"When to stay in the native codec of the source, and when to convert to something else."
by Philip Hodgetts
Good article by Philip Hodgetts over at kenstone.net. A pretty thorough run-thru of recommendations of what codec to edit in based on what codec you shoot on. Also talks about how to convert to other codecs using the batch export command.
I wonder about his recommendation to convert HDV to ProRes 422 though. The article says to convert HDV to ProRes 422 either during capture if you'd got the hardware or by converting in FCP after capture. I would probably edit in the native codec, but render to ProRes 422. I've never been through the lengthy conforming that he describes HDV requires when you master back to HDV. Then again, I've never even posted in HD. But my thinking is that I'd rather save the storage by keeping footage in the more compressed HDV codec. (HDV is 25 mb/s while ProRes 422 for 1080 footage goes from 140 mb/s up to 220 mb/s.)
The article doesn't mention a workflow that we use at Link TV. Shoot on HDV, but use the deck to down-convert to DV. I think Sony's gear does a really good job on the down-conversion. I think it's better than what FCP does. I've captured some footage at HDV and then scaled it down in FCP to standard-def, and I don't think it looks as good as HDV down-converted in the deck. The article also covers the problems with DV in respect to color space.
[via StudioDaily Blog]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I am puzzled by this process, too. I met one person who does convert her HD footage to ProRes when she edits it. But if I'm remembering correctly, it requires more storage space than just editing in HD. Is it a good way to go? I have some footage in HD that would like to finish in HD for the future. But for the meantime, I'm down-converting everything to SD for editing.
As I see it you basically have 3 options if you shoot in 1080i:
1) Downconvert on capture. If you are sure, you are never going to do anything in HD with this project, then this is probably the way to go because the workflow is very simple and straight-forward. But if you even think that you may want to distribute in HD, then I recommend capturing your footage in HD not to DV.
2) Leave footage in the native HDV codec while capturing. Like DV, you aren't losing anything by leaving the footage in HDV. However, HDV is much harder for FCP to handle than DV and codecs like AIC or ProRes 422. So a downside with HDV is that you may find FCP chugging slowly along if you cut with HDV footage.
3) If you have FCP 6, transcode to ProRes 422 or AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec). Apple recommends this. FCP should be zippier working with these codecs than working with native HDV. A drawback is that your media will take up a lot more space on your hard drive, up to nearly 900% more space for the highest quality ProRes 422.
I'd recommend trying capturing a few clips in HDV on your system, and start playing around with it on the timeline. If you don't have a problem with the performance of your system, then HDV may be right for you. If you are doing lots of effects or compositing, be sure to try that out too--that's where things are really going to slow down with HDV.
Check this article out about transcoding HDV to ProRes
"Really? Capture HDV to ProRes in FCP? Over FireWire?! Yes!"
Caveat: if you shot in 24p, then the answer gets much more complex.
Post a Comment