Footage formats

Hi guys,

I recently got a sony EX1R, which allows me to shoot in the formats 1920, 1080, and 720. The 720 appeals to me because i can shoot in 60fps, which will allow great slow mo effects.

However im using a sony hdr fx1000 as my secondary camera, which only shoots 1080, so half the footage in the timeline will be shot in 1080 and the other half whatever i decide to shoot with on the EX1R.

Is it possible to mix 720 footage with 1080 footage on a time line?

Also if i was to create a 1920 timeline, full of 1920 footage, how would this differ quality wise on a TV, from a 720 timeline full of 720 footage?

Thanks heaps guys

The 720p footage will look slightly softer when up converted to 1080. Ideally you'll shoot in progressive for both formats.



www.strypesinpost.com

How do i convert 720p to 1080p? Is that just a matter of increasing the scale in motion?

You can do it that way- basically the default FCP behavior will scale your footage to the frame size/aspect ratio of your sequence. Alternatively, you can transcode the footage to ProRes in compressor, and set frame size to 1920x1080, and if you shot your other footage at 24p, you can conform the frame rate to 24p by setting the frame rate in the encoder settings and setting frame controls to "so clip plays at 24 fps".



www.strypesinpost.com

Oh ok, so would you reccoment i shot 720 on my EX1R?

Also you say about ProRes, is that any good? In my timeline render options its got the option of 'ProRes' or 'same as sequence' what would you guys reccomend?

Also what are the differences in quality when playing back 720 footage as opposed to 1920 footage on a TV screen?

Thanks

720 will look softer than 1080 when viewed on a full resolution display. Would I recommend shooting on two different cameras? Yes and No. You need to test this out and see if the images match. It would help if you have a good colorist. Are you planning to cut the footage back to back and you want it to look seamless?

ProRes is great. In fact, I would capture the HDV footage in as ProRes, and transcode the EX1 footage to ProRes before the edit. You have to check on the frame rate. I'm not sure if you can shoot in 24 fps on the HDV camera, and if you can remove pulldown on capture. You may have to go at 30fps.



www.strypesinpost.com

"Oh ok, so would you reccoment i shot 720 on my EX1R? "

only when you need to,
so only for your slo-mo shots.


nick

Yes im planning to have the two differnt camera type footage in the same timeline. I use my fx1000 for waterhousing footage and the ex1r when shooting from land.

In fact, I would capture the HDV footage in as ProRes, and transcode the EX1 footage to ProRes before the edit.

How do i capture the footage as ProRes? Is this just a matter of changing the 'Easy Setup'? Also how do i transcode the Ex1r footage?

I'm not sure if you can shoot in 24 fps on the HDV camera, and if you can remove pulldown on capture. You may have to go at 30fps.

I can shoot 25p on my HDV camera, as well as 1080/50i

25p is pal aka not in America. In the USA its 24p or 23.98 same thing.

If you have not shot this yet, which it seems you haven't. Take nicks advice. only shoot 720p60 for the shots that you feel that you want to be slow mo.
Sometimes i use 2 hmc's to shoot the same shot. 1 is set to 1080p24 and the other set to 720p60.

CinemaTools or Motion are good places to slow down footage. Fcp creates periodic very noticeable blurs after about -10%.
In other words..... DO NOT DO SLOWMO IN FCP UNLESS YOU ARE HELD AT GUN POINT OR YOUR LOCKED IN A BUNKER WITH ONLY FCP.

when strypes says softer, I think he meant that when you blow footage up or scale it up, you start to get a little blur. But from 720p to 1080p its not much. Maybe 3% blur.

""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

Ah. Thanks for the reminder. 24p is not the same as 23.98. We almost always mean 23.98 when we say 24p. This refers to what I said earlier about compressor.

Do a test and shoot 24p, then check to see if you can remove the pulldown on capture. If you can't, you can try the cinema tools route.

What Nick said is sound advice. But run a test to see if the colors match. It's really not as bad as mixing Sony and panasonic cameras.



www.strypesinpost.com

Just to clarify. If it is recorded at 23.976 it doesn't mean it has pulldown added. It only has pulldown if it's 23.976 over 29.97, that is recorded in a 29.97 medium.

All the best,

Tom

I googled the camera before I posted earlier (and I may have worked with that camera many years ago) and what I understood is that it is an hdv/dv camera that shoots to tape. From what I know, most Sony cameras shoot to 50 or 60 Hz, so it will add a pulldown and the website seemed to say as much regarding pulldowns. The issue is that is it even possible to remove pulldown from a temporally compressed stream when it is coming through FireWire? I would think not. The canon hdv cameras are probably the only hdv cameras that do not add a pulldown when recording to tape, but they are a little flakey with FCP.



www.strypesinpost.com

Thanks heaps for the feedback guys. Appreciate it.

However, im from Australia, so am not offered the choice of shooting at 24p? So should i just assume 25p whenever you guys say 24p?

Also im not sure what this talk about pulldown is though? Is this relevant to me?

g'day, damo

"I can shoot 25p on my HDV camera, as well as 1080/50i"

look into that.
some of the "progressive" modes on earlier cameras are not very good.
you might be better off shooting 50i and de-interlacing in post


more modern cameras have more frame rate options.

the 24 or 25 is really based on what you want to do with your film.
if it's for tv, then shoot 25,
if you are hoping for cinema release, in particular, output to film, then 24 is the way to go.

24 would also be advisable if you want to go to US DVD,
but you can always conform your finished product to 24.

yes, pulldown is irrelevant to you.
i've only got a limited understanding of it myself, as i also am in Aus.

FWIW, i've just finished working on a feature doc shot here, mainly on HDV.
shot 50i, we de-interlaced in post,
and it'll be getting a cinema release soon.
file based playback in cinemas can play 24 or 25, and probably other frame rates.



cheers,
nick

Thanks heaps Nick.

Do you have a preview or anything for your film?

Yeah i am capable of de-interlacing in the post, as my camera is a sony hdr-fx1000, and it allows me to shoot in interlaced. Do you just use the standard de-interlace filter used on final cut pro? Or is there any recomended filters or anything that do a better job?

Thanks

Hi Damo.

the film is called "Mrs Carey's Concert" and there should be a trailer for it up soon.

The best de-interlacing you can get inside FCP is from Graeme Nattress, in his "Film Effects" package:
[www.nattress.com]

on MCC, i used a combination of his Smart de-interlace, and a simple Blend Fields from Too Much Too Soon.

if you have the time, maybe do a test comparing your cameras progressive mode and de-interlacing in FCP


cheers,
nick