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Format for submitting work
I often send work off to open submissions for art video screenings. The problem is that there’s no telling whether the projector they use for the screening will be progressive / interlaced or overscan / underscan.
There’s also no way of telling whether the device my work is initially viewed on during the selection process is going to be progressive / interlaced or overscan / underscan.
Is there an accepted industry standard for submitting work to be viewed?
I understand that the underscan / overscan problem can be dealt with by allowing for either overscan or underscan when filming but this tends to mess up the composition of images. Do most projectors project overscanned or underscanned / progressive or interlaced images? Is the case still the same for high end professional cinema projectors and for cheap DIY video screening event projectors?
Any help would be much appreciated (maybe the answer would be to provide a DVD which includes the same video work in lots of different formats so that they can pick and choose – or perhaps with an underscan progressive and an overscan interlaced option?)
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3 Replies
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Underscan/Overscan, don’t even take this into account. You protect for the cropping and make sure there is no offensive element in the full frame. For people shooting narratives these offensive elements can be the boom mic or edge of scenery.
With Progressive/Interlace for is your footage. The thing is to keep it consistent throughout the process. If you are filming your artwork with a progressive camera, edit it as progressive and encode it as progressive. If your interlace keep it interlace. If you have a choice I would recommend th e Progressive route, because a DVD will add interlace to progressive footage nicely and that is the way we watch most of the DVD we buy.
I think you are over thinking this, never confuse a judge with so many choices.
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“I understand that the underscan / overscan problem can be dealt with by allowing for either overscan or underscan when filming” – by this I meant that I was fully aware that it is important to keep “offensive” elements out of the underscanned image. i.e. I know that it is best to make the video viewable whether it is overscanned or underscanned.
However, as I said previously – ‘this tends to mess up the composition of images’ – sometimes loosing more than 10% of the image which can make a big difference.
So really what I was asking was – “Do most projectors project overscanned or underscanned images?” – so that I can get a better idea of how the video is likely to be viewed.
Furthermore, regarding the interlaced / progressive issue that I raised – the reason I asked about this is because when i create a DVD of my work (shot, edited, and encoded as interlaced) it plays back fine on a tv monitor but has loads of very juddery and distracting noise when played back on my computer screen. I assumed this was because my computer screen is progressive and that it was a result of the conversion it has to make? I may well be wrong.
So I was asking about progressive / interlaced to avoid sending my work off to galleries only for them to play it on their computers and see the same juddery noise.
Finally, if there is a standard accepted format (underscanned / overscanned / interlaced / progressive) it makes this whole process a lot easier. Is there one?
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[Olive Green] “”I understand that the underscan / overscan problem can be dealt with by allowing for either overscan or underscan when filming””
No idea what you are talking about, video cameras shoot video, always the same there are Production monitors that have underscan settings so you can be sure nothing is in your frame. No TV 4:3 or 16:9 is the same, they display difference amount which is why the term “Safe” is used. (I understand you know all this but I don’t think you are thinking it through). If all your important image is within action safe you are safe and if something is displays 100% of the image it will just have a bit more breathing room. So unless you are going to be able to test each display you have no idea what is going to be displayed. Plus how many of the people that will be running the projectors will even know if there are projecting full frame or overscan.
If you are shooting interlace you could test deinterlacing it with Compressor, Motion or AE. They will do a much better job then a simple deinterlace filter. But understand that you lose something in the process. 2 interlace fields do not equal a single progressive frame. Field 1o and 1e have a temporal difference that has to be compensated for and with this there is a drop in sharpness, the better software you use the better the end results. You need to run test to see if you like what you get. Hard lines are the toughest to deal with.
My suggestion would be to start video a camera that could do true 30p. This would give you the cleanest overall results for interlace and progressive displays. Much smoother than 24p would give you and it would be easier to deal with. You have to keep it progressive through the entire process.
[Olive Green] “Finally, if there is a standard accepted format (underscanned / overscanned / interlaced / progressive) it makes this whole process a lot easier. Is there one?”
YES, shoot and edit with action safe images, shoot 30p.
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