HD Cam submission

A project I am finishing was shot in DV 4:3 (29.97 frame rate). One festival requires that all submissions must be sent in HD Cam (HD 1080) and in non anamorphic format. They allow me to submit using 60i, 59.94, 24p, 23.98p, 50i and 25p frame rates. Audio must be LT/RT. They are also asking me about the screen ratio format: 4:3, 16:9, 16:9 letterbox, 16:9 full height anamorphic, 16:9 pillarboxed to 4:3 are just some of the options.

1. Does it matter which frame rate I convert to?
2. Which screen ratio do I choose? If they are askimg me to submit in HD nonanamorphic only, then shouldn't an upres to 4:3 for HD be ok, or do I need to convert to 16:9?
3. Is an HD upres something I can do myself with my G4? If not, what can I do to prepare a timeline with the correct screen ratio so that I need to spend less time with a post house mastering this?

Output to DV,
take the tape to a dub house and have them do the transfer.
(Unless you have a HDCam deck floating about?)

wish i could answer the frame rate Q.
seems weird they don't accept 29.97.
59.94 is closest,
but someone else will know.


nick

We recently had a documentary that played in the Tribeca Film Festival. They had similar delivery requirements. Here's my advice for you.

Finish on HD. That is, put all of your DV material into an HD 1080 timeline and do your final color correction/ grfx, etc. there. In our case, since the original material was shot 4X3, we chose to "pilar box" the image rather than blow it up for 16 X 9. This gives you the advantage of being able to "downconvert" to an SD master simply by "center punching" from the HD media. It's quick and doesn't require any pan and scanning. (Hint: Don't change the frame rate from your original 29.97)

Any other solution will degrade the original image and you may not be happy with the results.

This workflow can be done on your G4, but you better find someone who knows what they're doing to help guide you through.

Good luck.

mark

Nick,

In HD land, 59.94 is the equivelent to 29.97.

mark

Thanks for the advice. Would there be a huge issue if I chose 24p instead of 59.94? Reason I ask, another festival down the line mentions they prefer 24p or 48p if the film was not shot in 16, 35 or 70mm.

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Mark
Nick,
In HD land, 59.94 is the equivelent to 29.97.

ah! (sound of lights turning on...)
thanks Mark, i'll remember that.

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jd
Would there be a huge issue if I chose 24p instead of 59.94?...

i don't think the "drop it in an HD timeline" trick will work too good if you're trying to do a frame-rate conversion.
again someone who knows more will answer, i hope

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jd
another festival down the line mentions they prefer 24p or 48p if the film was not shot in 16, 35 or 70mm.

but didnt you say you'd shot DV???


nick

I personally would not try (unless absolutely needed) to convert from 29.97 to 23.98 if the material originated at 29.97. Going from 23.98 to 29.97 is a breeze, but going from 29.97 camera capture down to 23.98 will remove vital fields of information and will result in motion artifacts. Its only a good idea to convert from 29.97 to 23.98 if the footage started at 23.98, had a pulldown applied to convert to 29.97. Then if you convert back to 23.98- you're simply recovering the original frames- and nothing is being lost.

BTW- common issues with HD expressions- 60i is shorthand for 59.94i (MOST of the time). Both of these are field rates, not frame rates (which is double the frame rate). So usually when you see 60i- it refers to 29.97. What a strange world we live in.

Hope this helps.

Andrew Balis
Lead Final Cut Pro Instructor
www.moviola.com

Thank you for your response. I really liked your CC video, by the way, it helped me a lot!