what format to use for capture in FCP 7

[Shane Ross]

Well, first off, you are going to be capturing all of it as DV/NTSC via firewire…that’s the way to get full quality.

[Claire Panke] “1. I now have a few tapes that were shot with my earlier camera EONS ago – Sony VX1000. I am embarrassed to ask this but I can’t figure out what format this is! When reviewing a bit of the footage containing movement it appears ALL interlaced.
No idea what to use as the capture settings. “

It is…it’s DV 29.97 interlaced. Progressive didn’t really exist in the SD world until Panasonic came along with their DVX100, and initially it was 24p but as 29.97 interlaced..the 24p LOOK, but interlaced. Like what film looks like when telecined to tape. So this footage you’ll have to capture 720×480 29.97 interlaced…DV/NTSC. And deinterlace it with the Nattress stuff.

[Claire Panke] “2. I have one tape that I thought was shot with the VX1000 but as I toggle through the footage one frame at a time it is showing 2 interlaced to 3 progressive, so I’m thinking I must have been wrong about which camera it was shot it. When you see the 2:3 cadence it must have been shot in 24p right?”

It could be the fake 24p…where it’s 24p but running in a 29.97 interlaced stream, as mentioned before.

[Claire Panke] “3. The daughter of one of my characters shot a bunch of footage on DVcam years ago and we want to use that as archival material. I had dubbed it all onto miniDV (back when that was a good format to use!), and this footage also seems to be all interlaced when looking at movement-containing snippets. “

Most likey was. DV was mainly an interlaced format. SD generally was…

Shane
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[Claire Panke]

Thank you Shane!

I’m still not sure about the one that appears 3:2 (progressive to interlaced) — or the consequences of bringing it in using the wrong format…i assume stuttering/weird motion would occur.
That particular tape is different than the other material that is clearly ALL interlaced (visible on a segment with motion when toggling frame by frame)…I’ll have to try it and see.

Thank you again!
Claire

[Claire Panke]

Shane – (or anyone else!)
…replying to my earlier post….

is there a definitive way to tell if something was shot 60i or 30p (29.97)?

(bringing into FCP…sorry I am still stymied trying to know what input settings to use for FCP 7)

Is there a way that something shot on DVCam in 2004 would be 30p or was that too early? I dubbed all those tapes from dvcam to my then-current minidv format, but no I am worried if I bring all those minidv tapes in as DV-NTSC 29.97 and it was shot in 60i, I will screw up what it looks like, especially since I will need to use the Nattress standards converter to bring it into our 23.98 timeline.

There is info out there about the difference between 60i and 29.97 / 30p both of which are interlaced, but trying to determine which a tape was shot in? Not so easy to figure out.

I’m flummoxed, and so far behind the times it’s almost impossible for me to figure this out…

[Shane Ross]

[Claire Panke] “is there a definitive way to tell if something was shot 60i or 30p (29.97)?”

Look to see if it plays smooth like a news cast or sports telecast or soap opera. Also, if you play back in QT on your computer, you’ll see interlaced lines. VERY few cameras shot 30p…most DV was 60i.

[Claire Panke] “Is there a way that something shot on DVCam in 2004 would be 30p or was that too early?”

Not too early. I think some cameras MIMICKED the look…some good, some bad. Some would shoot 15fps…repeating every frame (Sony…such garbage, had to deal with that on a Scott Baio pilot). Not sure which actually implimented 30p, it’s an odd format…I know that Panasonic did the 24p in 60i look with the DVX100a in 2002. Mainly this is done by eye, but also done on an external monitor…while paused, do you see both fields stutter on some shots?

Shane
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[Claire Panke]

Thank you again Shane –
I was going a little nuts looking for an interlaced setting to use for importing, but now I realize I have to just import as DV-NTSC and then know which standards converter (60i to 24p) to use from the Nattress package I purchased years ago.

I also figured out years ago how to tell if something was shot in 24p or 24p-adv by going frame by frame to see either the 3:2 or 4:1 progressive-to-interlaced ratios (was surprisingly hard to find that information on the internet)…so I did that while looking at the current footage in question.

“Mainly this is done by eye, but also done on an external monitor…while paused, do you see both fields stutter on some shots?”
I don’t have an external monitor set up where I am at home, unfortunately. When I toggle through the footage pre-capture, I see on any movement shots that it is ALL interlaced, every frame (no stuttering seen), so I can only assume it was shot at 60i and will convert accordingly.

Thanks again for all your help. Much appreciated.

[Shane Ross]

30p will also have movement in every frame. BUT, if you look at 60i footage in QuickTime, you’ll see the interlaced line artifacts…so that’s another way to tell

Shane
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