720p30 Compressor in FCP

M

_MR_

Active member
We should be getting the JVC HD101 (PAL) either today (friday) or monday - depends on the delivery service.

I also had a play with a pre-production model yesterday - recorded some footage in 30p, sucked it in to FCP5 using the HDV 720p30 codec/compressor, the camera then left and I realised I didn't record any 25p footage to experiment with! Dumb is me.

But even if I had recorded 25p footage...would I still use the HDV 720p30 codec? It's not like I'm restricted to just work with just 30fps - go into the sequence settings and you can choose from the likes of 24, 25, 30, etc, fps.

So what is the HDV 720p30 compressor actually doing? Why is it called 'p30'? Surely it's not locked at only capturing 30fps...unless it is...which is really stupid. Can't seem to find ANY information about what the damn thing is doing to my footage. What's it doing in the Long GOP department for instance?

Any help?

Cheers
matt
 
Sorry, I know less than you, but what was the camera like? You are the first person I have heard of who has recorded anything to tape...please tell more!
 
uh-huh... I just have to wait a few more days to know myself, but I can't wait to hear the first reactions...
 
We only had the pre-production camera for a short while - an HD100. As far as I could tell all the menu settings were operational. Loved the fact you could alter master black, knee settings, skin detail, etc. You could also select different frame rates from 24p, 25p, 30p - but we were advised to shoot in 30p to make sure we could indeed suck it in.

This model had a lot of noise in the picture - the camera guy from our company said not too dissimilar to 500T film. I've heard from the Rep though that the images on the released cameras are superb.

Camera plugged into FCP no worries at all, had full VTR control over the camera and captured in as per normal.

Most of the footage we shot had Smooth Motion turned on - not sure if they've changed it in the production model...but I didn't like it. To be honest it looked more film-like with the effect turned off! From my eyes it is definately adding the extra in-between frame it doesn't naturally record as a slightly blurred and less opaque layer over the top. It looked to me like the effect you can do by taking interlaced footage - separating your fields and adding them together in the same way - people call that film like, but quite frankly, to me it looks like poo.

As I said, didn't have a chance to record at different frame rates - which is fun because I'm taking part in an interview on Monday (with some others) in regards to HDV etc. However, after the camera left us it did go to another company which builds post computings systems, etc, so I hope they've given it a good thrashing :)
 
The production models landed in Aussie sometime in the middle of the week (a couple hundred in all as far as I know). All of those ones have been shipped out to their respective first order clients in Australia, and ours was on a plane (to NZ) soon after. Didn't arrive friday...so unless there are any hitches it should be in my greesy little hands on Monday.
 
Thanks a lot MR, please keep us informed about the production model, I am not going to have the chance to check one out for a week or three. I hope it isn't too noisy...! Also any thoughts on the ProHD compression?

_MR_ said:
Most of the footage we shot had Smooth Motion turned on - not sure if they've changed it in the production model...but I didn't like it. To be honest it looked more film-like with the effect turned off!
Click to expand...

Isn't the smooth motion supposed to emulate the 60i or 60p motion of video more than film. I think it is deliberately supposed to look less "filmic."
 
Well the word from the techs in Aussie is that the pictures are supurb. The noise I mentioned was from a known to be noisy component (I can't remember exactly what, so I wont even guess).

And I'm sure I read that smooth motion was supposed to emulate the "film look." I really do hope that they've sorted it out in the production model - at 30p and with "wobbily cam" the effect was too much. The eyes were a major issue because it's nice to have nice sharp, clear eyes, and when the camera was not stable enough the eyes got the inbetween frame smudged over the top of them - it was like a weird temperal effect. But with it turned off it was sweet.
 
Codec News:

Both Apple and Blackmagic are working away on updates so that this camera can be captured properly. While no official date has been given, it will take a couple of weeks before we probably see anything.

Sit back, sip your coco, and relax for a while.
 
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