Using DVCPRO HD (720p) 16:9 to get 4:3

[Dndobson]

Sounds like you did it right. 16:9 is the native HD size (except maybe 480p) so you either crop the edges or make it letter box.

[Shane Ross]

In broadcast there is no such thing as 4:3 HD. 1080i is 1920×1080, and 720p is 1280×720…both 16:9 dimensions. 4:3 is really only Standard Def…so would really only be used when outputting to Digibeta, Beta, DV…etc. DVCPRO HD, D5, HDCAM, HDCAM SR are all 16:9 formats.

What are you delivering your show on? What tape format? If digibeta or other SD format, you can create an uncompressed (or other setting to match your delivery format) and just drop in the HD footage and resize it to fill the screen.

Shane

Littlefrog Post
http://www.lfhd.net

[Winston A. cely]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Also, thanks for clearing that up for me. It’s what I thought, but never really made sense to me for what ever reason.

I’m laying back to DVCAM(25) so what I’ll do to loose less quality, is to make an uncompressed sequence to paste my clips into, and use that to throw back to tape.

Having said that, what if I had another spot that was shot the same way, and we wanted to throw it out there in SD format, BUT we wanted to send it out in anamorphic, so that it would stretch to fit a widescreen TV? Is that even an option?

“If God could do the tricks we can do, He’d be a happy Man.” – Peter O’Toole – “The Stuntman”

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[Tom Matthies]

You don’t mention what deck you are playing back your footage from as you capture it, but I know that the 1200 &1200a have a menu setting that lets you output a center punch version of 16×9 footage for use in the 4×3 world. You mught try capturing that rather than the 16×9 video. Then you can just edit normally without any conversions or tricks at all. Simple.
Just a thought.
Tom

[Walter Biscardi]

If you have something like the Kona, you can cut in HD normally and then just down-convert to SD on the fly. We do this when we have to lay off our HD episodes to DVCAM for the Producer to have a reference copy of the shows.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com

“I reject your reality and substitute my own!” – Adam Savage, Mythbusters

[Winston A. cely]

We’ve got a Kona LS and an Aja Io. So when you’re laying off a DVCAM copy, are you making an anamorphic DVCAM, or are you choppin goff the sides? I’d think you’d be giving it anamorphic, or widescreen treatment, since you’re ultimately going to HD which is widescreen.

Side question…. Since a lot of people don’t have HD TV’s yet, when Good Eat’s is broadcast, are they sending out 2 separate signals? One that carries HD and one that carries SD? The SD shrinking the 16:9 footage to a letterboxed 4:3?

“If God could do the tricks we can do, He’d be a happy Man.” – Peter O’Toole – “The Stuntman”

Machine Model: Power Mac G5
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CPU Speed: 2.5 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 4.5 GB
Final Cut Studio (Not Universal, yet)

[Winston A. cely]

When capturing HD we use a AJ-HD1200A, is that the one you’re talking about? That would be great to be able to capture a center punch. When we shot our footage we always kept in mind that we might like to go 4:3, so I haven’t had to adjust any framing with the clips. They’re all centered directly, so if I recaptured, I could theoretically re-link the footage to the cutouts because the TC would be identical.

“If God could do the tricks we can do, He’d be a happy Man.” – Peter O’Toole – “The Stuntman”

Machine Model: Power Mac G5
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 2.5 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 4.5 GB
Final Cut Studio (Not Universal, yet)