[Dan Wolfmeyer]

I’m currently cutting a doc and this is actually how I’m working right now. My main format is DVCProHD 1080i60. The A camera was actually shot at 720p24, but upon ingest I set the deck to output 1080i60. This is a common workflow for DVCProHD. All of my A camera tapes were captured this way. The B camera is DVCProHD 720p24 which was recorded on P2 cards. Because I have many, many hours of 720p24 footage from P2 cards, I didn’t want to spend days or even weeks converting it. In my case I have to do this to meet very specific delivery requirements. Not only does my master have to be 1080i60, but my sources have to be 1080i60 as well. Additionally, I am getting some reenactment footage that will be shot with a more cinematic look than the vérité portions of my doc.

So, my approach is to color code all clips that don’t match 1080i60. I use one color for 720p24 and another color for 720p60 (I had a different camera op for one shoot and he set his camera to do 24/60), and yet another color for additional odd formats (like stock ftg of various sources). I’m cutting my 1080i60 shots on V1 and the shots I’ll need to convert on V2. Once I lock picture I plan on building sequences containing all of my P2 footage, with handles, and laying that off to DVCProHD tape at 720p24 (or 60). Then I will change the deck to output 1080i60 and recapture those shots. These will then be cut back into the timeline and at that point all of the used material in the finished project will be DVCProHD 1080i60.

In my case the frame rate conversion is being handled by the deck and it’s not that complicated. I’m basically just leaving the pulldown intact. All of the stock footage I’m using is from 29.97 sources, so I won’t have to do frame rate conversions to that, only rescaling. In your case, things are probably going to be more complicated. Unless you have funds to get your footage converted through a Teranex or a Universal Format Converter, you’re probably going to have to go the Compressor route. That is going to be time consuming. You’ll probably have to experiment with settings, but as Shane says, for frame rate conversions you’ll need to set it to “Best.” I would say that you should definitely convert h.264 sources before you start editing. You won’t want h.264 on your timeline. If you have a huge amount of DSLR footage (or other h.264 footage) perhaps you should start by converting only what you know you’ll need.

[Dan Wolfmeyer]

With the huge amount of footage you have it would be insane to try to convert it all before you start editing. I would suggest cutting in the format you want to deliver in, but using the raw footage as is. Yes you will have to render A LOT and that will suck, but it will save you a HUGE amount of time. Rough cuts don’t have to look pretty, they just have to convey the story. After you lock the cut pull all of the footage that you USED that doesn’t match your mastering codec and convert that.

[Dan Wolfmeyer]

Well, the system is owned by the production company that I’m working for, so really that is their call. I suggested it before we went into post, but at this point I’ll wait until the next show. I need to deliver to the company doing the filmout on August 4, so this is not a good time to do an upgrade. Maybe before the next project.

[Dan Wolfmeyer]

Like I said, I did set it to render in high precision YUV. But I think you’ve pointed me in the right direction. I think it may have something to do with the fact that DVCProHD is anamorphic. I can cut raw footage into a 10-bit sequence and it scales up to 133.33% with an aspect ratio of -33.33 on the distort setting. After rendering, this plays fine.

But what I can’t seem to do is switch an already edited sequence to Uncompressed 10-bit and play it out. Also if I copy and paste from an anamorphic 960×720 sequence to a non-anamorphic 1280×720 sequence, then everything distorts and repositions incorrectly. So I think what I’ll have to do work as usual and just render out the Uncompressed QT without ever being able to view it at 10-bit in the edit bay.

After a bit more testing, I’ve found that I can just set High precision YUV rendering in my DVCProHD timeline and see results that are very close to what they will be in the 10-bit QT that I will ultimately deliver to the filmout people.