[Shahriar Rahman]

I am using computer monitor to view the footage — we only rent the deck out during capture/output, so I will have a chance then to see it smoothly on a monitor (albiet an oan SD monitor).

If I may ask — what settings to you set the HVX200 to get the same smooth look as the Varicam in a 24p timeline? 720p60/ 720p24? 720p24N? We did tests with the first two, and the result was exactly the same (and we did not need to render in our timeline). The last we didn;t check yet.

The motion strobiness is not a difference in the picture quality — it looks like something happened to some of the frames.

[Shahriar Rahman]

As I posted elsewhere in this thread, I had no idea that there was 720p24N (native 24P) capability on this camera…thanks. I suppose this would be the best setting for our 24p project (with Varicam “native” 24p footage). Correct me if I am wrong.

But you mention “throwing away the redundant frames.” How, exactly, do I do that on footage already shot with the 720p24 setting (so therefore actually 720p60)?

[Shahriar Rahman]

We had the cameraman do a test for us: he shot two hand-held pan shots with the HVX200, one in 720p60 and the other in 720p24. In both cases, the clips were imported into the FCP 5.0 project and showed up in the 24p timeline as 720p24 (the compressor on both was of course 720p60).

The shot characteristics between the two clips were exactly the same; ie: slightly choppy movement in contrasty areas when panning.

So if the camera shoots 720p60 when it is actually set to shoot 720p24, does this mean that there is no difference between the two settings as far as output is concerned? (I understand that the only difference is that some 60p frames a “flagged” for 24fps when shooting in 24p.) If true, this would mean, by extension, that FCP did 2:3:3:2 pulldown on both clips, since I had it set in my FCP preferences to do 2:3:3:2 pulldown whnever possible. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Someone else in this thread asked me if the footage was shot in 720p24N (native) as opposed to 720p24. The former, I would assume, would result in smoother movement, since there are no throw-away frames. Am I correct? Had I known that such a setting exists on the HVX200, I would have asked the cameraman to do a test with that as well.

Please let me know if 720p24N is the best option. Thank you.

[Shahriar Rahman]

Thanks for clearing those issues up for me, Shane!

[Shahriar Rahman]

Shane;

There is one thing I don’t understand…why do you say it is not a camera setting issue? I have never used the HVX200 personally but as far as I know it allows you to shoot 720p60 (which gets pulldowned to 23.98 in fcp). Wasn’t this the proper setting instead of the 1080i60 (29.97fps)?

If I understand it correctly, the 2:3:3:2 pulldown allows fcp to convert the 60 progressive frames into 24 (actually 23.98) frames, using a technology that Panasonic and Apple developed together. What would be the pros/cons of shooting 720p24 directly with the HVX200 (is this possible)? Can the Varicam shoot 720p24? If it can shoot “true” 24p wouldn’t this be the best setting for a film (instead of pulldowned 23.98)?

I know I am barraging you with a lot of questions, but the other sources on the internet are so confusing. Besides, I like to get my answers directly from a human being, not from something that was typed up by someone who doesn’t know what I need.

I appreciate your time.

[Shahriar Rahman]

I posted my question separately in this forum, but it sounds like in your response that you may know what my best option should be. I am editing a short film shot on Varicam in a 23.98 timeline. The specs for the clips (captured from an aj-1200 deck) in my timeline is listed as being compressed with DVCPRO HD 720p60 codec, at 960X720 and 23.98 fps – the usual. The director got pick-up shots using HVX200. Even though the cameraman was told to shoot 24p, the pickup shot clips (after being rendered in the 24p timeline) show up as being compressed using DVPPRO HD 1080i60 codec at 1280X1080 and 29.97fps.

Should I assume from this that the cameraman made a mistake in his settings?
DId I have any other options when importing them using the Import P2 feature?
What is the best way to deal with the 1080i60 footage? Is there any way I can convert them so they play smooth in my 24p timeline?

Your advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Shahriar Rahman]

Now I was going to do the test — thank you John for educating me!

[Shahriar Rahman]

I used to do this, and I know many people who output this way regularly. However, I had two concerns about playing from the timeline when outputting:

1) I thought that just playing from the timeline may increase the chance of a frame dropping. Print to video renders it in memory and it makes the system “primed” for outputting to ensure no dropped frames. Am I incorrect? Is there really no difference?

2) Now that we have the Decklink HD card installed, I do not get our Sony DSR-25 deck to recognise the video int he timeline over firewire, even after I make sure that the Video and Audio playback are set to Firewire NTSC DV in the AUdio/Video settings.

Any comments/suggestions?

-shah

[Shahriar Rahman]

Thanks, Walter, for your input. I did some web searches and found your very informative article written in September 2003 on the Cinewave with FCP 3.

I guess the latest version of the Cinewave is 4.7. I see that I can get that from eBay for $3600. Here’s my question (I haven’t seen the spec list that carefully yet): we have the Decklink HD Pro card, but the Cinewave, in addition to its hardware acceleration, is also an HD capture card. Do you by any chance know of any significant differences between the capture/output feature set between the two? We can easily return the Decklink and invest in the Cinewave instead. Also, do you know if the Cinewave 4.7 is supported by 10.4 Tiger?

One more thing: any thoughts on the post earlier in this thread of the Motion 2 PrimatteRT chroma-key filter under FCP 5 which is supposed to be software-accelerated real time?

I know I am asking alot, but your advice is truly appreciated by all of us.

[Shahriar Rahman]

I will definitely look into the FCP 5 and Motion 2 upgrade. I suppose the PrimatteRT filter is included in the package. Thanks again for your advice.

-shah