Mixing 720p and 1080p material

AnamorphFreak

AnamorphFreak

New member
Hey there,

We're currently working on a shortfilm project, still in pre-production. I really want to work with the HVX200 because it's simple the best camera in the price range for such a production but now I'm in a little dilemma.

On the one hand I wanna make use of its 1080p possibility especially for a later filmprint for festivals but on the other hand I really wanna make use of its slow-mo function, 'cause that's something I don't wanna miss out on and even is neccesary for the aesthetic of the short ... but the problem ist that I just can record 60fps in 720p mode ... and a software solution for slow-mo ist not really an option because first of all you lose resolution and if you wanna make it really good you need to draw motion masks and that would take time which we don't have.

My question now, is it possible to mix 1080p and 720p, or is it that a difference that it would just look strange or even ugly on a big screen or is 720p good enough for a 35mm print?

If someone could help me out here, it's neccesary for the whole workflow which I need to plan right now.
 
The difference will be very minor. 1080 is higher-rez than 720 but not by a tremendous amount, it's about 15%-20% more res. So mixing uprezzed 720 and 1080 should be fairly easy.

As for your "is 720p good enough" question -- I've got the answer, I've got 720p and 1080p footage that's been transferred to film. I just haven't been able to screen it yet! But at the HD BootCamps we show a demo reel that usually leaves attendees blown away, and it's all 720 stuff. I think you'll have no problems at all with a 720p film print.
 
Thanks Barry, your answere helped a lot ... now it would be cool to see a 720p footage on a screen ... there is no chance of a screening somewhere in europe(!?), maybe somewhere around the IBC!?
 
I recently was doing some tests and, among them, I compared regular 1080p to 720p and 480i (squeeze) uprezed to 1080p in post.

The results were interesting. First off, the 480i stuff really heald up wonderfully given the fact that it's SD. Honestly, I think even shooting the HVX200 in 16x9 SD would yeild a pretty decent blow for projection (certainly a hell of a lot nicer than any stuff I've seen with an XL2 or DVX).

As far as the difference between 720p and 1080p, it was there but not amazing. I seemed to notice stuff that was out of focus lacking definition much more than the stuff that was in focus (don't know why that is). Overall, I'd say I only saw 10-15% worth of difference though I haven't done nearly as many tests as Barry.

Personally, if I could I'd go ahead and shoot 1080p if space didn't matter and I had no shots that needed variable frame rates. That said, 720p should be fine.
 
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