Capture / Export Procedures for best quality Video

R

ruolez

Member
Hello DVX experts!

I am working with a DVX100B Camera and I shoot in Squeeze / 24PA / Shutter speed 1/48. I use Final Cut Pro 6 and so far was unable to get a good quality video. I know this isn't a lighting issue since the footage I am trying this on was shot during the day light and it looks very good on the camera itself.

Could someone please tell me what is the proper way of Capturing this type of vide in Final Cut and what settings to use when Exporting to get the best results?

Thank you in advance!
 
Where are you watching the captured video that you don't think it is the quality you expect?

Your capture and sequence settings should be DV NTSC 48kHz. Because you are shooting in 24pA, your capture should be set to 29.97 with the 2:3:3:2 Advanced Pulldown Removal, and your sequence should be set to 23.976 (23.98).

Aside from that, don't expect QuickTime Player on your computer's desktop to show decent results. And FCP's playback is only a proxy on your computer. You need to have an external production monitor, which means connecting your FireWire DV deck's composite out to such a monitor.
 
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Also, the other day I captured 24pA footage and for some reason, the quicktime file in the capture scratch looks and sounds normal and in sync but when I put it into FCP 6, it is way out of sync. It starts off like 2-3 seconds off, but in the end of the 50 min clip, it is like 9 minutes off. There is actually a 10 min gap of black screen where the audio plays at a normal speed, but the video had stopped at its end. It is doing this in the bin, not just the sequence. Help?
 
andythefilmer said:
Also, the other day I captured 24pA footage and for some reason, the quicktime file in the capture scratch looks and sounds normal and in sync but when I put it into FCP 6, it is way out of sync. It starts off like 2-3 seconds off, but in the end of the 50 min clip, it is like 9 minutes off. There is actually a 10 min gap of black screen where the audio plays at a normal speed, but the video had stopped at its end. It is doing this in the bin, not just the sequence. Help?
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Well, aside from hijacking this thread, did you try dumping the file, trashing FCP prefs, relaunching, and recapturing?
 
C2V said:
Well, aside from hijacking this thread, did you try dumping the file, trashing FCP prefs, relaunching, and recapturing?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Try that.

I suggest trying to keep an alternate NLE program around for pinches.
Last week my Premier CS3 just would not recognize my Sony capture deck - but all worked fine when I launched my old VEGAS 7 to capture.
Now this week PP CS3 is working fine. I didn't change a thing. ...sheesh...software...

ruolez: are you removing the pull-down in FCP? I understand this is a needed step. (I've never done the Capture step in FCP).
 
I capture the video using DV NTSC 48KHz Advanced Pulldown 2:3:3:2 Option. Then When I drag a clip to my FCP Timeline, it asks me to change the settings, so I click "yes".

I am viewing the clip using Quicktime on my laptop, so that could be the problem as well. and in Final Cut the video doesn't look that sharp and I can see picture noise.
 
ruolez said:
I capture the video using DV NTSC 48KHz Advanced Pulldown 2:3:3:2 Option. Then When I drag a clip to my FCP Timeline, it asks me to change the settings, so I click "yes".
Click to expand...

If it's asking you to change the sequence settings, something is amiss. Make sure that your sequence is set to DV NTSC 48kHz with a 23.976 frame rate. And also note that simply changing the sequence settings in your preference menus will not affect any sequence that was already created. You have to create a new sequence once you change the settings.

ruolez said:
I am viewing the clip using Quicktime on my laptop, so that could be the problem as well. and in Final Cut the video doesn't look that sharp and I can see picture noise.
Click to expand...

Never trust QT Player to judge the quality of your video.

As for the "picture noise," can you possibly export some still frames and post them for us to see? That'll give us a better idea of what you're trying to fix.
 
I checked Sequence Settings and they were already set to DV NTSC 48kHz and the framerate was set to 23.976.

I uploaded the video I exported to VIMEO and will post the link once the video is processed.

BTW, Which settings do I use for exporting the video from FCP in order to get best results?
 
I looked at the video. I'm not sure if it was the compression doing this, but I couldn't see much that looked too bad on that at all. Now, it did come out 4:3, and if you are shooting in squeeze you want it to be at 16:9 when you upload it. Other than that, I'm not sure what your concern is.

As for export settings, just send it out of FCP as a self-contained FCP movie at it's current settings. This will create a full-frame DV movie, at 4:3 squeeze. Then, open Compressor and drop the exported movie in and compress it from there for Vimeo, or for DVD.

For Vimeo, set it to h.264 at a data rate limit of 6000kbps. Set audio at AAC compression, 44.1kHz stereo at 128kbps. To "unsqueeze" the image, set your frame dimensions to 854x480.
 
I am not sure how to export a "Self-Contained FCP movie". When I go to File -> Export, I have 3 options:

QuickTime movie, Using Compressor, Using QuickTime Conversion. Which one do I choose and with what settings?

Also in the movie, the Reds are very pixilated, especially if you look at the kid's shorts. Are those camera settings I need to play with?

Thanks a lot C2V!!!
 
Export>QuickTime Movie
Setting: Current Settings
Include: Audio and Video
Select "Make Movie Self-Contained"

As for the pixellated reds, it's hard to tell since the compression used either/both by you and Vimeo made everything pretty pixellated in spots.
 
andythefilmer said:
Also, the other day I captured 24pA footage and for some reason, the quicktime file in the capture scratch looks and sounds normal and in sync but when I put it into FCP 6, it is way out of sync. It starts off like 2-3 seconds off, but in the end of the 50 min clip, it is like 9 minutes off. There is actually a 10 min gap of black screen where the audio plays at a normal speed, but the video had stopped at its end. It is doing this in the bin, not just the sequence. Help?
Click to expand...


It's a glitch/bug where FCP thinks the 23.98 footage is at 29.97 and attempts to replay it as such. The quick and simple solution is to fire up cinema tools and and conform the footage to 23.98, even though cinema tools already says the footage is at 23.98. It just "reminds" FCP that it is 23.98 and not 29.97.
 
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