OT: The upres shoot-out

Hey all

So the merits and shortcomings of Instant HD, compressor, etc have been debated ad-nauseum in the forum. What I am wondering is comparing hardware based upres techniques...

My feature length doc was just accepted to premiere at SXSW this year, and I've got to deliver an HDCAM tape. The film was shot letterboxed DV. I've talked to a couple of post houses and there seem to be three possibilities, along with three costs:

1) Terranex. Seems complicated. Pricey. Worth it compared to....

2) The HDcam deck built-in upconvertor. The guy at one post house says this is great. Two options:
a) give him an SD quicktime with the graphics burnt in, which he up converts
b) give him an SD quicktime of the show without graphics, and have him insert-edit HD versions of the graphics in order to not upres things that don't need to be upressed.

3) Software-based up conversion.

Does anyone have experience comparing the software vs. the deck vs. the terranex on the big screen? How much of a difference am I gonna see? Enough to warrant the pain in the ass and additional expense?

Thanks everyone!

greg

Greg,

Please begin posts not directly FCP-related with "OT:" (off-topic).

Thanks

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

will do joey!

If you can afford it the Terranex cannot be beat by software upconversion.

Noah

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Noah -
Thanks for the response. I know the terranex beats out the software stuff, but how does it compare to the hdcam deck upconvert? Any idea?
Thanks!
greg

Terranex rules.

In any case, assuming that you make some sales, you will need a top quality version to get through QC at any TV station.

I have had two software versions turned down by QC.

Best

Harry

How does Terranex compare to HDCAM internal? It is better. It is the best way to do this. Second best would be Kona 3 and the deck option. Software is the LAST resort.

Question though. How can you output your show WITHOUT graphics to tape, and then making the graphics High Res, now insert those? You can't. You'd have to upres the footage, then recapture that HD version, add the graphics, then reoutput. Better quality graphics than straight DV upconvert, but then you have a couple generational losses on the tape side.


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>>The guy at one post house says this is great<<

I would press apon this guy to give me a 30 second example from my footage. Then you could see for yourself if this was a worthwhile option.

If you use the Terranex, you'll be sure of the results, though.

When the real world went from standard- to high-definition back in nineteen-dickety-two, the Lord God Almighty Himself used a Teranex to do the upconversion of reality.

What about that Topaz Lab stuff? Software, yes, but withj no bucks and plenty of time and cheap storage....

Eh?

- Loren
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