-
when to downconvert?
i use sony hdv cameras to capture. and i want to eventually output for dvd, and back to tape. i used to import hdv, and edit hdv, but i thought “what does it matter, i have to downconvert sometime, why not at import?” the quality looks really poor after the downconvert. then after i output with compressor and burn to disk, it looks even worse!
i also have an m10u. i dont have a capture card, but its not an impossibility to get one.
i want to know, whats the very best way to do it (quality-wise). and whats the suggested way?
the footage looks so good straight from tape to tv, its very dis-comforting to see the quality loss after import and then export to dvd.
one more thing: i have a sd broadcast monitor which i use for color correcting. i would still like to use that.
thank you very hairy much
cade -
8 Replies
-
Cadobee,
A Kona LH card can solve all your problems. Well, at least the one’s you posted here. It can downconvert on capture or on playback, in which case it can downconvert the signal to play on your SD monitor. Suggest you do some snooping around on the AJA forum, or search the archives here for a boatload of info on all this.
-
the main thing i want is quality. would it be adviseable to import in dvcpro hd. What is the optimum way to preserve quaility?
-
Cadobee- Chris is right on with the Kona LH suggestion.
We use it two different ways depending on the job. If the delivery is SD only then we us our M10U’s component output to digitize using the FCP 8-bit uncompressed codec. We edit in 8-bit and ouput to Betacam SP for broadcast or to mpeg2 via compressor for a very clean SD DVD.
If we want an HDV master we stay HDV native and back out to HDV. We then use our M10U’s component outputs with the decks hardware downconvert feature to re-digitze an 8-bit uncompressed SD master and follow the workflow above for a very clean SD conversion for DVD.
The second method is slower because you a dealing with HDV’s limitations (ie.conforming, mpeg2 editing, etc.) but you have an HD(V) master.
The Kona LH allows you to monitor the SD as you work in FCP.
Hope this helps.
JerryG5 Dual 3GB Ram
FCP5 Studio
External 1 TB SATA Raid 0
Kona LH, Second system w AJA ioLA
Sony Z-1 -
thank you veeery much for your reply. i only have one question. how do you physically connect the m10 to the card?
-a very gratefull cade -
ohh ive got one more question. What do you do about audio?
-
Cadobee- To connect you’ll need component cables (one comes with the Z-1) and connectors to match up with Kona LH inputs. On the audio we use a mackie mixer to get the proper levels.
JerryG5 Dual 3GB Ram
FCP5 Studio
External 1 TB SATA Raid 0
Kona LH, Second system w AJA ioLA
Sony Z-1 -
Have you tried going straight from HDV to export to DVD using compressor?
My workflow involved converting HDV to DVCPROHD, but the DVD looks best when I do the DVD compression directly, rather than downconverting to SD then compressing to DVD. It takes a long, long time, though, even with a quad G5.
I only made an SD version of the sequence in order to check subtitles, because it’s much quicker to make changes and re-burn DVD’s. And this looks much worse than going straight from an HD timline.
I eventually output to HDCAM from DVCPROHD, but I was making test DVD’s for checking how it looks on my living room TV.
-
i should do a test to see how importing hdv, the exporting for dvd with compressor looks. it will probably be the best option, but the reason i downconverted on import is beause i didnt have a capture card to output to a monitor. ill post something about the test soon.
ps. i bought a kona lh card today. =)
cade
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up