converting HDV to DVCPRO

[jenningsp]

hello,

i'm thinking of getting a HDV camera - the canon HV20 - it shoots 1080 25p PAL (i think it puts the 25p within 50i )
my computer can't handle the HDV codec but does DVC just fine.

i was wondering which would be better, converting HDV to 720 25p DVCPRO or 1080 50i ??????

would i lose much of the quality? would i get more artifacts?

thanks

[Barry_Green]

You're going to be converting to something no matter what -- if your computer can't handle HDV you'd have to shift to an editing codec. On FCP you can use AIC or DVCPRO-HD, on Avid you can use whatever that thing's called, DNXhD or whatever, on Premiere and Vegas you can use CineForm, etc.

Recoding to any codec is going to involve a tad of compression-induced quality loss/artifacting. CineForm might be the gentlest of the codecs to recompress to. But if you're on the Mac, DVCPRO-HD absolutely rocks, it's sooooo fast.

[Bofor]

Hi,
What software on mac do you use to convert from HDV to DVCPRO HD?
I'd try Compressor but it was very slow on my G5 2.5ghz 2.5g memory. Have you a better solution?

Jacques

[David Saraceno]

If you are converting HDV to DVCProHD footage progressive, and do it correctly in Compressor, it will take a long time.

[mcgeedigital]

For best quality I'd recommend the Sheer codec, which what I use to archive my final quicktimes.

http://www.bitjazz.com/en/products/sheervideo/

[Bofor]

I have 200gig of HDV to convert in DVCPRO HD progressive for editing and compositing. It will take a week 24/24 and probably more.

Ok! If it's the best way to do, i'll take some days to skiing and let my G5 working.

That's the positive side !

Thanks to lighting the way !

[janusz]

You're going to be converting to something no matter what -- if your computer can't handle HDV you'd have to shift to an editing codec. On FCP you can use AIC or DVCPRO-HD, on Avid you can use whatever that thing's called, DNXhD or whatever, on Premiere and Vegas you can use CineForm, etc.

Recoding to any codec is going to involve a tad of compression-induced quality loss/artifacting. CineForm might be the gentlest of the codecs to recompress to. But if you're on the Mac, DVCPRO-HD absolutely rocks, it's sooooo fast.

Comparing HDV to AIC, which format holds up better to CC (comparing cutting AIC or native HDV), especially when it comes to the blacks. Is AIC more proned to banding/artefacting than HDV?

Thanks.

[BenB]

Comparing HDV to AIC, which format holds up better to CC (comparing cutting AIC or native HDV), especially when it comes to the blacks. Is AIC more proned to banding/artefacting than HDV?

AIC will work just like native HDV, the only difference is AIC is all I-Frames. As for how it holds up, they are identical.

[Bofor]

AIC will work just like native HDV, the only difference is AIC is all I-Frames. As for how it holds up, they are identical.

If I well understood BenB, AIC is all in MPEG2 and 4:2:0 color space. Is'n it?

[BenB]

I never said it was all MPEG-2. It's not. MPEG-2 is a LONG GOP format, meaning the computer has to read every 12 or 15 frames or so to do anything to any single frame.

AIC converts the HDV (EDITED: it's "HDV", not "HVX" which I type way more often than "HDV") MPEG-2 Long GOP Interframe to an all I-Frame Intraframe format. It was written specifically for standard HDV and has the same color space. This also means that the couple of HDV cams on the market that use proprietory HDV formats may not capture with the AIC codec. I've not tested it that much.

So in theory, editing native HDV would not hold up to as much processing as editing with AIC. You're footage, "if" you could see a difference, would hold up to CC'ing and compositing better with AIC than naive HDV. But I've yet to find anyone who can "honestly" see a difference between the two formats for editing in the final product.

Now, because AIC is Intraframe, it also make larger capture files. If drive space isn't an issue for you (with prices these days, drive space is cheaper than it's ever been) fine. If you're on a budget and have limited drive space, you may have to suffer native HDV editing.

[ozduc]

AIC converts the HVX MPEG-2 Long GOP Interframe to an all I-Frame Intraframe format.

Huh?:huh:

[BenB]

Huh?:huh:

AIC converts the HDV (EDITED: it's "HDV", not "HVX" which I type way more often than "HDV") MPEG-2 Long GOP Interframe to an all I-Frame Intraframe format.

[KyleProhaska]

What he means is after converting to AIC, you'll only have to read 1 frame instead of 12 or 15. The HVX records using I-frame format meaning all the frames are whole and each frame is a seperate entity.

- Kyle

[jenningsp]

all right. after some thinking and testing i have more questions

with true HDV 1080p25 in a 1080i50 stream, what is the best way to convert this to DVCPRO 720p25?

i am on a mac and have compressor and FCP5.

right now i just drag the HDV file into compressor and select DVCPRO 720p24 and change the frame rate to 25fps. then render it. that's it.

does compressor try to de-interlace the 50i signal at all? because it's already progressive... so am i loosing quality this way? what is the best way to convert the footage?

[BenB]

What you're doing with Comporessor is about right to go from 1050p25 to 720p25, your quality should be good.

[GlimmerGhost]

hey, dumb question (i'm new to hdv), but if you convert HDV to DVCPRO then is it possible to remove the pulldown in FCP?