[Marcello Mazzilli]

I get “old frames” from the buffer interleaved with squarish effects .. specially at the begining of a playback.. even in Final Cut.

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

No jim.. PAL has a smaller rectangle than anamorphic but still it has.. and it is 1,067 (some times rounded to 1,07) that brings the actual square pixel version of pal to be 768. Thsi is how you view it. Information is still 720 but on screen it occupies 768 pixels. 16/9 Pal, as you said has larger rectangle pixels with a ratio of 1,422 and so 16/9 PAL footage occupies on screen 1024 (that is 720 x 1,422) pixels

NTSC has the same thing but the other way round . I don’t work in NTSC so I don’t remember the figures.

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Hi,
I have the same card and as a user I doscovered some things my self

1. When viewing in 1080i, the picture isn’t as clear as on the monitor – it looks almost like ghosting from bad reception

This should not happen. If you have hd 1920×1080 interlaced (either 50i or 60i depending the county you live in) you should see a properly interlaced image. You can check this because your picture in PAUSE mode should “vibrate” (the monitor will be showing very fast one field then the next then the first in a loop). But.. there is an option in the control panel (or settings panel if you have a Mac) that disables interlace in PAUSE MODE showing you a false interpolated frame not really present in the footage.. so also check this

2. When I change the output to SD PAL (anamorphic), the picture is very pixelated

It is. Picture is brought up to HD anyway (i think) and then recompressed. Also it depends on the monitor you use. I have a LG w2261v. that is a computer LCD 1920×1080 res monitor with a HDMi input. If I give smaller (SD) signal quality is rubbish and picture is stretched.

3. How do I view Quicktime videos on my monitor?

You can’t. I asked Blackmagic and the yjust answered with a list of compatibile applications. Quicktime was not there

4. Also how do I view internet videos on it? (Like when you go to Youtube and click on ‘full screen’)

You can’t again.

I’m sorry but this card is mainly for video editing, capturing, live web tvs etc… If you bought it to view DIVX or Youtube on your TV set is useless

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Usually whatever editing software u are using it should guide you to build a timeline that uses the correct settings for the target you have. Still… some basics…

Video can be SD (Standard Definition) or HD (high definition)
SD video can be in NTSC (US, Japan, SouthAmerica, Asia) or PAL (Europe, Australia)
NTSC video is 720×480 pixel at 29,97 (30) frames per second (fps)
PAL video is 720×576 pixel at 25 fps
Actually pixels have a rectangle (and not square) aspect ratio (they are wider than taller) so in the end the virtual resolution (the actual space the picture uses on your graphic card) is 768 pixel wide
Also video can be progressive (every frame is a solid foto) or interlaced (every frames is 2 half solid fotos interleaved line by line).
So in NTSC 30p means a 30fps format with progressive frames, while 60i means still 30fps but interlaced
In Pal 25p means a 25fps format with progressive frames, while 50i means still 25fps but interlaced
So actually viewing interlaced gives you really double frames with half resolution.
Interlaced footage results more fluid and “real” (like a news program) while progressive footage looks more “cinema”.

HD is almost the same thing.
Resolutions change but the are the same in PAL and NTSC (actually calling them PAL and NTSC is wrong.. just to get understood)
HD resolution is 1920×1080 or 1280×720
Due to technology development at present you find these standards (named by the number of lines and frames) : 1080/50i 1080/60i 720/25p 720/30p
1080/25p and 1080/30p or 720/50p and 720/60p are now quite cheaply possible but not yet considered standards
Some cameras can shoot also in 1080/24p or 720/24p (so to pass to film easier being film 24).
Other cameras (usually more expensive) let you shoot faster at 1080/50p or 1080/60p

Hope it helps

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Very strange. Never mind.. I’ll go on trying.
Sorry for Brian.. I hope he got the answer he needed
M

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Actually if you keep the camera still (on a tripod etc… you can even do it without compositing….
Just shoot with the actor and let him do whatever you need.
Let him go away (he can clap his hands or walk fading in the distance)
Then go on shooting for a minute the empty room
When you edit you put the empty room on layer one, the action on layer 2 and just play with cuts or transparencies on layer 2

And it’s done!

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Yes.. i am using CS4.
Yes.. you understand my “algorithm writing”
You can test yourself… Premiere interpolates but “thinks” a different way.
You can get it either to interpolate one field or the whole frame but not to create a “real” new frame with the second field from the first frame and the first field from the second frame.

Funny because 100Hz LCDs do this all the time live.
I don’t know exactly how 200 Hz LCDs work !!!

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

I call it (my invention) .. the “Stendhal Effect” from the Stendhal syndrome where the patient reports a sort of “entering the picture” sensation. 🙂
I’ve been doing it for some time with some success…

Cut out “layers” in PS thinking as they were actual 3d layers (things are on the same layer if they are at the same distance)

Rebuild what would be under the layer if you switch it off

Position in After FX in a 3D layer environnement

Animate moving the camera sideways and in

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

I’m sorry but is not working.. I might be missing something.

When i frist slow down I get a normal interpolation and not the algorithm I was talking about… You can see this because you get odd frames very contrasted and even frames very blurred.. The even frames (one every two) are actual interpolation of one field.

The scheme that comes out is not 1U1L 1L2U 2U2L 2L3U 3U3L
But is 1U1L 1U12int 2U2L 2U23int etc…

By doing this the picture is not sharp but one frame every 2 is blurred.
When you export and do all the rest you keep this problem.
So still you have 50 different frames but they are actual normal interpolated by premiere frames.

At least this is what I am understanding.

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com

[Marcello Mazzilli]

Sorry if I use this thread but it could be connected… I am trying to find a way of converting 50i footage to 50p footage (not 25p) without frame duplication… using an algorithm similar to what good 100Hz LCDs do real time.. but I don’t find such algorithm…. What these TV sets do is… I’ve been told… create frames through interpolation…
Let’s say footage is 50i…. there are 25 frames with 2 fields.. Every frame is 1u1l, 2u2l, 3u3l, etc…
What these TV sets do is create 50frames interpolating this way: 1u1l, 1l2u, 2u2l, 2l3u, 3u3l, etc…
In this way it actually creates NEW FRAMES with almost (ok there is interpolation) full resolution.
What software or plugin does this?

siRoma di Marcello Mazzilli
Corporate video productions in Italy
http://www.siroma.com