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HDV export for archive
Hi
I am producing video for the web using HDV shot on a Canon XH G1 camera.
The footage is being captured in HDVSplit and I can import it natively into PP CS4.
Once the edit is complete I import the sequence into after effects and prepare the various formats that I need to render.
I render out of AFX as quicktime animations and then encode in squeeze.In the past when working with SD, for archival storage, I would save out a render from premiere of the raw edit as a PAL DV quicktime mov. This would give me comparable quality to the source footage with comparable file sizes.
My question is:
Is there an HDV format that I can export out of premiere (or after effects) that I can use in the same way, ie for archival purposes that maintains the quality of the captured footage (m2t files) and has a similar file size? -
4 Replies
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Looks like Prores is the way to go for me.
Is there any reason why I shouldn’t use pro-res?
Does anyone have any advice about the pros and cons of the various prores formats? -
You need FCP to export ProRes so a PC can’t export to it. Cineform have a converted avi workflow with HDV and heaps of other formats. Take a look.
– Jon BarrieJon Barrie
aJBprods
http://www.jonbarrie.net -
Sorry John, I now realise that nowhere in my post did I mention that I am on mac and I have Finalcut on here as well.
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Firstly, everyone on a PC is terrified of Apple’s ProRes Codec because they say that it doesn’t run on Windows.
Feh. You can download it here. There is an issue with gamma shift, but it’s not so bad that, for archival purposes, you couldn’t restore it on a Windows sysem for viewing the archive or for a quick insert into a later program (with a moderate CC).
I don’t like using a long GOP MPEG compression for archival purposes. I have had to edit with that and there are really nasty “Max Headroom” issues with restored footage from those kinds of archives, so Paul’s idea is very sound.
I would highly recommend that Paul use Mike Bombich’s excellent Carbon Copy Cloner to clone his current version of Final Cut Pro (the whole boot drive!) for archive restoration. Apple may change their codec, they may change how Final Cut works with the codec, etc. And as long as the cloned boot drive is viable (Paul has an old enough Mac to boot that operating system), he should be able to recover any archived material that way.
In fact, I recommend that anyone on a Mac clone their boot drive so that Software Update or some add-on doesn’t bork a system that works (and these things tend to happen in the middle of production with a client looking over your shoulder). If you keep a backup of your projects and clone your boot drive, all you have to do is reboot from the clone, access your project and get back to work.
On the PC side, I recommend using O&O Software’s Disk Image to create a bootable spare. If all you are doing is fiddling around, it’s not that important, but if you are a pro and editing and producing for real money, it pays to have a “last known good” installation.
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
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