James Hilton
Forum Replies Created
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I have done it both ways, and unless you want some extra work, go with 720p50.
If you use 1080i25 you are best off using motion estimation to recreate 1080p50 then downcovert that to SD, it works well.
If you have 720p50 just convert to PAL SD 25i.
What you use to resize makes a big difference, I have actually found an AviSynth script with lanczos resize working on an uncompressed avi can often result in less aliasing than getting FCP or Premiere to do the same resizing for you…..it is a lengthy pc only option if you are having trouble with aliasing in your video though.
In my experience results usually look better if you resize the output from a good HD camera & codec than shooting with a good SD camera form the start, technology has moved on and downsized picture quality from your EX1R will potentially beet the majority of SD cameras out there.
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There is an interesting report from Alan Roberts who assessed the performance of the 5D mk2 for the BBC here (see #39): https://thebrownings.name/WHP034/
The conclusion seems to be it has too much aliasing (no doubt due to the way it down converts the resolution to 1080p, it just throws away lines of info from the sensor instead of resizing.
I’m not sure if it is the done thing to refer to another forum from here, but check out https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eos-5d-mk-ii-hd/ as there is along discussion on there about the report by Alan Roberts.
Conclusions from other users I have talked to or read comments from can be summed in this rather long sentence I guess: Video looks impressive when played back on an HD monitor, but it doesn’t hold up too well in post, and falls down further during (often poor) recompression at point of broadcast’.
I am considering a 5D mk2 to replace my 5d mk1 as it is on its last legs, so the video quality is of interest, but I will mostly use it for stills. I’m as a result interested to hear opinions on here of people who own one already.
Another issue I see is the 50mbit minimum standard lots of broadcasters are gunning for, the 5d is below that. Also Canon have not set a date for the release of the updated firmware to give users 24p, 25p frame rates etc. It wouldn’t surprise me if it didn’t end up happening, but I hope for all users who already own one that it does!
Maybe a firmware hack (e.g. magic lantern) can increase the bit rate higher, but that is not certain!
It is a lot of camera for the money though!
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One assumes he is talking about sensor size, as many broadcasters (e.g. BBC for example) are not happy with you using cameras that have an image sensor that are under ½” for capturing HD these days (plus bit rate of under 50Mbit).
If you do use a camera with a sensor under 1/2 they will often let you only use footage from that camera up to a certain percentage of a program, e.g. I seem to recall the BBC say a max of 15% (but I could be wrong).
The AJ-HPX300 is 1/3″, EX1/3 are 1/2″ sensors. Go for the AG-HPX500, it has 2/3″ sensors, I considder it to be a top camera for the price.
That is my take on Rafael’s post, but maybe he is refering to something else.
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My big concern is compatibility from a personal point of view.
If I shoot a video, and put a rough demo of it on a DVD-R at the request of a client, I can be nearly 100% sure that they will be able to watch it when it arrives somehow, be it on a standalone dvd player or maybe even in a computer/laptop.
If I give someone a demo on BD-R, I can not be sure it will play in a standalone player or pc for a number of possible reasons.
If someone wants a HD demo, then an mpeg or quicktime file on a DVD-R is the best bet if you want to ensure a client can watch it ok.
Now this is different from a DVD/BR made in a foundry, but I believe it to still be a valid point. I feel that outside of movies/tv programs being sold to the public, I have yet to see other areas (e.g corp video etc) embrace it that much.
I think it is fair to say that the average person out there still doesn’t have a BluRay player for their tv and I think that does make a difference.
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I have had many problems exporting from Premiere CS4. Examples of this include exporting a 10 minute clip to an AVI and sections just being black where transitions take place or effects were yet as you say the preview looks just fine etc.
The one sure way of getting something out of CS4 seems to be to do an image export e.g. to PSD, and export the audio seperatly. If I have problems with normal exports that is what I always try as a last resort and it seems to work.
Maybe try exporting a small section which has those black boxes now to a PSD image sequence and let us know if you still have problems in the stills.