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Trying to decide between 1080i & 720p
So I’m transferring film to DVCPRO HD, and I don’t know whether to tell the transfer house to choose 720p or 1080i. Since the HD signal is always 100Mbs, does that make one format better than the other? Also, I’m not sure what to expect when it comes to interlacing or pulldown if they transfer it to 720p. I’ve always removed a 3:2 pulldown from 480i material, but never had to do it with 1080i let alone 720p. So the question is, if I ask them to transfer to 720p60, will there be a 3:2 pulldown on the tape? Will I be able to edit in 24p if I want? Or should I choose 1080i?
FCP 6
AJA KONA LH
AJA IO -
4 Replies
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[Kevin Hedin] “So the question is, if I ask them to transfer to 720p60, will there be a 3:2 pulldown on the tape?”
It will have a progressive type of the 2:3 pulldown. Meaning two progressive frames of the first frame and three progressive frames of the next frame. Decks don’t add flags to the footage like the cameras do, so removing it can be difficult.
If you record at 1080i, then it will add the traditional interlaced 2:3 pulldown, which can be removed while digitizing using your Kona card. This workflow is very similar to editing a film from DVCAM.
There might be another option as I’ve seen several different 24P settings on our 1200 deck that I don’t understand, but I’ve never found anyone who could tell me what those settings meant.
-Russ
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Ok, we’re getting close to the answer I need. So if I intend on editing native film frames (24p), then I shouldn’t have the transfer house lay it down as 720p60, correct? Because you can’t remove the pulldown during capture? Is this what your saying? What if I captured at the native videotape rate of 29.97 and used cinema tools to remove the pulldown? Will it work then? If its better to work with 1080i60 so that I can remove pulldown during capture, it sounds better, but I just want to make sure that I can’t do that with 720p60.
Thanks for your help
FCP 6
KONA LH
KONA IO -
[Kevin Hedin] “but I just want to make sure that I can’t do that with 720p60”
I haven’t found a good way of doing it unless the tape has been flagged by a camera.
I wouldn’t use Cinema Tools to remove the pulldown. I would use your Kona LH to do that. You set your in point to start on the A frame and digitize using a 23.98 setting instead of 29.97. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to adjust the frame offset in the device control preset until it works.
If I were you, I’d get a test tape from your transfer house and try it to make sure you like the workflow before you transfer the whole film that way. This will also make sure that your transfer house has their settings right.
Are you going to go back to film or finishing to a video/digital format?
-Russ
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I’ll be finishing my project to a HD video format with downconverts for SD broadcast.
I’ve just decided to transfer to 1080i. I feel more comfortable with that because it’s closest to 480i like I’m used to. Removing pulldowns with my Kona LH or Cinema Tools is a process I’ve done before successfully. I just don’t know enought about 720p as a recording format yet. If the camera flagged the extra frames that would be one thing, but this is a film transfer with no flagged frames.
I hope I’m doing the right thing. Thanks for the help.
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