-
Digitizing settings from a DigiBeta for tv broadcast
I’m digitizing on FCP from a DigiBeta deck and am wondering if someone could suggest a capture preset setting. I’m currently capturing on a Blackmagic card and using an “Uncompressed” setting to play it on the safe side. Needless to say, my file size is HUGE and would like to scale this down with a more efficient setting. Any recommendations? ie: DV50 NTSC, DVCPRO HD, etc? I’m under the impression that DV NTSC 48hz is too compressed for network television broadcast standards. thanks!
-
7 Replies
-
Well, first off, you don’t typically capture uncompressed if you are just starting a cut. In this case you do the typical OFFLINE/ONLINE workflow, capturing your footage at low resolution for editing, and then when you lock picture, then you capture only what was used in the show at uncompressed 10-bit SD. Typically OFFLINE RT for offline cutting, or DV.
DVCPRO 50 might be an option to explore, if you want full quality all the way through. DVCPRO HD is an HD codec…won’t come into play here.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Thanks for the quick response Shane. Seems like the right way to go about it.
-
For standard definition work, we ingest everything on our Blackmagic system as DVCPRO50, even DigiBeta material. Unless you’re doing visual effects work, or doing lots of multi-generational renders/dubs, there’s no need to go Uncompressed. Even ProRes 422 would be fine. DVCPRO50 holds up well in Apple Color as well. If you use ProRes all the way through, you will have great results in Color also.
There’s just no reason to work Uncompressed unless absolutely necessary anymore – there are well seasoned, and a few new codec stars out there that are absolutely outstanding, keeping the quality there, and reducing file size.
-
Chris, thanks. This is more of what I’m looking for. Can you tell me which DVCPRO50 codec you’re using? Thanks for the help.
Chris -
DVCPRO50 is the codec. You will see it in your settings for capture from your Blackmagic card. You can use the DVCPRO50 sequence preset for editing as well. You might want to take a look at ProRes as well. ProRes 422 (not HQ) is great for standard definition. The storage requirements are low, and it doesn’t require a ton of processing power. It runs great on our Quad G5. ProRes is also a native format in Apple Color, so moving there for grading will be good as well in ProRes.
Videographer/Editor
Creative Director
Union Digital, Inc.
https://www.uniondigitalmedia.com -
Ok I was looking at the DVCPRO HD setting, ie: 720, 1080. Thanks for the prores tip as well.
-
Ok, just to add my opinion here:-
DVCPRO50 against Uncompressed 10bit or 8bit looks soft. Depends on what you are doing, but there is a big difference.
The other codec to look at is IMX50, I’m not a huge fan of temporal compression, but a lot of people have chosen it. Forget trying to chromakey with it though.
Peter
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up