Archival in DigiBeta or MiniDV format?

[Anthony_Gilmore]

Quick question here. I finally have permission from the film archive for some old black and white films I will be using in a doc. They asked which format I need, DigiBeta or MiniDV. I of course have shot everything in MiniDV but I wondered if I would get more quality with DigiBeta tapes and try to capture straight from those or if I should just have them make DV copies? What do you think?

 

[Luis Caffesse]

Well, what are you mastering your doc onto, and where is it going after that?

DigiBeta is higher quality than DV (4:2:2 vs. 4:1:1 and less than half of the compression), but if you're going to master onto DV then it really isn't going to make a difference for you.

Also, can you capture DigiBeta onto your system?

 

[Anthony_Gilmore]

for now we are going to DVD for the film circuit and if picked up of course we will hopefully go to film. I guess either format at this point is ok?

 

[Luis Caffesse]

Well, if you're planning on mastering to DigiBeta then go ahead and get DigiBeta.
But if you're going to master your doc onto DV (or DVCam, or any variant of that) then I would say you'd be fine with DV dubs.

The main question to ask yourself is what is what format is your master going to be?
Secondly, if it's not much footage I wouldn't sweat it too much.