Multiple formats for one project

L

lipslide

Active member
Hi guys,

Jusrt wanted to put this out there and see if anybody would be able to give me a little insight on whether or not what I would like to achieve is possible.

I am looking at buying a HVX202 to shoot a sports documentary on. Final format would be DVD, but I would like to shoot and edit in 1080, and then export to MPEG2. I would like to do this for a couple of reasons, first, being able to take advantage of the extra resolution in post and re-frame or pan and scan the HD shots and not have them pixelate when rendered out to SD, being able to smooth camera shake without resolution loss, and also due to the popular view that down-res'd HD produces a better looking result than just shooting in SD to start with.

However, I would also like to make extensive use of the higher frame rates to produce smoother slo-mo and I have learnt that this can only be acheived shooting at 720.

So my question is this, keeping in mind that the final format is SD DVD, is it possible to drop the occasional 720p higher frame rate clip into a 1080 timeline in FCP and still be able to work with it? Or will I have to shoot the whole lot in 720?

Sorry if this seems like a no brainer, I'm a complete noob and trying to get a handle on this before I splash the cash.

Also, I am currently editing SD on the latest generation Powerbook G4. I understand that there is no way I can edit in 1080 without upgrading, so can someone suggest a decent system configuration for editing HD in Final Cut Pro?

Thanks in advance for any help. . .
 
I don't know how FCP is about mixing formats. If your final is DVD, you might consider just shooting 720pn the whole way. You will get added record time, and 720 is great for a dvd final. My opinion. Of course, if FCP is good with mixing formats on the same timeline, then shoot both.

Jason
 
First, if you're going to DVD, the 1080 increase, IMHO, won't be enough to justify the headaches of using mixed formats. Stick with the 720, you'll be fine.

Second, you can indeed mix the two in FCP.

Third, your G4 Powerbook will indeed edit 1080 just fine. Don't know where you got false information that it won't. It won't react like a Quad Core G5, but it can in fact do it. I do it almost every week on my 17" Powerbook G4. I teach with that Powerbook and use 1080 and 720 footage in my classes all the time. Just be sure you have a good, reliable FW800 drive (G-Tech, OWC).
 
Hey guys, thanks for your help.

But as is always the way, your answers have created more questions.

Ben, when you mention headaches in regards to mixing formats, what kind of headaches are you thinking I might encounter? It is silly to make assumptions I know, but I assumed that if I kept the frame rates the same that mixing formats would simply become a matter of scaling up the 720 footage to fill the 1080 frame, or is it a bit trickier than that? Has anybody worked like this before?

I would consider shooting 720 the whole way, but I have some panning and scaling effects in mind that will require the extra resolution 1080 affords. This is a huge draw-card for shooting and editing in 1080 for a SD release for me.

And as for my PowerBook G4, that was another assumption. I downloaded the HVX clips from ramgate.com and the played very poorly, so I assumed that editing on this machine would be out of the question. Could the poor playback performance be the cause of something else?
 
I edit 720p all the time with no problems on my 17"pbg4. Magic bullet is another thing. The problem with mixing footage is that no matter how you slice it you're looking at realtime HD scaling which is processor intensive. It sounds like you only need 1080 for some pan effects which wouldn't work in a 1080 timeline anyways right? Work in a 720 sequence and pan and scan your 1080 frame effects that will probably require renders anyway. Working with a 720 timeline will also make over/undercranking simpler. Good luck.
 
I was going to shoot everything in 1080, for the reason that I don't know what I will want to re-frame or pan over until I get to the post stage and I would like the freedom to do that with any shot I like.

I was thinking that theoretically, if working in a 1080 timeline and zooming a frame to 200%, even though it would appear pixelated if played in the timeline, when rendered to an SD/MPEG2 final the resolution would still be more, or equivalent to SD. This is a bit of a brain bender to think about now I try to explain my thinking, but I feel it should work. Is this right or am I on another planet? :huh:

Taking into account what you said about the horsepower required in resizing HD in real time, wouldn't it be better to resize the occasional 720 slo-mo in a 1080 timeline, than scaling down every other shot (1080) into a 720 timeline. Or does my backwards logic on the whole pan and scan issue above negate this?

Thanks again. . .:)
 
I don't find enough difference in final resolution on the SD DVD to justify shooting in 1080. I stick with 720p24 and compress to SD 24p MPEG and author a 24p DVD. Comes out looking great.
 
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