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HDX900-1080 vs 720? bypassing Firestore?
Hey there,
I’m about to start cutting a project (in FCP) to be shot on the HDX900 to solid state and I have a couple questions.
1) This is a pretty big one but: what are the inherent pros and cons of each of the 1080 and 720 shooting modes? There are a number of possible screening scenarios, including TV and internet broadcast as well as a small potential for theatrical screening (though not sure if that will be projected as HD video or as 35mm print) so I’m wondering if someone can maybe just point out where each of the modes excels, where they break down (including ability/inability to do simultaneous tape back-up) and why. I’ve been involved in a few productions of various sorts that have had the 1080 vs 720 debate and, though in theory it would seem that bigger is always better in terms of resolution if the workflow can manage it, the decision never seems to be cut and dry for some reason. I have never been able to get a handle on how the compression is managed by the camera and so figuring out what is best in this scenario is a bit beyond me.
2) Is there a way to bypass the use of a Firestore and record straight to an FCP editing system (whilst backing up to tape)?
I know this is sort of the equivalent of asking for a 101 course in DVCPRO HD so many thanks to whoever can help!
Cheers,
Aynsley -
3 Replies
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Hi Aynsley-
The HDX-900 shoots on tape. Are they running the siginal out to a hard drive?
Are you talking about 1080i or 1080p? What will it be shot in (1080i, 1080p or 720p)? Bigger is usually better but not always nescessary.
In terms of projection, prints would most likely be done on 2k or 4k and not 35mm film.
Regards,
Dave -
We’re shooting to Firestore w/ tape back-up. I was wondering if there was some way to bypass the Firestore and record directly onto a computer hard drive through FCP, but it seems that there is probably not. Which is fine.
As for your question about which 1080 format, I’m curious about all of them. We’ve decided to shoot 1080p24A but I am still interested to know the inner workings of all these settings. You can never know too much.
For example, when doing our camera and ingesting tests today, we fumbled around a bit in FCP to get the right sequence settings for our footage. The compressor listed in the Clip Settings was “DVCPRO HD 1080p30” @ 23.98 (after pulldown was removed). I had no idea why the compressor was listed as 1080p30 instead of 1080p24, or even 1080i60. The DP especially was surprised not to see the compressor as 1080i60. But in the end what worked for our sequence settings was setting the compressor to 1080p30 @ 23.98 fps, but then going into the Advanced Settings in the Sequence Settings window and choosing 1080p24 (an option that wasn’t available in the initial Sequence Settings window, though 1080p30 appeared twice). This was the only way we could drag clips into the timeline without needing to render them.
I find that working with DVCPRO HD codecs is always somewhat of a crap shoot as I don’t have a fundamental knowledge of how they work or what the naming conventions indicate. I’m sure it’s probably fairly simple once explained… I hope.
I’ve also heard all kinds of things about how some of the progressive settings aren’t really all that great because they are shot on an interlaced medium etc etc. I’m curious about this as well.
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[Aynsley Baldwin] “2) Is there a way to bypass the use of a Firestore and record straight to an FCP editing system (whilst backing up to tape)?”
It is no wheres near as portable but a lot of people are using the AJA IoHD to MacBookPros to capture ProResHD. You will probably want to use the software VTR so you get the camera’s TC.
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