with all my VHS tapes.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
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