HVX for theatrical films

[Mark Cookman]

[doka15] “I would think I might end up with a product that won’t look as nice as the 720p format.”

I’m reading about the camera today, and am sure Barry is correct in stating that the camera supports 1080p

But why do you ( Barry ) suggest the 1080pA rather than 1080pN format? I believe in this scenario 6 redundant frames would be recorded – maybe its for compatibility with more edit systems?

[Barry Green]

[doka15] “The one reason that I shoot 720p is because of the progressive mode”

1080/24p and 1080/30p are also progressive.

[doka15] “I think many people might think the way I do that 1080i is an interlaced format and you are shooting frames to interlaced”
They may think that, but it doesn’t make it true. The 1080 is recorded in an interlaced wrapper, but it’s progressive footage (basically the same as how an F900 HDCAM camera records 1080/24p but records as 1080/24psF.) The editing programs know how to remove the interlace pulldown and give you a pure original 1080/24p sequence.

[doka15] “I would be worried about interlacing compression artifacts even though it is a single frame.”

If you’re using FCP, EDIUS, or Raylight, you have nothing to worry about. All of them know how to remove the pulldown and give you a true 1080/24p image (but you have to have shot in 1080/24pA). If using Avid, you can’t edit true 1080/24p — Avid doesn’t know how to remove the pulldown. For Avid users, it may be best to stick to 720p mode.

[doka15] “Also the nice thing about shooting 720 is the over and under cranking of the footage”

Yes, and that can only be done in the 720 mode. You could always use that footage in a 1080 sequence by uprezzing the 720 footage.

[doka15] “I would think I might end up with a product that won’t look as nice as the 720p format.”

Well, the choice is yours of course. 1080/24p from an HVX is sharper, more detailed, and less compressed than 720/24p. If I was planning to do something for the big screen, there’s no doubt that I’d shoot it in 1080/24pA mode, and only swap to 720 for those sequences where I needed overcranking or undercranking.

[Barry Green]

[mark cookman] “But why do you ( Barry ) suggest the 1080pA rather than 1080pN format? I believe in this scenario 6 redundant frames would be recorded – maybe its for compatibility with more edit systems?”

There is no 1080pN mode in DVCPRO-HD. There’s 24P mode (which is using 3:2 pulldown) and there’s 24pA mode (which uses a different type of pulldown, called 2:3:3:2, but all it really means is that one frame out of each group of five gets repeated to pad out the sequence). Most editing programs know how to strip out that “padding” frame, thus returning you to the original pure 24P sequence.

[Lars Wikstrom]

Thanks for the update. I might try to uprez a 720 to 1080 would look like.

Thanks,

-Lars

[Rosh Kadri]

barry, thanks for the info, but why the heck are those theatrical films you mentioned they chose 720p, other than over and undercranking, dont they got the budget for more cards?

[Barry Green]

[newbee33] “barry, thanks for the info, but why the heck are those theatrical films you mentioned they chose 720p, other than over and undercranking, dont they got the budget for more cards?”

With at least one of them, the choice of 720 was made because the post house insisted. They cut on FCP, and at the time they started the production FCP didn’t support pulldown removal from 1080.

I doubt they’d recommend 720 again over 1080 for any reason other than card space savings.

[Rosh Kadri]

ok thanks, 1080 24pa it is for the next feature