uprezzing

C

cjl467

Member
Okay, I shot a short film in letter box mode, now i'm to the uprezzing part of this.... there's that sticky thread about a really complicated, time consuming uprezzing process... what's the difference between this and just streching out the footage so that the black bars are gone (in FCP or premiere pro)?

should I even uprezz the footage at all?
 
The difference is quality. Supposedly using PhotozoomPro yields better results when stretching your footage. (I'm not saying that it doesn't, but I have not compared the results as I do not have PZP). I have been stretching my footage in FCP, and I have not noticed any big loss in quality- but I have been going out directly to DVD, and my clients have been happy and impressed with the results. At some point I need to do a comparison test to see what the difference actually is... But just from a perception stand point, if your going straight to the small screen - TV - you should be fine stretching it in FCP.
 
If you want to just compare a frame, send me a frame and I'll uprez it for you. Then you can stretch it out, and compare the two.
 
Sledgeweb said:
If you want to just compare a frame, send me a frame and I'll uprez it for you. Then you can stretch it out, and compare the two.
Click to expand...

I'll film a resolution chart and then send a frame to you. I'll get back to you in a couple hours.
 
I "scaled" some footage in After Effects. Scaling was an enlargement so the sides of the frame "stretched" to the edges of the new comp.

A 4:3 DV (PAL) project (shot on DVX102a) that went to cinema as 1: 1.85 on film

I did this in a large rez AE comp. and the results were fantastic. Each frame when output as sequential tiffs was 5.4mb. There was absolutely no evidence of pixel shape on the projection screen ( which surprised and delighted me and others).

I do not think stretching in FCP or PremPro will produce the same result.
 
Sledgeweb-
Thanks for doing that for me.

Shooter-
I think that you are right. AfterFX would probably yield better results then an NLE would. Would you care to try uprezing the file I have posted above and posting it?
 
You be the judge:
Which method do you think yields better results? :beer:

Original Grab from the DVX-
Edit: SEE BELOW

Stretched using Photozoom Pro- (Thanks to Sledgeweb)
(Has not been cropped)
Edit: SEE BELOW

Stretched using Final Cut Pro-
(Took 4:3 image into a 16:9 sequence, and stretched it to fill the frame)
Edit: SEE BELOW

Stretched using Photoshop Method One:
(Image size - increase by 10%, repeat until you get to 640)
Edit: SEE BELOW

Stretched using Photoshop Method Two:
(Image size - Increase directly to 640)
Edit: SEE BELOW

EDIT: I removed the pictures because I got tired of the page moving while I was typing - And I'm on broadband, so I can't imagine how annoying it was for those of you on dial up. The direct links still work and are below.
 
Ryan

I PM'd you with an up rez file from your tiff sample.

I can not see the files in your post above by the way.
 
Shooter-
Thanks, I got the PM.

Each of the files are large, so it may take some time for them to show up. Here are the direct links:

Original Grab from the DVX-
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezchart.tif (1MB)

Stretched using Photozoom Pro- (Thanks to Sledgeweb)
(Has not been cropped)
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezchart-PZP.tif (1.3MB)

Stretched using After Effects- (Thanks to Shooter)
(Scaled to 1:1.85 ratio, top and bottom crop)
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezchart-AE.tif (5.2MB)

Stretched using Final Cut Pro-
(Took 4:3 image into a 16:9 sequence, and stretched it to fill the frame)
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezchart-FCP.tif (1MB)

Stretched using Photoshop Method One:
(Image size - increase by 10%, repeat until you get to 640- as specified by the uprez thread)
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezchart-PS01.tif (1.4MB)

Stretched using Photoshop Method Two:
(Image size - Increase directly to 640)
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezchart-PS02.tif (1.4MB)
 
Worth noting is the After Effects Rez above is so large ( 5.2 mb) because it is a 2K file required for an Arri Film Scanner. (The 2k is approx. the horizontal Pixel rez of the image)

Each frame is output from AE at this size and rez.

BTW - I observed in the above : the PZP rez is better than the FCP rez when viewed at 300% in PhotoShop
 
Posted below is a comp of all of the options scaled at 300%. I think that PZP is the clear winner, while I was surprized to see little to no difference inbetween FCP, PS01, and PS02. I agree with Shooter that the AE Rez is worth nothing.

Although PZP is the clear winner, For practicle purposes I think that scaling within the NLE (in this case FCP) does just fine for the small screen (TV). I don't think that it would hold up well if it was projected. But using the NLE I have not noticed any degredation of the image on the TV, and my clients have been very happy with the results, and it has been a simple and quick process for me to do. If my project was going to be shown on anything other then a TV screen, I would definately go with PZP.

Just my thoughts. :beer:

Direct link:
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezComp.jpg (314k)
 
cjl wrote "..should I even uprezz the footage at all ". Indeed, when the footage is interlaced letterbox, I would leave it like it is. It can be watched on 4:3 only TV's and on the other hand, widescreen sets can perfectly handle letterbox images and fill the screen.
 
I only compaired in-camera uprezz (VX2000) to (LCD)TV rescaling, and there was quite a difference in vertical aliasing and resolution. The point is that interlaced letterbox images strongly change their interlace properties on near horizontal structures. If such images need to be deinterlaced (needed for all non-crt screens), TV deinterlacers get lost and show strong aliasing artifacts. If PZP has a powerfull deinterlacer before uprezzing, it could be OK. But still then..going from about 360 lines to 480 lines and then uprezz again to the (LCD) vertical resolution (like 768) is not adviseable.
 
Waltind ( Ryan)

As an experiment as part of this very interesting exercise.

Take the After Effects (5.2mb) Image I sent you and change its Image Size in Photoshop to the same size as the others (720 px horizontal) then view it at 300% (then crop as per the others for comparison on the same base).

I am interested what you see then.
 
Shooter,

Sounds good to me.

I've done it- the original AE uprezed file has been conformed to the specs of the others (720x640) and it can be viewed here:
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezChart-AE.tif (1.3MB)

The comparison page has been updated as well and can be viewed here:
http://www.waltersindustries.com/DVXRezComp02.jpg (322k)

My thoughts:
The AE image definately looks a whole lot better. It seems that PZP is still crisper, and still wins out. Which surprises me - I thought that AE would take this one. In order I think that it goes PZP, AE, then the rest. (PS & FCP seem to do about the same quality.)

Any additional thoughts or comments are welcome.
 
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