Why P2 is 960/720 not 1280/720

[John Fishback]

You’ve done nothing wrong. DVCPro HD is an anamorphic format. After it’s transferred to FCP it will play as 1280×720. However, before you edit, you should choose which of the 2 formats will be your edit format (I’d choose DVCPro HD). As long as the frame rates of the 2 camera are the same, you can render in FCP (set your render settings to Best). Some might suggest using Compressor to convert one format to the other. Search the Cow and you’ll find lots of discussion about this. If the frame rates of the 2 cameras are diffrent, then you’ll have to convert one to the other with Compressor. There are lots of posts how to do this, too.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5

Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN

[John Fishback]

It’s an anamorphic codec.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870, 24″ TV-Logic Monitor
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5

Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN

[Christer Gomes]

Thanks John
I found that the pixel aspect ratios are different for two compression. Although the frame rates are same will it be a problem to do graphics in photoshop where I have to choose whether its a square pixel or 1.5 /1. That is the only part Im worried about.
Thanks
Chris

[Matt Gerard]

I’ve been caught with this before as well. Choose the codec that you are most used to. I like the DVCPROHD, its a great looking codec, but I HATE non-square pixels. So, no that I have lots more server room to play with, we are shooting everything AVC-INTRA 100 and converting to ProRes HQ. Hello Square Pixels!!!!

And now, designing graphics is a lot less of a hassle.

Matt

Its more fun to ride a slow motorcycle fast than a fast motorcycle slow…

[Christer Gomes]

Thanks Matt
So you’re saying that I can transcode all my rectangle pixel to squre by using the Apple ProRess (HQ)? I guess that will involve a real time trascoding via the AJA i/o. Right
C

[Jeremy Garchow]

You can create square pixel graphics and put them in a DVCpro HD 720p timeline. It’s not a problem.

Jeremy

[Matt Gerard]

[Christer Gomes] “So you’re saying that I can transcode all my rectangle pixel to squre by using the Apple ProRess (HQ)?”

Yes, you could do that, whether its worth it or not, is up to you. Depends on what your edit machine is and whether it can handle the playback of different media types in a DVCPROHD timeline. I’d do a test in a simple timeline first, you might be able to get away with just editing everything in a DVCPROHD timeline, then do a final render before you output. Or if your show is really edit intensive or grphics heavy and you have the space, yes you can transcode to PRORES. Depending on how much footage you have, that might take a while.

[Christer Gomes] “I guess that will involve a real time trascoding via the AJA i/o.”

Don’t know, I have a Kona card, and an 8core MacPro, so I would be converting via Compressor. I don’t know how the IO works, so you’d have to research that yourself. Again, do a small test on a small file, and see how long it takes to transcode vs render.

I design all my graphics in square pixels. it tends to fall apart less when I down-convert to SD or web videos, it seems.

Good Luck, and there is a lot to be learned by taking some time and troubleshooting with small test files.

Matt

Its more fun to ride a slow motorcycle fast than a fast motorcycle slow…