Cutting EX with DV footage?

[Granville]

I am recording a dance recital and will be cutting footage with 2 smaller DV cams and I am wondering about the considerations that I should make that will help the editing (FCP) process as smooth as possible. I was thinking that I would shoot in 720 60p for optimal capture of movement and then down res to edit.

Any experience/ feedback?

[MitchLewis]

I would recommend using the XDCAM EX Clip Browser. You can then simply select a clip (or clips) and then choose File>Export>Raw DV. You can then choose whether you want the footage letterboxed, center cut or anamorphic. It looks pretty darn good the few times I've used it.

I always shoot 1080 30p, so I can't advise you if other formats would work better. But I seem to remember 720 60p being the best for down converting to DV.

[sadude]

hay Mitch, how long round about will the ex1 export to SD take? And do you have any suggestions for storage media or will a dvd suffice at this stage with downconverted SD footage. Thx

[Jacob Nielsen]

Converting DV files from Clip Browser will take a little longer than just converting to mxf. But it does a very good job IMHO with downscaling in contrary to most NLE's. The best solution however (if on PC) will be to frameserve your HD track into something like Virtual Dub and run it through it's resize filter. Here you can choose which scaling algorithms to use - I always use lanczos for the sharpest results. This solution is somewhat complicated but is superior to anything else I have tried.

Jacob

[sadude]

Converting DV files from Clip Browser will take a little longer than just converting to mxf. But it does a very good job IMHO with downscaling in contrary to most NLE's. The best solution however (if on PC) will be to frameserve your HD track into something like Virtual Dub and run it through it's resize filter. Here you can choose which scaling algorithms to use - I always use lanczos for the sharpest results. This solution is somewhat complicated but is superior to anything else I have tried.

Jacob

thx Jacob,

Is this software all part of the software that comes with the ex1 or is it extra add on software?

[MitchLewis]

Clip Browser comes with the camera (or you can download it for free from Sony's website). Virtual Dub is third-party software that looks to be PC only.

[sadude]

can i shoot 4:3 on the ex1 or must i use something like vitual dub and then just remember to use safety 4:3 edges when i am shooting? thx for your answers all.