Seeking your wisdom on workflow for editing DVCPro HD on Mojo

[Michael Phillips]

Hey Bill –

MIchael here. Use Xpress Pro 5.1 or later. Use a Sony JH-3 with DV25 down convert and edit in native 23.976p. This is the same workflow I put together for Soderbergh on Bubble.

[Bill Russell]

Hey Michael! Okay, thanks. Now if I do the DV25 downconvert, do I still need Express Pro 5, or is the 4.x I’ve got sufficient? I assume the downconvert is to anamorphic?

“THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA” –

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[Michael Phillips]

5.1 will remove the pulldown on the fly over the direct FireWire connection. 5.6 will do this but you need to do so over analog and have a Mojo. I would recommend you do anamorphic if you plan on doing an HD conform on an Avid system since all effects will line up pixel accurately.

Michael

[Bill Russell]

And anamorphic will be good because the HD conform may not happen until distribution, thus the offline will become the festival screener, our initial DVDs etc etc.. Okay, so that’s cool, thank you, I’m convinced. Will the JH-1 also work, or does it need to be JH-3?)

However … sorry, I’m almost done here … the DP is still talking about downconverting to DVCPro HD so that we are still HD, but I don’t see a good reason for it when the workflow you described is possible. But since it is still in the discussion, I have to ask about it: Will DVC Pro HD play and edit comfortably off of firewire drives? Will it downconvert and play SD and analog out the Mojo? Is there any advantage (besides being HD)?

Thank you, Michael – as always, you are most helpful!

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[Michael Phillips]

You should be able to do DVPRO100 off the FireWire drives, but don’t expect a lot of multiple real time stream support which for a feature, may not be an issue.

DVCPRO @ 100Mb/s versus HDCAM @ 145Mb/s is not a whole lot of storage savings for an offline, but is still HD as you say.

Xpress Pro 5.0 and later will support 720p/23.976 over FireWire. The Mojo will allow you to monitor as SD (not a true down convert to SD) and you can always go back out through the VTR for output and monitoring.

The JH-3 has the DV25 down convert and support 1080p/23.976. Alternatively you could always make DVCAM down converts first and use a DV deck.

Michael

[Bill Russell]

Huh, I didn’t realize DVCPro HD was that high a data rate. (That number seems higher than firewire throughput? But I guess its time to start paying attention to the names 🙂 But anyway, good, it’s another reason to edit DVCam anamorphic. Hey, I’m the editor with the Avid, so it’s just going to have to be so.

Thanks for everything, Michael.

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[Michael Phillips]

Well at full 720p/60 the data rate is 100Mbs. At 24fps it is around 77Mbs, about 1/2 of HDCAM.

[Michael Phillips]

Also, FireWire 400 defines the data rate: 400Mb/s while FireWire 800 is double that. They are also referred to as FireWire A and FireWire B respectively.

Michael

[Bill Russell]

One more. I remember a lovely project from somewhere, and a fine fine dub house, where 24p HD telecines were cown converted with the random cadences so that the DV Cam work tapes didn’t match the original reels. (Among other things.) SO, if I were to choose to order DV Cam dubs first instead of capturing DV firewire directly off the JH-3, what do I ask for to help insure proper DVCAM work tapes? Then does Avid Express HD automatically detect 24p (23.976 timeline) correctly? Most importantly, how do I resolve the DV Cam’s 29.97 timecode with the original 24P timecode when I take the project back to a “higher” avid to conform the HD?

Always your humble fan.

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[Dan L.]

I have a related question.

What happens to your data rate if you load you footage as DnxHD 23.976 1080p in an adrenaline and just switch the format of the project to 23.976 fps NTSC to edit.

Best,

Dan