downscaling with AJHD1400/decklink studio

Hi. I'm trying to downscale some DVCPROHD 1080p29.97 (59.94i) to SD NTSC for DVD compression.

My basic workflow is:
- lay off FCP7 HD timeline to AJHD1400 via FW800/DVCPROHD 1080p29.97 (59.94i)
- send SD NTSC 29.97 from AJHD1400's SD-SDI out to Blackmagic SDI in and capture ProResHQ NTSC 29.97 using FCP7
OR
- send DVCPROHD 1080p29.97 (59.94i) from AJHD1400's HD-SDI out to Blackmagic Studio SDI in and use the card to downscale to SD
NTSC 29.97 and capture ProResHQ NTSC 29.97 using FCP7
OR
- export ProResHQ 1080p29.97 quicktime from FCP7 / import into after effects / resize to NTSC widescreen and export NTSC ProResHQ 29.97 quicktime

- Compress ProResHQ NTSC file into MPEG2 (.m2v) using Cinema Craft MP compressor plugin

All of these workflows work but I'm getting much better results using After Effects and I was under the impression the deck (AJHD1400) should have been the best at downscaling, then the card (Blackmagic Studio), and then After Effects. When I use the deck to downscale my footage comes in interlaced with the lower field being dominant. When I use the card to downscale the footage comes in interlaced with the upper field being dominant. When I use After Effects to downscale to footage stays progressive. I have a feeling that is why the After Effects footage looks so much sharper - the SD NTSC file is staying progressive.

Is there a way to capture progressive 720x480 NTSC using the deck or card?


We're viewing the DVD compression tests on a bluray player that's connected to a 46" LED HDTV. I know there's a lot of upscaling/deinterlacing/wizardy the player and TV are doing to the DVD compression, but shouldn't the deck and card downscaling still be better than the after effects version?

The project was mainly shot on a HDX900 to DVCPROHD 1080p29.97 (59.94i) which FCP7 interpretted as having the upper field as being dominant. This was sent to Apple Color and rendered out to ProResHQ which FCP7 still interpreted as having an upper field being dominant. Since our final/main deliverable was for theater projection (1920x1080p29.97) I went through the clips in the timeline and switched their field dominance to none and also switched the timeline's field dominance to none. This gave us a sharper image for our main deliverable but I'm wondering if this is causing problems for the downscaling. But, wouldn't the deck interlace the footage when it was dumped to tape?... Just thinking out loud.

All in all I'm trying to get the best downscaling possible with the tools available: FCP7, After Effects, AJHD1400, Blackmagic Studio

Any ideas?

Thanks,
2bit