HMC151 to PAL in FCP ?

E

Exact

Veteran
I normally shoot for SD on SD cameras and HD on HD cameras, but a client just told me they want both, and having shot the HD on the HMC151 (1080/50i) the client now wants both Blu-ray and DVD delivered.

So, no problem I thought, I'll create a PAL sequence in FCP, drop the footage in and voila. Unfortunately, the result looks like Sh*t.

So, how are you converting your 1080/50i to PAL SD and getting it to still look good?
 
Actually, it may not really be a problem - it doesn't look too bad once burned to DVD.

However, any tips for 'best' conversions (using FCP 6/ Compressor 3) welcome.
 
I edit in HD, output to quicktime (still in ProRes LT format) and then drag the QT file into iDVD which converts it. Seems to work fine.
 
Still looking for a good solution here. I thought things were working out OK because one sequence looked OK - but I have lots of others that are just about making me cry.

The down converted sequences look very pixelated regardless of how I convert them.

I've tried :

1) Editing in HD - then taking the HD sequence and putting it on an SD timeline in FCP. Not happy with the results on any TV.

2) Editing in HD then using Compressor 3 to create an SD version ready for DVD Studio Pro. Not happy with the results on any TV.

3) Editing in HD and importing the HD sequence directly in to DVD Studio Pro and letting DSP do the resize / render. Again, not happy on any TV.

4) resize using MPEG_Streamclip - not happy

5) Using Encore CS3 with either SD or HD sequences - not happy

Any one got any really good solutions for HD to SD (for output to DVD) ???

This killing me - and I can't reshoot these sequences with an SD camera because the opportunity has gone.
 
studio1972 said:
I edit in HD, output to quicktime (still in ProRes LT format) and then drag the QT file into iDVD which converts it. Seems to work fine.
Click to expand...

OK - I tried this route too... out of desperation....

I have to say that iDVD did at least as good a job as any of the other routes - and maybe I'm being picky here - but it's still not quite as good as I was hoping for. There are still some halos of pixelated areas around people's heads (e.g. at a wedding reception) that are simply not there on the HD version.

What settings are you shooting at ? e.g. 720p/1080i etc? Maybe I need to look at different settings when shooting with SD as the final product ?
 
Well, not many replies here - but I think I found the problem - which probably applies to NTSC down sizing too. Should have thought of this earlier.

I am viewing the output on a wide screen HD TV - which is clearly uprezing the DVD footage to 1080i and magnifying all the artifacts in the DVD footage.

When I view this DVD on a 'real' SD TV there are NO PROBLEMS. Doh!
 
I suspect you are right that that is the problem. I have a "HD Ready" 37" Plasma which has 720 lines of actual pixels and I find that SD TV and DVDs look terrible when you get close up, although it's fine from a normal viewing position.

I did originally have some problems with the colour and contrast of images originating from the 151, but this was fixed by calibrating my editing monitors and improving my camera technique (using the waveform monitor etc.).
 
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