Khashyar Darvich
Forum Replies Created
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Thank you again for your time in sharing your thoughts and feedback…
I’m sure that there are many documentaries like ours that need to incorporate older DV footage, so I hope this helps others who have the same question and circumstance.
An update for those who also want to find the best way to upscale needed DV footage to 1080…
Again, I hear over and over that the rule of thumb is that hardware conversions are higher quality than software conversions (and now I will be testing this out).
After a lot of research, I discovered that there is a discontinued DV to SDI converter box made by Miranda called “DV Bridge.” (You can purchase them used for between $200-$250)
Our plan is to connect a firewire deck/camera to the Miranda DV Bridge, output via SDI to our AJA io xt’s SDI in, and then use AJA’s reportedly high quality upscaling hardware to do the conversion.
Then, we can compare this to the previous Red Giant Instant HD upscale that we did in After Effects.
The hardware conversion will be in real time, so it will be much fast than upscaling through Instant HD or through the After Effects upscaling effect.
The editor who is doing the upscale for us does not have the version of AE CC that has the new AE upscaling effect, so if for some reason the hardware upscale does not look satisfactory, we will either find an editor who has the new CC version, or we will purchase the new version ourselves.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
In case this helps others who want to upconvert DV to HD using AJA upscaling hardware:
After hours of research, I learned that there is a discontinued DV to SDI converted (the Miranda DV Bridge), that will accept a firewire DV signal and then output via SDI… (they are available used on ebay for about $200/$250).
We will connect the Miranda SDI out to the AJA io xt SDI in and let the AJA’s hardware do the upconversion.
We will test this out and see if we get a better upscaling quality than we did through After Effects and the Red Giant Instant HD software.
But, it is said over and over that hardware upconversions are better then software upconversions, I’m crossing my fingers that the DV to 1080 upconversion looks better than thru Instant HD.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
Thank you for posting that, Walter.
I didn’t know that After Effects did not automatically handle imported interlaced video well.
On that page that you shared, it does state that AE automatically process DV footage:
“After Effects automatically separates fields for D1 and DV video footage items. You can manually separate fields for all other types of video footage in the Interpret Footage dialog box.”
But I believe that our DV footage was exported from FCP in ProRes 422 Codec, so if that’s the case, we would need to import it differently and separate the fields.
Thanks again for your feedback and the link.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
Yes, that’s true, Walter.
My understanding is that the footage will remain interlaced unless you apply a de-interlacer.
So, I assume that by using the After Effect upscaling effect, the footage will remain interlaced once it is upconverted.
But the issue is which upscaling method produces the best image with fewest artifacts.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
Hi Walter…
Are you referring to the After Effects “Detail-preserving Upscale effect?”
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
Thank you for the suggestions, Todd…
Another Creative Cow AE member also recommended AE’s “Detail-preserving Upscale effect.”
Do you (or your software techs) know how it compared to Red Giant’s Instant HD and Hardware conversions? Were there any tests and comparisons done?
Thank you again for your recommendation.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
By the way, let me add that we tried upconverting our miniDV footage through the After Effects Red Giant Instant HD plugin, and some of the footage had jagged lines and interlaced artifacts…
This is why we are wondering whether a hardware upscaling of DV footage (through io hardware like the AJA io XT) would produce better results.
We would test the hardware upscaling out, but we need to purchase a DV deck with SDI out, and would appreciate others who might have experience with this before we purchase the extra equipment.
Thank you again fro your thoughts and help.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
By the way, I know that the rule of thumb is that hardware conversions/upscaling is better than conversions done with software.
But. How much better is the io xt than software like Red Giant Instant HD?
Thank you for your feedback.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
Abe at AJA was ver helpful.
He confirmed that yes, the AJA io XT does currently work with FCP 7 and Yosmite, but that it may not in the future:
“I spoke with our tech support group, and they tell me that our engineering team has been able (thus far) to retain full functionality within FCP7 with IoXT. No real limitations exist that they know of at this point. Of course, we cannot guarantee continued support indefinitely, as Apple is no longer updating FCP7, but for now, it works wonderfully. Also, once you have the Io XT, tech support is well versed in assisting you with any issues you run in to…”
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com -
Thanks for sharing your experience, Shane…
Do you know whether the io XT will work with FCP 7 and the new Yosemite OS?
Thank you for your feedback.
Producer-Director
Wakan Films
Hollywood, CA
http://www.wakan.com