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Mixing HD/SD footage
Quick question… I tried doing a search first, but there are so many conflicting answers.
What’s the best process for incorporating SD (BetaCam Uncompressed) footage in a DVCProHD720p/30 timeline? Do I need to use a 3rd party program to upscale it first? Is that better than FCP scaling? Then, de-interlace? Any advice is welcome.
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13 Replies
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AJA Kona 3. Upconvert during ingest. That’s the easiest path.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR
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Can’t. I only have analog component in using AJA IoLa. I do have a Kona 3 too but only for digital I/O
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If you get the HD10AVA, that allows you to convert analog into SDI.
Shane
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That’s on my list of future purchases. But, what about now? What’s the best way to make my SD footage look good in an HD timeline?
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You can use Compressor. I have a small tutorial on how to use Compressor to convert DV to DVCPRO HD:
DV to DVCPRO HD: https://pistolerapost2.com/shaneross/DV_to_DVCPRO_HD.mov
Best to wait to do that at the END of editing…when you have locked picture. SO you only convert what you need. With FCP 6s open timeline, you can mix the formats fine.
Or you can use a Terranex at a dub facility…but by the time you pay for that, you could have bought the HD10AVA.
Shane
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Thanks Shane! It’s crunching right now.
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Ernie,
The problem I’ve had with all of this is that the Betacam footage still doesn’t look anywhere near as good as the HD shots. I upconverted using a Kona 3. The best bet for good looking footage is some creative editing where you do NOT use the Beta footage as full screen shots. Make them smaller shots, picture in a picture, with some sort of graphics background, or with an HD shot as the background. In my limited experience, the smaller you make the native SD shots (within reason), the better they look compared to the native HD video.
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Shane, thanks for that Compressor tutorial, it was very helpful. You mentioned that it’s best to wait until picture is locked which makes sense considering that the sailboat render was about 20 Minutes for what seemed to be a 16 second clip. I am curious about the integration between Compressor and FCP’s final timeline. Does the new HD 24P footage automatically link/replace itself? Can Compressor do a batch process (overnite rendering)so that a series of clips can get converted? Finally, ignoring cost for the moment, does the Compressor do a better looking job than Teranex going from 30i SD to HD?
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Using Compressor worked great. You can do batches. I did like 10 shots. I just let it run while I was out. It took about 3 hours.
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MInd you that 20 min was done on a Dual 2.0Ghz G5. I have upconverted more DV to DVCPRO HD on my Octo MacPro and have converted 30 seconds in under 2 min.
NO, the HD footage does not automatically replace itself. You have to do that manually. And yes, you can Batch the footage in Compressor.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD now for sale!
http://www.LFHD.net
Read my blog!
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