-
To online or not to online… That is the question.
Hello there-
This is my first post on the Cow and it looks like a great resource.
I am a Dp and recently shot a film using the HD Varicam. Now that the film is cut and headed to a film print (Fotokem in LA) there is a stromg motivation due to budget not to online the footage that was cut using FCP. The footage was digitized using firewire at what I am told is full resolution (DVC PRO HD?). I am under the impression that digitizing using Firewire is not totally lossless and some quality is affected. Since this film will be projected theatrically we want the best quality available so if firewired footage is at all a compromise I want to know.
Are there any gains to be had doing an onling at a fully uncompressed resolution?
Thanks,
Alex
-
1 Reply
-
Probably the best work flow would be to have the film house convert the DVCPRO 720P HD project to 2k for the filmout. You could also convert it in FCP with Quicktime and the results will be similar. Some houses have a proprietary process for this, but most of it is based on QT algorythems. You should do your color timing with a baselight or a comprable film based timing color system on the 2K files as you will be in Cineon color space giving you more dynamic range.
A typical mistake is to color correct in video and then hand it to the film house for the film out. The firewire transfer is lossless from the tape onto the hard drive. People might tell you that redigitizing to a 10 bit codec will be better and I would agree with them ONLY IF FINISHING IN VIDEO. The best method is to transfer from the digital source (the stuff on your hard drives) to 2K and color correct in film color space.
Remeber, you did not record the image you say in the monitor, you recorded a severly compressed (with a very good compression scheme) picture to a DVCPRO HD tape. The monitor showed you a clean, uncompressed signal, not what was recorded to tape. It would be nice if the Varicam had a “compressed” output for monitoring purposes so DP’s could avoid the occassional compression blocking we see withthis codec.
David
Peace and Love 🙂
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up