Boring Questions That Have Been Asked Before.

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BlueLaw

Member
Hi,

I am new to the Panasonic DVX100B (Pal Version) and I’m going to have to be like everyone else and ask about settings in FCP!

Being PAL, the camera only records in 25P and 50i. I will pretty much only ever be shooting in 25P squeeze mode.

The issue I’m having is that when I watch my footage in the Batch Capture window it looks good (smooth, clear etc) but when I capture it, put it in the timeline and then watch it in the sequence viewer the quality is no good anymore. Any lines are jagged and scratchy looking and the image is no longer smooth and sharp.

Here are my settings:

Frame Size: 720 x 576 Pixels
Editing Timebase: 25 fps
Field Dominace: none
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Pal – CCIR 601
Anampophic 16:9: On
Video Processing: YUV allowed (8 Bit)
White Point: White

Compressor: DV – Pal
Millions of Colours (24 Bit)
No Data Rate Limit
No Keyframes Set
Quality: 100

I’m sure the answer is in changing these settings because as I say when I watch the footage in Batch Capture it’s fine. Sorry if this has all been done before but as a PAL user I can’t find PAL answers in an NTSC world. – deep.

X
 
This is (in 999 out of 1000 times) a monitoring issue.

You're supposed to work on a PAL TV monitor to get an accurate image. What you see on your computer screen is a proxy, and will always be (a low rez-non precise) proxy.

Have you tried to play aout to a TV (from FCP through your camera)?

If that looks good, you're fine. And hey:
You just have found a more accurate way to monitor your images -;)

Cheers.

Gunleik
 
but....but...

but....but...

I'm using an Imac G5.

I want to be able to capture the footage and export as Quicktime in a qualitiy high enough to show in a cinema or (more likely) write to DVD.

Are you saying that the quality in the sequence viewer is the Proxy and therefore is low?

- Does that mean my export settings are wrong?

I'd really like to know what the best settings are for capturing and exporting 25P footage.

:zombie_smiley:
 
I see what you're after.

To drag in the cinema aspect (printing to 35 mm?) is good, but I cannot really answer the best settings. You'll have to ask the shop where you plan to do that. Just remember that film is more often 24p (this is very solveable).
If you plan to project digitally or make DVDs, don't worry.

The main point is that TVs/projectors and computer displays are totally different beasts alltogether, so you need to monitor on something that creates the picture in the same way as your end format. Ifit is not internet, a computer monitor is not your answer.

The image on the computer screen is a proxy (yes that means "wrong" in many instances) and the best approximation from FCP you'll get through digital cinema desktop. But that's still a proxy - and you will not be happy because the resolution of the DCD screen (your iMac) is much higher than your footage (which is 720x576 only) - and any SD TV out there...

Read the manual (not meaning to be rude here). There are tons of info in the "setting up your system" part, and on the net (creativecow.net is very good)

Your images are probably good, but you'll need to be able to read your scopes and also have a proper monitoring solution to get access to the info you want. Monitoring through your camera to a TV is going to get you much further.

Cheers! -;)

Gunleik
 
ahha!

ahha!

Ok, I think I'm finally with you.

So I could capture at the best quality possible, but the maximum quality the camera is going to record at is 720 x 576. So when I view my footage at say 200% (so it almost fills my 20 inch screen) it looks pretty shabby?

I'm seeing a lot of jagged lines still, say if I film a piece of white paper, the edge seems really pixilized.

- so the resolution of the camera is why?

Presumably when I export to a dvd the low resolution of a TV screen will make this unnoticable?

What do you think to my capture settings? They seem legit? There's no other reason I could be loosing quality is there?

- I really appreciate all your help on this one. I'm still not enjoying the camera cos it doesn't look as good as I thought it would.

Together we'll work through it.

Cheers.
 
The SD resolution is what you shot in, and what you'll get, and is as good as it ever was.

Your import settings seem fine.

There is already a lot of info on this forum on how to maximise quality on your end-product. In what instances uprez-ing the image is worthwhile and when it's not. How to prepare for best DVD output etc.

Read around a bit -;)

Watch Varicamlife, BenB and Capt Menchs answers. They're definitely in the know!

Gunleik
 
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