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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy CODEC, image quality

  • CODEC, image quality

    Posted by Carrie Dashow on February 23, 2010 at 6:31 pm

    Hi,
    I am new to HD, and i’m sure somewhere someone has gone over every question I have.

    So direct me to it, or if you have an answer! Thanks;

    I shot a three camera shoot at 1080p30.
    My main camera shot was only ok, a little far and I need to zoom in, looses a lot that way. I am also using slow motion.

    SO my question is, A) did I bring it in the computer the right way..

    Pro res 422

    Would it be better to try something else?

    B) Then to make the image quality of the zoom and slow better, any suggestions?

    IF I were to shoot again, (Which I can’t) would it have been better to shoot at 1080p60? or other for the slow motion and zooms. (I am a video gal, no desire for 24.)

    Any suggestions would be helpful at this stage, and to know if I did it the right way to begin with!

    Thank you –

    Carrie Dashow replied 16 years, 2 months ago 3 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Richard Cooper

    February 23, 2010 at 7:49 pm

    Hi Carrie
    Really, shooting at 1080 60p wont give you any better resolution… you would still be at 1080 HD. You will always loose resolution if you zoom in and the final quality will depend on your format. If you shot HDV it will fall apart quicker that if you shot it in say HDCAM SR but bottom line is that you will go “soft” any time you zoom in on the time line. Even if you shot it in 60p. Although you could try ProResHQ but I think you will still see a softening. Slow motion will add to this issue if shot in 30p and slowed on the timeline as it adds frame blending unless it was over-cranked at 60 when it was shot for 30, This would be a much cleaner slowMo footage if you have that ability in the future.

    If your delivery format is SD/DVD, web or even 720HD you could work with your 1080p footage using a lower res timeline (720 or NTSC Standard def) which will give you latitude to zoom without loosing resolution.

    Hope this helps.

    Richard Cooper
    FrostLine Productions, LLC
    Anchorage, Alaska
    http://www.frostlineproductions.com

  • Carrie Dashow

    February 24, 2010 at 3:55 am

    Hi Richard,
    If I actually want to output it to HD then I guess I will have less leniency?
    Is 720HD comparable to 1080?
    Lastly is shooting it 1080 60 p for regular motion better than 30 p or just a preference?

    Thank you!

    -Carrie

  • Michael Sacci

    February 24, 2010 at 7:48 am

    Focus and proper lighting and exposures are even more important with HD than with SD. Shooting HD doesn’t mean beautiful footage. You have to shoot it sharp.

    The codec of the camera is more important for quality then the codec you edit in. Going to a better codec in editing will never give you sharper images (of course doing the wrong way can cause you to lose sharpness.

    720p vs 1080p depends on the camera. A 8-year old Varicam, shooting 720p will give you a better picture than a HDV shooting full raster 1080p.

    But if a camera has a true 1080p chip it will most likely give you a better picture then when set on 720p.

  • Carrie Dashow

    February 24, 2010 at 3:34 pm

    thanks,

    I shot on an HD Panasonic AG-HMC150.

    Ok, going to a better codec, I see – no, but do want an appropriate one one that handles it best for what I want to do..
    ie: photo jpeg.. pro res 422, pro res HQ..

    I am trying to see if downgrading, lowering the output will make it look better.
    It looks good, just would like to be more forgiving to the zoom.

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