varicam footage…capture at 720p 59.94 uncomp. or 1080i 29.97 uncomp.

[Walter Biscardi]

[jamie] “should i use the 720p uncompressed 10 bit setup at 59.94 fps? or the 1080i uncompressed 10 bit at 29.97? thoughts about the dvc pro HD codec? its no where near the data rate of the uncompressed and i want the highest quality i can get out of this system.”

We’ve delivered almost 50 HD broadcast episodes using the DVCPro HD workflow. We never capture to uncompressed as we see almost no difference between the two. For straight capture, the two codecs are identical as uncompressed can’t “add” any quality. DVCPro HD is 4:2:2 so color correction is extremely clean.

As for 720 or 1080i, we use the AJA Kona 3 so it really doesn’t matter which way we come in, the Kona 3 does real-time cross convert of 720 to 1080 or 1080 to 720. We generally edit in the native format the footage was shot on.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

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

[Jamie Nabers]

so that means you capture at the 720p 59.94 dvc pro HD settings?

and the reason i am asking is because of the frame rate differences. when i try to nest a 59.94 720p sequence inside a 720X486 sequence ( for downconversion) it says that this cannot be done due to differences in frame rates.

the 1080i settings are at the 29.97 frame rates.

Im just trying to figure out the best HD workflow to get the best quality and then downconvert to a 29.97 ntsc sequence for output to beta for the tv stations.

thanks for your response walter,

j

[Walter Biscardi]

[jamie] “so that means you capture at the 720p 59.94 dvc pro HD settings?”

Most of the time, I also capture at 24, 30, 60 depending on what the project is and output.

[jamie] “and the reason i am asking is because of the frame rate differences. when i try to nest a 59.94 720p sequence inside a 720X486 sequence ( for downconversion) it says that this cannot be done due to differences in frame rates.”

Sure you can do this, you’ll need to render it all out though. We use the Kona 3 for realtime down-convert.

[jamie] “Im just trying to figure out the best HD workflow to get the best quality and then downconvert to a 29.97 ntsc sequence for output to beta for the tv stations.”

Get an AJA Kona product. They all offer down-conversion in realtime. Edit once in HD, deliver in both HD and SD in realtime.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Food Network’s “Good Eats”
HD Editorial for “Assignment Earth”

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

[Jamie Nabers]

walter,

thanks for the advice ! I am using the kona 3. so i will look into the realtime downconvert.

thanks again !

jamie