-
Shot in HD, but SD DVD delivery. Best method to edit?
Hi, I’m a first time poster, with moderate experience in FCP but never in HD…
My company did a four-camera shoot (Canon XH A1s) of a few days of basketball practice for a coaches training DVD. We’re good shooters, but relatively inexperienced editors. I’m the most experienced editor however, so I will attempt to put this project together.
Here’s the thing: we shot in HD, but the project will be delivered in SD on two DVDs. Half of the 40 tapes have been captured in HD, but I am finding that FCP slows down a lot when I choose the DV sequence setting. If I don’t choose the DV sequence setting, I’m stuck in HD mode with the wrong aspect ratio and the computer running slow, and I anticipate problems rendering to DV. I found that I cannot edit in HD with the sequence in HD and just switch the sequence back to DV when I’m ready to render… the aspect ratios get messed up. But again, if I stay in DV sequence editing mode, the machine is running slowly since it has to switch between codecs for playback, and multiclip editing is way too slow to use. I’d like to use multiclip because of the nature of the material. I’m pretty confused.
So, should I:
Re-capture the 20 tapes that have already been captured, using downconvert from the Canon as I capture, and then capture the remaining tapes that way? If I do downconvert and turn Letterbox “on” I have found that the top letterbox bar is a bit blurry at the bottom. I can live with that, but I would rather not. This sounds good to me — I’m very comfortable working in DV.
Or
Work in HD (with the sequence in HD too) and somehow convert to SD and add letterbox when I finish editing? Sounds good, but this will still make my machine run slower, and I’ve never edited HD.
Or
Is there an easy way to convert my HD footage to SD with a letterbox that won’t take as long as re-capturing? I haven’t been able to figure that one out.
One of the reasons we shot in HD was so we could zoom edit when necessary and pan and scan for better framing, but I am willing to give that up in the interest of getting the project done on time. Like I said, FCP slows down a lot when the sequence setting is DV and the footage is HD. I regret shooting in HD now of course, but that’s what we have.
I’m pretty confused, and at a standstill, and of course with a tight deadline, so any help will be greatly appreciated.
Equipment:
Dual 2.5GHz G5, 30 inch display, Mac OS X 10.5.4, 2GB RAM, 1TB FW800, 1TB FW400 (backup), Final Cut Studio, latest version, all software up-to-date.Thanks!
-Tim
-
7 Replies
-
You have other option.
Edit HD and set Render in Proress. This an option only available for HDV and XDCAM footage.
In Sequence Setting> Render Control> Codec.
When finished editing, just drop the HD sequence in a DV sequence.
rafael -
[Tim Green] “Here’s the thing: we shot in HD, but the project will be delivered in SD on two DVDs. “
In the future, do a Search for this topic and you’ll find your answer immediately.
Edit in HD in FCP.
Export the timeline as a Quicktime Reference.
Open that up in Compressor and choose whatever DVD compression you want (90 minutes best, 90 minutes fast, etc…)
Compressor will make a 16:9 MPEG-2 of your file.
Open DVD Studio Pro and DVDSP will make a 16:9 DVD that will play letterboxed on a standard 4:3 TV and full screen on a widescreen TV.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
-
Thanks, Walter! That’s very helpful. I really like the fact that it will play full-screen on widescreen TVs, and letterboxed on 4:3. Very cool.
-
[Tim Green] “I really like the fact that it will play full-screen on widescreen TVs, and letterboxed on 4:3. Very cool.”
It’s one of the things that DVDSP does best actually.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
-
Thanks again for your help, Walter. I think I have decided on my workflow — edit native HDV but render using ProRes 422. I’ve done a lot of research and also read the Apple document: “Final Cut Pro 6 – Working with High Definition and Broadcast Formats.”
Here’s what I’ve come up with for shooting in HDV (Canon A1) and delivering to SD DVDs:
1. Capture in HDV over Firewire from my camera with the Easy Setup “HDV, HDV 1080p30 FireWire Basic”
2. Create a Sequence and change the Sequence setting “Render Control” to “Apple ProRes 422” so all rendering of transitions, effects, stills, and graphics will look better.
3. After editing, “Export – QuickTime Movie – Current Settings” (Will this render using ProRes, and should I check Recompress All Frames?)
4. Bring that movie into Compressor and choose appropriate compression settings, then burn the disc.
Does this sound right to you?
Thanks again for your time.
-Tim
-
[Tim Green] “3. After editing, “Export – QuickTime Movie – Current Settings” (Will this render using ProRes, and should I check Recompress All Frames?) “
You don’t need to make a self-contained movie, you just need to make a reference movie from your timeline.
[Tim Green] “Does this sound right to you?”
We never edit HDV natively so I’ve never done your exact method, but it sounds like the right plan. We always convert HDV to DVCPro HD or ProRes during ingest.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.STOP STARING AND START GRADING WITH APPLE COLOR Apple Color Training DVD available now!
Read my Blog!
-
Hi thanks for the post and advice I’ve found it very helpful as i’m new to final cut.
I have followed these instructions in order to create my first wedding video in final cut……its a very lengthy process (the compressor part took 7 hours for 21 minutes of footage) I have a g5 with 2G of ram. so im assuming that is normal with HD
Everything works well until i get to the DVD Pro stage.I am trying to burn 21 min movie to disk and it appears to be performing the task but then when i got to play the movie it just give me the first couple of minutes and then loops those minutes. If i play it on cheep dvd player it stalls and stutters and loops the first few minutes.
I really cant see where i’ve gone wrong? I have DVD Pro 4 on a G5 MAC and i’m burning to a rewritable + disk. I have selected SD DVD and Pal.
the compressed movie plays fine on my MAC i only hit problems when i try to burn. Even though the burn appears to complete successfully it only take 5min to burn. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. i’ve managed to get this far and dont want to fall at the final hurdle. Does anyone have any ideas?
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up