Shooting for a Standard definition DVD

M

mabou2

New member
Hi all,

I am fairly new to the HVX, and HD in general. I use the latest FCP studio for editing.

My client needs a standard def NTSC DVD and I am confused about the myriad of options available to get HVX footage into a standard def format. I want to shoot at the highest quality, but I need the DVD to play full frame on an NTSC TV.

So the questions are...
1) How do I shoot at the highest quality possible and end up with a standard def DVD? My client will plotz if there is any squeeze or stretch to the image, and black bars on top or sides of frame is not acceptable.
1b) Do I shoot HD or SD?
2) If I shoot HD, would I edit HD in FCP then do a pulldown, maybe shoot HD, pulldown the source footage and edit in SD?

Any pointers, links, or direction would be extremely helpful.
 
Shoot DVCPro 50 and switch to "Normal" mode rather than "Squeeze" or "Letterbox" and you will then get the highest quality full frame standard definition footage that the camcorder can deliver.

DVCPro 50 offers a better compression ratio than DVCPro HD, so for SD work, you can't go wrong with choosing DVCPro 50. Don't even worry about shooting in HD if you're going to be outputting 4x3.
 
We regularly shoot 720/24pN and edit in the same on FCP.

Then export to self contained and use Compressor presets for SD video and ac3 audio.

Gone to replication a bunch of times this year.
 
David S. said:
We regularly shoot 720/24pN and edit in the same on FCP.

Then export to self contained and use Compressor presets for SD video and ac3 audio.

Gone to replication a bunch of times this year.
Click to expand...

Does Compressor do a nice job of converting 16x9 to full frame 4x3?

If so, you would have to make sure to shoot for 4x3 in the viewfinder/monitor and figure on the edges being cropped in post.
 
John Froton said:
Does Compressor do a nice job of converting 16x9 to full frame 4x3?

If so, you would have to make sure to shoot for 4x3 in the viewfinder/monitor and figure on the edges being cropped in post.
Click to expand...

I'm curious about this as well. Would you just crop in compressor?
 
I would only go through the trouble of converting from HD to SD if:

1) There was a reason to have an HD version of the footage in archive
2) There was compositing, keying, or complex color work to be done in post

DVCPro50 is ten times the data rate of most DVDs, so it's a great origination format.
 
Again, if it's for SD 4:3 release, why would you want to plink around with cropping and all that? Keep It Simple, shoot and deliver...
 
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