DVC PRO HD vs 8 bit uncompressed

[Shane Ross]

Color Correcting everything in an 8-bit uncompressed timeline will give you finer control over the footage. You can get more subtle changes in that codec opposed to DVCPRO HD. But the digital “grain” will still be present.

Your trained eye will see it, as will a 35″ HD monitor. But to tell the truth, I highly doubt that by the time it hits home sets you;d be able to tell the difference if you corrected with 8-bit UC or DVCPRO HD. So much compression happens between final output and hitting the home set. But If you have the time and money, then going that route would be fine. I am all for getting the best you can get. I CC DVCPRO HD because I generally don’t have time to recapture.

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Walter Biscardi]

[Pizmomac] “It was all shot with a varicam and everything is so grainy. Any advice?”

If it was shot in low light, there will be a lot of noise in the image.

If it was shot in low light AND with an F Model Varicam, it there will be a LOT of noise in the image, especially in the darks. The F Model has a big problem with low light and it has about 12db more noise in the blue channel than the new H Model Varicam.

We color correct DVCPro HD all day, pretty much every day here with no issues of it vs. 8bit. DVCPro HD has some compression in it, that’s why the format is so cheap to work with so there’s a trade-off. But I’ve not seen a notieceable a difference between color correcting the format in 8bit.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Pizmomac]

Whats strange is that we have noticed a HUGE difference between the two codecs. Our red’s have ugly lines all over them, and our darks are a disaster. But it’s not just the dark stuff, it’s almost everything..

[Walter Biscardi]

[Pizmomac] “Whats strange is that we have noticed a HUGE difference between the two codecs. Our red’s have ugly lines all over them, and our darks are a disaster. But it’s not just the dark stuff, it’s almost everything..”

Did you capture the DVCPro HD material in a laptop? If so, that will degrade the image if it’s a G4 Powerbook. You can edit DVCPro HD in those laptops, but not capture to them.

Other than that, I would say you have something set wrong somewhere if you have that noticeable a difference. Straight capture of DVCPro HD vs. 8bit should be identical as we have done tests of this procedure here in the past.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Gary Adcock]

[Pizmomac] “Whats strange is that we have noticed a HUGE difference between the two codecs. Our red’s have ugly lines all over them, and our darks are a disaster. But it’s not just the dark stuff, it’s almost everything..””

I agree walter, there sounds like something was erroneous on capture, or the footage was transcoded in software rather than using the native codec or something like the Kona Cards we use.

I can only see the difference on a scope when raw, native footage is compared against the de-compressed signal.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows

[Pizmomac]

I didn’t use a Laptop. I use using a G5 with a kona 2lhe. I can’t think of what it could be… do you think it could be a camera setting?

[Walter Biscardi]

[Pizmomac] “do you think it could be a camera setting?”

Nope, camera settings have nothing to do with the difference in captures of DVCPro HD vs. 8bit.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Pizmomac]

I suppose it is most likely that we have a Kona card issue then. I’ve just re-color corrected the show I am working on using the 8 bit instead of the DVC PRO and the difference is HUGE. We had lines on all the red stuff and the blacks would go to hell immediatly with any tweaking whatsoever. Now the image holds up great. What setting in the Kona could be causing this?
(Thanks for all your input by the way)