Multibridge Pro and Convergent Design – Convert HDV to DVCPro HD

[Dan Sparks]

Don,
I went with the BMD HD Extreme board. I come out of my Z1U component video, and the audio and machine control travel down the firewire cable. I capture using the BMD 8bit uncompressed codec. Works just fine with my Mac Pro and Final Cut 5.1.2.

Dan Sparks

Tricom Video

[Luke Maslen]

Hi Don,

While converting from HDV to DVCPRO HD will make it easier to edit, there will be significant generational quality loss caused by the compression and decompression cycles.

As you would know, HDV is a very tightly compressed MPEG format. Converting from HDV to uncompressed, and then uncompressed to DVCPRO HD is adding to the number of generations of data loss caused by the use of lossy compression. If you add effects or text to the DVCPRO HD video, you are likely to see further generational loss.

If you can shoot and record live, then I would suggest that you use the component outputs of the Z1 camera and record directly to your Mac Pro using the DeckLink HD Extreme or the Mac Pro. In this case you could choose to record in an uncompressed format or to the DVCPRO HD codec. This method would bypass the need to compress in the HDV format on tape and so would maintain maxium quality.

If you have already recorded to HDV tape, then your options are to either use your proposed solution or else try just playing back the HDV tape and capture via the component outputs of the camera using the DeckLink HD Extreme or Multibridge Pro. While would be using the analog outputs of the camera rather that the digital Firewire connection, you may not notice any or much difference in quality in the final result due to the HDV compression and the DVCPRO HD compression.

Either workflow should work and I’d be interested to hear what you think of the results when you give it a try.

Regards,

Luke Maslen
Blackmagic Design