Downconversion Problem…Again

[Matt Dowling]

Hi Tony,

We have done a pile of tests too – just have not yet posted them up but we will in the next few days.

We have compared our HD D5 down conversion (a 20k d/converter option on the deck), DeckLink hardware and software d/conversion, FCP and AE. We were coming from a 1080i/50 tape. The DeckLink d/converters stood up very well next to D5, AE looked the best which we expected. When we post the pictures you can decide for yourself.

You can not expect ANY realtime d/converter to look as good as a render from AE as it has unlimited time to process complex math. A hardware realtime conversion does not have that luxury. (well maybe teranex systems but they are designed to do one thing and they do it extremely well)

If you are expecting the realtime d/conversion to look the same as AE i think your expectations are a bit optimistic.

Regards,

Matt
Blackmagic Design

[Georg Misch]

Hi!

How long does downconversion take in After Effects? And on which platform?

Thanks and kind regards

Georg

MISCHIEF FILMS
Goethegasse 1
A-1010 Wien / Vienna Austria
http://www.mischief-films.com

[Steen Dongo]

Hi Matt,

I, like Tony, have major problems with the downconversion, as you’re probably aware if you’ve followed the threads on the subject. Let me just start by saying that I’m sure your claim of delivering broadcast quality software downconversion is justified. It’s just that we can’t get it to look like a broadcast quality that our national broadcaster will accept.

There is something weird going on that I just simply can’t figure out. We’ve also tried the Dual Link card as well and it still looked very, very blurred. And yes, we made sure that we set the system prefs for hardware downconversion. (And yes… the shots ARE proberly focused:)

We’ve tried just about anything to make it work and I would really appreciate some help.

Greetings

Steen Dongo

Footage: HDCAM 1080, 25PsF
Easy Setup: BM 1080i, 50Hz
FCS 5.0.3
Mac OS 10.4.3
BM Driver 5.1.2
Mac Dual 2.0, 3GB RAM, BM card in top slot

We have done a pile of tests too – just have not yet posted them up but we will in the next few days.

We have compared our HD D5 down conversion (a 20k d/converter option on the deck), DeckLink hardware and software d/conversion, FCP and AE. We were coming from a 1080i/50 tape. The DeckLink d/converters stood up very well next to D5, AE looked the best which we expected. When we post the pictures you can decide for yourself.

You can not expect ANY realtime d/converter to look as good as a render from AE as it has unlimited time to process complex math. A hardware realtime conversion does not have that luxury. (well maybe teranex systems but they are designed to do one thing and they do it extremely well)

If you are expecting the realtime d/conversion to look the same as AE i think your expectations are a bit optimistic.

Regards,

Matt
Blackmagic Design

Steen Dongo

[Matt Dowling]

Hi Steen,

Thanks for the note, our d/converter assumes and interlaced image, while i agree 25PsF in theory is basically the same thing i can image that certain images would not look the best when d/converted from a PsF rather than Interlaced.

I’ll get the guys to run exactly the same test with the same footage as PsF instead of the 1080i/50 we ran from for the testing in the earlier post.

Cheers,

Regards,

Matt
Blackmagic Design

[Steen Dongo]

Hi Matt,

Thank you so much for responding. I really appreciate you guys checking into this. As I posted elsewhere we were more or less forced into using the AJA 10MD3 for downconversion as nothing else seemed to do the job, short of using an HDCAM machine.

I know I can’t expect the same quality from a software downcenversion, but still it’s nice that you investigate this as it definitely cannot be meant to look so blurred. What I simply cannot understand is why the Dual Link card didn’t yield any results better than what we observed. It was this that lead me to conclude that most likely wasn’t an error on the equipment, but som strange setup thing going on.

greeting

Steen Dongo

[Matt Dowling]

Hi Steen,

I will be in Tokyo all next week but i have arranged Luke and Kris to take a look this – If there is a bug or an error with something we are doing, i want to know about it! And fix it!

Thanks for the detailed feedback, this really helps us try exactly the same thing you are.I’ll check in with Luke and Kris when i can next week to see what the results were.

Cheers,

Regards,

Matt
Blackmagic Design