Reducing file size in Compressor

[Todd Gillespie]

Hi Mike,

[mike albertini] “What’s the best way to reduce this file size while maintaining image quality?”
If you’re video clip is about 40+ minutes that exactly the size it should be, DV codec is about 13 gb per hour, so there is no way to reduce the file size beyond that.

[mike albertini] ”
Also, there is a loss of sharpness in the image, which I assume is normal as I’m downgrading from HD to SD, but is there any way of getting some of it back?”
That’s the trade off from HD to SD. Plus the DV codec is not a great codec for image quality. You can try using ProRes SD instead of DV.

Good Luck,

Todd at UCSB
Television Production

[Mike Albertini]

Hi Todd,

Thanks for getting back to me…I was just wondering if you could please answer a couple of other queries…I’ve just compressed a small clip of the HDTV 720P 29.97fps footage in compressor using HDV 720P50 and changed the frame rate to 25fps…ive taken it down into the 25fps timeline in FCP with the sequence settings set by the DV PAL sony cam…and it seems to work fine, with HD image quality intact…and ive exported it out of FCP as a quicktime file and HD quality still intact and it seems to work fine…so I have two questions…
1)will this work, or will something go wrong at some point-perhaps if i ever wanted this footage on DVD for example…i realise im mixing hdtv and hdv etc and changing frame rates?
2)Is it sensible to change the compressor in this sequence from DV PAL to another – would this give better image quality once exported from FCP…?

Thanks,
Mike

[Todd Gillespie]

Hi Mike,

I’m a little fuzzy on your workflow, but ProRes would be a better choice for compressor settings in your sequence. Once you bring in your footage, it will be better for you to get away from HDV. It’s very compressed and can require a lot of processing power to edit with.

If you’re able to export out a ‘good’ looking SD video, then you should be fine when you compress out to DVD.

Good Luck,

Todd at UCSB
Television Production

[Mike Albertini]

Hi Todd,

Thanks for the reply…just to let you know, my basic workflow is that i’m making a short film, the majority of which is shot on a Sony VX2100e camera which produces 16:9 720×576 DV PAL footage. I then borrowed a friends HD mini camera, which shoots at HDTV 720P 29.97fps, to shoot small amounts of important footage. I didnt know it filmed at 29.97fps when i borrowed it and should have checked – I assumed it was PAL. So im now left with some really good HDTV 720P 29.97fps footage, which I want to integrate with the DV PAL 25fps footage the best way possible while keeping the image quality of the HD footage.
I initially changed all of the HDTV 720P 29.97fps footage in compressor to DV PAL 25fps,so that everything matched. On some shots the loss of image quality was annoyingly noticeable, although on other shots, the footage was fine. So I then decided to perhaps keep the HDTV 720P 29.97fps footage HD and just change the frame rate…so I compressed a small clip of the HDTV 720P 29.97fps footage in compressor using HDV 720P50 (there doesn’t seem to be a setting for HDTV 720P in compressor) and changed the frame rate to 25fps…
I put this footage into the 25fps timeline in FCP with the sequence settings set by the DV PAL Sony camera…and it seemed to work fine, with HD image quality intact…and ive exported it out of FCP as a quicktime file to test it and HD quality still intact and it seems to work fine…
You say ‘ProRes would be a better choice for compressor settings in your sequence’…do you just mean the compressor setting in the sequence setting of the DV PAL sequence in FCP (which currently also includes the compressed HDTV 720P footage at HDV 720P50)? Or do you think I should make all footage – both the DV PAL and HDTV 720P footage ProRes and then edit with that and export it as that?
I know I should downgrade the HD footage to edit with but there isn’t too much…what’s important for me in this instance is keeping the image quality in the HD footage…

Thanks,
Mike