HD to SD downconversion for the best quality

Looking for the best results between these two methods and formats when going from HDV to SD. Assume the footage is already imported. My worst result is always a lack of sharpness of the down-converted image. I guess that is to be expected considering I've got half the pixels I started with.

Method #1- Create a DV (non -anamorphic) sequence. Edit the HD footage into this timeline. Result is a combined letterbox/pillarbox image which sizes well into a 4 x 3 TV. I see a lot of this on TV. User must use the ZOOM control on their 16 x 9 TV to fill the screen top and bottom.

Method #2- Create a DV anamorphic sequence. Edit in as above. Difference is, user selects "Full" on the TV instead of ZOOM to fill the screen. I would think that this method would yield more vertical resolution. Same as when shooting SD anamorphic vs letterbox?

I realize there are other options such as using Pro Res or editing in native HDV etc... and I'm all ears. I was curious however about other editors experience between the above.

Forget DV. That is the worse SD format next to VHS. Just plain bad. DV50...try that.

Now...why do you want SD? What is the reason for going SD? Because the BEST way is to edit HD, and then output via a capture card to SD when you go to tape...or DVD.


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Ok, you've got my interest. SD-DVD (not tape) is the format I need to deliver. My capture card is a cheapo Black Magic Intensity PRO. I don't see how a capture card output makes it way to DVD


With regard to the DV50, wouldn't you still select anamorphic over letterbox? or...

He's saying, there was no point in you putting the HDV clip into a DV sequence. The only reason you'd want to put the HD into an SD sequence is if you need to output to tape, and you apparently don't.

I would capture as ProRes, edit in ProRes, export in ProRes. Then use Compressor to make the ProRes HD movie file straight into an anamorphic 16:9 MPEG-2. The DV step is useless, and serves only to make your image quality a lot worse.


www.derekmok.com

well, I get what your saying. So going from HD mpeg2 to I frame in Final Cut and then converting to SD mpeg2 in compressor should produce better picture quality than dropping half my pixels in final cut by the DV sequence method.

You don't need to letterbox if it's DVD. Just make sure the file and the DVD track is flagged as anamorphic in dvdsp. Use the compressor template for DVD encoding, turn on frame controls and set resizing to best.



www.strypesinpost.com

sounds like a plan.
thx

Ahhh. Well, you can downconvert from the Intensity, to a DVD recorder (which I often do). Or...take your HDV and put it into a ProRes sequence. HD ProRes, not SD. Render...then output a self contained file. Then take to Compressor to make the DVD. ZERO reason to go to SD before sending to Compressor to make the DVD>


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This I should try some time as it sounds like it could yield good results. However, if you need to "author" a disc with titles, menu's and chapter selects, then your stuck with the iDVD or DVDSP route...

DVDSP is what everyone is talking about. You just use Compressor as an intermediary step to make the file DVD ready. Or you can let DVDSP do the compression for you, depending on what your needs are. Knock up menus, encode and burn. Done.

>if you need to "author" a disc with titles, menu's and chapter selects, then your stuck with the
>iDVD or DVDSP route...

You could demux it in mpeg streamclip, although if you have the time, I would go the compressor route for down scaling, as it uses optical flow, which beats the scaler in FCP.



www.strypesinpost.com

Not to hijack the thread, but what if the original is DV Anamorphic going to DVD? I've always nested that in a letterbox sequence. Is the anamorphic flag in DVD reliable across most players today? I would love to recomend FULL rather than ZOOM... but I tried it once a few years ago in iDVD and got complaints of unstretched anamorphic. DVDSP seemed overkill for quick client R&A output and iDVD started supporting 16 X 9 DVD, so I used it. But didn't work for me three years ago.

- Loren

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DVDSP is reliable, in my experience, for anamorphic DV. It displays correctly on both 4:3 and 16:9 TVs.

About capturing in Pro Res, do you know of a quick link to that procedure for HDV? I've never set up a tape capture to Pro Res. Always used the native format of whatever I shot with, then created a Pro Res sequence to drop it into.

Had the same issues with iDVD ver 2008. Had some success by opening the movie inspector drop down window in Quicktime 7 and seeing what QT thought the aspect was after export from FC. Manually setting the aspect to 856 x 486 usually worked but wasted a lot of time burning coasters as well. iDVD 2011 is out now but I haven't test it yet.

DM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About capturing in Pro Res, do you know of a quick
> link to that procedure for HDV? I've never set up
> a tape capture to Pro Res. Always used the native
> format of whatever I shot with, then created a Pro
> Res sequence to drop it into.

Maybe this would help ?

[library.creativecow.net]

Mike

Mike Hardcastle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DM Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > About capturing in Pro Res, do you know of a
> quick
> > link to that procedure for HDV? I've never set
> up
> > a tape capture to Pro Res. Always used the
> native
> > format of whatever I shot with, then created a
> Pro
> > Res sequence to drop it into.
>
> Maybe this would help ?
>
> [library.creativecow.net]
> ris/hdv-prores.php
>
> Mike

I'd recommend looking at the "Working with HDV" chapter in the "Final Cut Pro 7 Professional Formats and Workflows" manual if you're using FCP 7 (similar instructions probably exist in the manual for FCP 6 / FCS 2).


-Dave