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Elaborate PAL Workflow Question, Please Help
Hi Everyone,
I’m editing many hours of HDV material shot on two cameras. The main camera is the Canon XHA1 (PAL). The B-camera is the Canon HV30 (PAL). We’re shooting in 25p. When imported into FCP, the XHA1 comes in as 1080p25. The HV30, on the other hand, appears to shoot 25p in a 50i stream. So that footage comes into FCP as 1080i50.
OK. I want to edit a sequence for export to Compressor and then to DVDSP. The final product will be a PAL SD-DVD. What should my workflow look like?
1) Should I edit a sequence in 25p or 50i? One or the other video stream will need rendering.
2) Do I export the completed sequence as an SD MPEG-2 file in Compressor as a first step? Or is there an intermediate step such as exporting an HDV Pro Res 422 sequence that is either uniformly interlaced or deinterlaced and then converting that file to an MPEG-2?
3) What is the best kind of file to deliver to DVDSP for the build/format if I want it to maintain its 25p look and playback nicely?Bonus question: How do I modify the workflow if I want to create an NTSC SD-DVD?
Thank you very much in advance for your help!
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6 Replies
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Hi Marni,
Your Canon HV30 (PAL) records progressive in an interlaced fashion, but you must treat this footage as progressive. Check it as NONE in the Browser and edit in a NONE sequence.
Once you have your HDV sequence edited you have few options for converting to MPG-2 SD.
You can send to Compressor directly from the FC time-line, you can export HD self-contained movie for Compressor to downscale and convert, or you can downscale in FC and send to Compressor a SD movie to convert.Rafael[Marni Page] “Bonus question: How do I modify the workflow if I want to create an NTSC SD-DVD? “
From the same PAL movie?
Make a good QT PAL movie and convert it to NTSC (Compressor or Nattress Standard Conversion). Then make an NTSC MPG-2.
Rafael -
Hi Marni,
Your Canon HV30 (PAL) records progressive in an interlaced fashion, but you must treat this footage as progressive. Check it as NONE in the Browser and edit in a NONE sequence.
Once you have your HDV sequence edited you have few options for converting to MPG-2 SD.
You can send to Compressor directly from the FC time-line, you can export HD self-contained movie for Compressor to downscale and convert, or you can downscale in FC and send to Compressor a SD movie to convert.Rafael[Marni Page] “Bonus question: How do I modify the workflow if I want to create an NTSC SD-DVD? “
From the same PAL movie?
Make a good QT PAL movie and convert it to NTSC (Compressor or Nattress Standard Conversion). Then make an NTSC MPG-2.
Rafael -
Thanks Rafael. I never would have understood that I needed to change the Field Dominance to NONE in FCP rather than re-render the movie files. Thank you very much for that. Once I’ve got it edited, is there any advantage to creating a Pro Res HDV self-contained movie before creating the Mpeg-2 in compressor for the DVD?
Marni
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[Marni Page] “Once I’ve got it edited, is there any advantage to creating a Pro Res HDV self-contained movie before creating the Mpeg-2 in compressor for the DVD? “
This is a bit “up to your taste”.
The easiest way, as you know, is just to send your movie from FC time-line to Compressor. Compressor will take care of everything: downscalling, de-interlacing, if needed and transcoding to MPG-2.
But if the picture looks no good you may not be able to know what was wrong.
So normally I prefer to send to Compressor (or any other compression application) a movie that have been already re-sized, de-interlaced or whatever so the application only need to transcode (to MPG-2, .flv, .wmv, etc).
So in your case, probably once finished the HD sequence, I would open an ProRes SD Anamorphic sequence and I will drop the HD on it. Set “Render all YUV material in High Precision” and Motion Effects Rendering: BEST. This will force FC to make the downscaling in 32b Floating Point. FC makes a very good job and faster than Compressor.
Cheers,
Rafael -
Thanks again, Rafael. I really appreciate your input.
marni -
Thanks again, Rafael. I really appreciate your input.
marni
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