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1 project: 2 sizes and frame rates — Best solution?
Hi CC Community,
I’m hoping a few of you might have the answer to this challenge:
I have a project that I accidentally shot in 2 sizes AND frame rates (lesson very learned):720×1280 — 59.94 (key interviews + broll)
1080 x 1920 — 29.97 (broll)All footage was optimized upon import.
Despite lots of research of merging sizes and fps, I’m still confused on project fps and size setup and which settings might yield the best results.
1) Should I edit in 720 vs 1080? This will be distributed via Vimeo. Is starting in one and exporting in another an option? My goal is to give the client the highest quality product.
2) Frame rates … It’s obviously very important that my interviews (59.94) stay intact and smooth. Will going to 24fps slow them down? What options do I have? I’d like to go 24fps if possible.
Thanks, All.
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8 Replies
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Whatever it was shot at, I’d create a project that matches your delivery format and edit in that.
FCPX should automagically handle everything under the hood. Obviously if you choose 1080, the 720p footage is going to be blown up and slightly soft.
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
Create a 1920×1080 29.97 project and edit everything there. If your interviews are sharp, they should look decent scaled to 1920×1080. If need be, apply a small amount of sharpening. Don’t worry about the frame rates, those will match up fine. Don’t bother with 24p this time around. You can shoot it natively for your next project. 🙂
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!Check out my Mormon.org profile.
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Thanks, Jeff. I’d like to go bigger but hopefully it won’t go too soft. Are there downsides to editing and exporting in 720? Is it better for Vimeo to crunch down a 1080?
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Hi Jason,
Thanks for your insight. I have a lot of broll shot at 720 — that won’t be as sharp as the interviews. What the downside would be of editing in 720? AND / OR — Is there a chance that I can edit in 720 and then paste the finished timeline into a 1080 (let it render) and then export? Could that also achieve the same results as starting in 1080? THANK YOU!
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It’s always better to start with the highest resolution you can. If you want to deliver 1080 then edit the 720 into a 1080 timeline.
I personally don’t have an issue with FCPX scaling 720p to 1080p. The 720p footage usually only needs a little sharpening to my eyes – but I have a friend who would consider it unwatchable and would have to spend hours putting all the 720p footage through some arcane process to uprez it to 1080p.
It’ll really only takes a few minutes to create a project, throw some 1080 & 720 clips on the timeline, and render it out. Then you can make the decision.
At the end of the day, whether it’s good enough will be entirely up to you, but as I said first up – I think you should alway edit at the highest resolution you need. You can always render that 1080 timeline at 720p if you decide the scaling quality just isn’t working for you.
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
[Suzi P.] “What the downside would be of editing in 720?”
Your 1080 stuff gets downscaled and will probably still look sharper than the 720 footage.
[Suzi P.] “Is there a chance that I can edit in 720 and then paste the finished timeline into a 1080 (let it render) and then export? Could that also achieve the same results as starting in 1080?”
You could, but then you’ve scaled your 1080 footage twice. You don’t want to do that.
Decide between editing in either 720 or 1080 and stick with it. You can certainly experiment by making a test project at each resolution––throw some clips in and see how they cut together.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!Check out my Mormon.org profile.
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Thanks, Jason.
In my test, the interviews don’t look as sharp as I’d like when going up to 1080. I think I’m going to go for 720. The final piece will be hosted and embedded through Vimeo. The most easily discernible downside is that the piece won’t be able to be watched as “big” — is this correct? Thanks 🙂
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[Suzi P.] “The most easily discernible downside is that the piece won’t be able to be watched as “big” — is this correct?”
You can still go full-screen for viewing, but, depending on the resolution of the viewing screen, the video may be scaled beyond its native resolution. The playback experience should be virtually the same, except it won’t be quite as sharp as a native 1080 video.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!Check out my Mormon.org profile.
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