Mixing HDCAM & DVCProHD on a docu.

[stephen_nugent]

Hi all,

I got hired to work on a documentary which is almost financing my hvx :happy: . Along with the cam i'll be adding a couple of 8gb p2's and a P2 store, as i figured this would be a modest but sensible setup for a docu workflow.

Thing is, the main camera on location will be the Sony HDW-750 shooting 1080x1920 progressive to mainly focus on interviews amongst other things and i'll be on the HVX for certain 'dramatic' sequences. Director doesnt mind and actually promotes a different look between the two cameras. Intents to sell the finished product on the UK TV market (didnt specify an end format as its not sold yet).

The documentary will be edited on FCP. I intend to overcrank the camera in certain sequences but not exclusively.

So, should i shoot 720pN for the variable frame rates, maybe also shoot 1080/25p if card space allows (though with 56gb on the P2 store i'm already pushing it)? Read on the forums that then i could uprez the 720 footage in compressor (with a certain quality loss) for a 1080 timeline, correct me if i'm wrong.

Then what happens with mixing and matching the Sony HDCAM footage with 720pN and/or 1080/25p? I'd also like to try and make the editor's life a little less unpleasant..

Any comments/suggestions much appreciated..

Stephen.

[stephen_nugent]

Any thoughts on the above?

[Disco Robo]

It doesn't matter one way or another what you shoot as far as the editor is concerned. If she has an Avid it will be easy if she is using FCP/Adobe it will suck. 1080p Sony is as different from 1080p Panny as 720p Panny is. I'd just take advantage of the space that 720pn affords. If this is ultimately slated for television I presonally wouldn't waste the space and shoot 1080.

[stephen_nugent]

thanks disco robo.

So taking your advice to shoot DVCProHD 720pn, how will the editor deal with cutting the footage with the Sony HDCAM 1080p in Final Cut 5.1.2? - The editor happens to be the director so i will have to advice him. What steps should he be taking in this case?

[Disco Robo]

Since the HDCAM footage needs to be imported via a box(aja,black magic, etc) I'd do the same with the Panny footage. It won't be as fast as importing straight from P2 but it will save a lot of time in the editing suite down the road not having mixed media, especially at HD resolution. Make sure you use the same encoder settings for both cams and you should be cool. You'll probably want to do this offline as "uncompressed" HDCAM streams are huge.