Workflow Question: HDV to Color/Effects to 24P Uncompressed HD or ProRes

[David Roth weiss]

[PaulD] “Robert Flaherty’s Nanook was. :-)”

Paul,

He should have done his homework before he went out in the field the first time.

And, I bet Nanook was really pissed.

Plus, I’ll bet there were a thousand times when Nanook asked Flaherty why he had to repeat the same action over and over too. :-}

“No job is worth doing more than once…”

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Post-production Supervisor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

[Script-to-film]

Guys, thanks for the advice and encouragement. I’m a strong believer that format and budget have very little to do with quality of outcome. If my film does terrible and doesn’t get into any festivals and sits on my shelf collecting dust (statistically, it may very well do just that), it’s because of poor writing, bad directing and bad acting. Not because of HDV. I’m glad other people out there see that too.

The film is a narrative drama (somewhat comedic at times) but dark. 24P would create a nice feel. However, I’m one of the few it seems that cannot tell visually the difference between the two very well. I think 60i has an interesting look too. The film is 120minutes (I’d like to get it shorter, like 100 minutes if possible). Also, you should know there is a bit of compositing that needs to be done. I’ve heard that progressive is better for compositing and I’ve heard that getting it to ProRes or Uncompressed is a better way to get a nice key. That’s one thing I want to be sure to get right. The composite has to look good. At the top of the post is more information about my system specifics for reference.

With the Nattress software can I go to 24P straight from the timeline or do I have to convert clips and edit/conform in a new 24P timeline and then export?

Also, does anyone know anything about DV Film Maker. I have it and like the results it provides. However, Compressor seems to do a better job making new frames (but it’s absurdly slow; I did the math and it looks like 3 months on my system to get my whole film into 24P Uncompressed). Is Nattress in the same league as Compressor but faster? What is the output of Nattress? HDV codec? ProRes? Uncompressed? Some other output codec?

[Script-to-film]

Guys, thanks for the advice and encouragement. I’m a strong believer that format and budget have very little to do with quality of outcome. If my film does terrible and doesn’t get into any festivals and sits on my shelf collecting dust (statistically, it may very well do just that), it’s because of poor writing, bad directing and bad acting. Not because of HDV. I’m glad other people out there see that too.

The film is a narrative drama (somewhat comedic at times) but dark. 24P would create a nice feel. However, I’m one of the few it seems that cannot tell visually the difference between the two very well. I think 60i has an interesting look too. The film is 120minutes (I’d like to get it shorter, like 100 minutes if possible). Also, you should know there is a bit of compositing that needs to be done. I’ve heard that progressive is better for compositing and I’ve heard that getting it to ProRes or Uncompressed is a better way to get a nice key. That’s one thing I want to be sure to get right. The composite has to look good. At the top of the post is more information about my system specifics for reference.

With the Nattress software can I go to 24P straight from the timeline or do I have to convert clips and edit/conform in a new 24P timeline and then export?

Also, does anyone know anything about DV Film Maker. I have it and like the results it provides. However, Compressor seems to do a better job making new frames (but it’s absurdly slow; I did the math and it looks like 3 months on my system to get my whole film into 24P Uncompressed). Is Nattress in the same league as Compressor but faster? What is the output of Nattress? HDV codec? ProRes? Uncompressed? Some other output codec?

[Script-to-film]

Guys, thanks for the advice and encouragement. I’m a strong believer that format and budget have very little to do with quality of outcome. If my film does terrible and doesn’t get into any festivals and sits on my shelf collecting dust (statistically, it may very well do just that), it’s because of poor writing, bad directing and bad acting. Not because of HDV. I’m glad other people out there see that too.

The film is a narrative drama (somewhat comedic at times) but dark. 24P would create a nice feel. However, I’m one of the few it seems that cannot tell visually the difference between the two very well. I think 60i has an interesting look too. The film is 120minutes (I’d like to get it shorter, like 100 minutes if possible). Also, you should know there is a bit of compositing that needs to be done. I’ve heard that progressive is better for compositing and I’ve heard that getting it to ProRes or Uncompressed is a better way to get a nice key. That’s one thing I want to be sure to get right. The composite has to look good. At the top of the post is more information about my system specifics for reference.

With the Nattress software can I go to 24P straight from the timeline or do I have to convert clips and edit/conform in a new 24P timeline and then export?

Also, does anyone know anything about DV Film Maker. I have it and like the results it provides. However, Compressor seems to do a better job making new frames (but it’s absurdly slow; I did the math and it looks like 3 months on my system to get my whole film into 24P Uncompressed). Is Nattress in the same league as Compressor but faster? What is the output of Nattress? HDV codec? ProRes? Uncompressed? Some other output codec?

[Script-to-film]

Guys, thanks for the advice and encouragement. I’m a strong believer that format and budget have very little to do with quality of outcome. If my film does terrible and doesn’t get into any festivals and sits on my shelf collecting dust (statistically, it may very well do just that), it’s because of poor writing, bad directing and bad acting. Not because of HDV. I’m glad other people out there see that too.

The film is a narrative drama (somewhat comedic at times) but dark. 24P would create a nice feel. However, I’m one of the few it seems that cannot tell visually the difference between the two very well. I think 60i has an interesting look too. The film is 120minutes (I’d like to get it shorter, like 100 minutes if possible). Also, you should know there is a bit of compositing that needs to be done. I’ve heard that progressive is better for compositing and I’ve heard that getting it to ProRes or Uncompressed is a better way to get a nice key. That’s one thing I want to be sure to get right. The composite has to look good. At the top of the post is more information about my system specifics for reference.

With the Nattress software can I go to 24P straight from the timeline or do I have to convert clips and edit/conform in a new 24P timeline and then export?

Also, does anyone know anything about DV Film Maker. I have it and like the results it provides. However, Compressor seems to do a better job making new frames (but it’s absurdly slow; I did the math and it looks like 3 months on my system to get my whole film into 24P Uncompressed). Is Nattress in the same league as Compressor but faster? What is the output of Nattress? HDV codec? ProRes? Uncompressed? Some other output codec?

[Russell Lasson]

Wow, a quadruple post!!!! Sweet!!!!

Download a demo version of Nattress Standards Converter and give it a test. Compare it to Compressor and DV Film Maker (I haven’t ever used DV Film Maker). See which one will work best for you.

Be sure to read the instructions with the Nattress software.

-Russ