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1080p>720p Capture questions – Luke, please advise!
Not to exclude anyone from posting, just this is a massively time critical decision that I need to make and I want to make sure I get the correct answer (and I asked earlier, but I think this question got lost amongst others)….
Setup:
MacPro 3Ghz Quad-Core
OSX 10.4.9
4GB RAM
Radeon X1900
Multibridge Pro
G-Speed 3TB RAID
2x 24″ Dell Monitors
42″ LCD for external preview
FCP 5.1Is it possible on the Multibridge Pro to capture from HDCAM 1080p23.98 HDSDI in to the DVCPRO HD 720p23.98 codec?
I want to use this so I can save enough room on my RAID to online a reel at a time at the end of the project. So far the only DVCPRO codec I have been able to get to work correctly is (through cutting and monitoring) is the 1080p23.98. This looks great but at 13.5MB/s is going to eat more space than I would like. I have tried modifying the 1080p23.98 capture preset with with different codecs and am able to get 720p files captured (but only at 720p50 or 720p60 as these are the only options available) and once I try and start cutting with these, everything breaks down…. no real time preview… won’t preview in proper size on external monitor… etc.
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6 Replies
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Hi,
We don’t have a 1080 to 720 down conversion feature. However as you’re simply trying to save disk space, have you considered capturing with the Blackmagic 1080p23.98 JPEG easy setup? By default the presets are set to low quality and it should capture HD1080 video at around 3.5 to 5 MB/sec. It’s a full resolution codec unlike DVCPRO HD so you capture every pixel. In Multibridge 6.0 and newer drivers, you can increase the JPEG quality to High without dropping frames on an Intel-based Mac Pro. I would recommend you test this setting as it will save mucking around with switching from 1080 to 720 and back again so you can capture, edit, monitor and output at full HDTV1080 resolution. The only downside to using the Apple’s PhotoJPEG codec is that Apple have not implemented RT Extreme effects for it so you’ll need to render any effects.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Thanks Luke… I tried the jpeg earlier and was amazed! The RT Effects thing was kind of a bummer though. Is there any other downside to this codec? Will I have any problems when I want to Online back to uncompressed 10-bit HD?
I found the following post in the FCP forum but am a bit reluctant to try it because it is not supported and if I run into trouble, I want to be able to recover…
Name: Sean ONeil
Date: Aug 31, 2005 at 7:46:53 am
Subject: RT Effects for PhotoJPEGI figured out a VERY simple tweak to give you RT effects for the Blackmagic – JPEG Easy Setups.
Without giving away too many details, there’s an RT Enabler txt file somewhere inside the Final Cut application file. Back it up to another folder so you can always restore it later if need be. Now open it up (the real one, not the backup) in TextEdit. Inside there’s a section for OfflineRT (PhotoJPEG) surrounded in astericks. Below this are several self-explainatory lines for max width and max height allowed, which are currently set to 320×240 and such. Change these to 1920 and 1080 (or 720 and 486 – whatever). Change the max spatial quality to 800 or so.
That’s it. It just works. The only prob is that FCP gives you a warning whenever you start up. Just make sure you have “Report Dropped Frames on ETT/PTV” checked.
I can’t stress how great this is. I have a regular gig that requires only simple dissolves. I had been capturing everything at DV and later re-capturing at Uncompressed. Now I can skip the re-capture process and just take the footage in at PhotoJPEG for offline and online.
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Hi,
[makkystyle] “Is there any other downside to this codec?”
None 🙂
[makkystyle] “Will I have any problems when I want to Online back to uncompressed 10-bit HD?”
It is easy to online back to uncompressed 10-bit HD after using the PhotoJPEG codec. You should encounter no problems as this is a common workflow.
In regards to the RT effects hack for PhotoJPEG, it does seem to work pretty well but Apple warn that the hack could break any time there is an update to Final Cut Pro. In other words, it’s totally unsupported and so if something goes wrong, I guess the worse case is that you’ll just need to render the effects anyway.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design -
Also, it made me a little worried when I have 2.3 TB of storage and it told me in the AV (___) estimation dialogue that I only had roughly 400 minutes of space available.
Just tried the jpeg and on a quad core it couldn’t play back a rendered cross dissolve. Unfortunately this is not going to be robust enough for me.
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Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but I have RT on “safe” and Video Quality on “dynamic”. I captured the preset jpeg codec (75%)… it amazes me but truly, it would not get past one cross dissolve on the timeline.
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Hi,
Can you repeat the test using DVCPRO HD and just check that you’re not experiencing some other issue? In other words, capture to DVCPRO HD, then add some disolves and render them. Play back and see if FCP happily plays through the rendered resolves.
Regards,
Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design
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