best export/compression workflow

[Tom Brooks]

[Paul Godard] “I see you also own the HVX-200. When I got the camera from Panasonic, I was told – and that was confirmed by other ‘experts’ – that to achieve the best quality with the camera, I had to shot in 720pN25, not 1080.”

Some experts say that the camera’s CCD is optimized for 720. Others say you get slightly better resolution at 1080. I have not compared side-by-side. I suggested you use a 720 timeline for the footage that has already been shot in 720 format. For future projects that must end up with at least one version in 1080, I recommend shooting in 1080. While 720P is also a true HD format, software cross-conversion to 1080 is not the best practice. Avoid it if you can.

[Paul Godard] “Question : Can I place a high res 1920 x 1080 in the 720p timeline with the appropriate scaling factor to display the pic full page, then upscale to the new 1080 timeline without loosing image quality on the still?”

No. That is a good point and I hadn’t taken the time to think through this part of your process. The stills and any titles would be better if you place them in the 1080 timeline. Can you add those elements after you are in a 1080 timeline? Another approach would be to use Compressor to batch convert all of your 720 clips to 1080 before you start the edit. In other words, make all of your source clips 1080 so that you can work only in a 1080 timeline.

You have two problems that should be fixed to make your life easier. 1-You have footage of two different frame sizes (720 and 1080). 2-The majority of your footage was shot at a smaller size than your final output. Shooting at 1080 with the HVX camera will make everything better (and much simpler).