Why P2 is 960/720 not 1280/720
by Christer Gomes
on
Jul 3, 2009 at 8:49:33 pm
Im shooting with two different camera. one with EX1 and HVXP2. for both i used 720. When I captured the P2 footage showing 960/720 (frame size) but the EX1 footage is 1280/720. It seems like one is 16:9 and 12:9. did i miss something? or not setup properly? I thougt both were 16:9. Will it be a issues for later. this if not for film.
need help
Re: Why P2 is 960/720 not 1280/720 by John Fishback on Jul 3, 2009 at 11:11:34 pm
You've done nothing wrong. DVCPro HD is an anamorphic format. After it's transferred to FCP it will play as 1280x720. However, before you edit, you should choose which of the 2 formats will be your edit format (I'd choose DVCPro HD). As long as the frame rates of the 2 camera are the same, you can render in FCP (set your render settings to Best). Some might suggest using Compressor to convert one format to the other. Search the Cow and you'll find lots of discussion about this. If the frame rates of the 2 cameras are diffrent, then you'll have to convert one to the other with Compressor. There are lots of posts how to do this, too.
John
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Re: Why P2 is 960/720 not 1280/720 by Christer Gomes on Jul 6, 2009 at 3:34:31 pm
Thanks John
I found that the pixel aspect ratios are different for two compression. Although the frame rates are same will it be a problem to do graphics in photoshop where I have to choose whether its a square pixel or 1.5 /1. That is the only part Im worried about.
Thanks
Chris
Re: Why P2 is 960/720 not 1280/720 by Matt Gerard on Jul 6, 2009 at 5:52:45 pm
I've been caught with this before as well. Choose the codec that you are most used to. I like the DVCPROHD, its a great looking codec, but I HATE non-square pixels. So, no that I have lots more server room to play with, we are shooting everything AVC-INTRA 100 and converting to ProRes HQ. Hello Square Pixels!!!!
And now, designing graphics is a lot less of a hassle.
Matt
Its more fun to ride a slow motorcycle fast than a fast motorcycle slow...
Re: Why P2 is 960/720 not 1280/720 by Christer Gomes on Jul 6, 2009 at 9:45:12 pm
Thanks Matt
So you're saying that I can transcode all my rectangle pixel to squre by using the Apple ProRess (HQ)? I guess that will involve a real time trascoding via the AJA i/o. Right
C
Re: Why P2 is 960/720 not 1280/720 by Matt Gerard on Jul 7, 2009 at 3:06:01 pm
[Christer Gomes]"So you're saying that I can transcode all my rectangle pixel to squre by using the Apple ProRess (HQ)?"
Yes, you could do that, whether its worth it or not, is up to you. Depends on what your edit machine is and whether it can handle the playback of different media types in a DVCPROHD timeline. I'd do a test in a simple timeline first, you might be able to get away with just editing everything in a DVCPROHD timeline, then do a final render before you output. Or if your show is really edit intensive or grphics heavy and you have the space, yes you can transcode to PRORES. Depending on how much footage you have, that might take a while.
[Christer Gomes]"I guess that will involve a real time trascoding via the AJA i/o."
Don't know, I have a Kona card, and an 8core MacPro, so I would be converting via Compressor. I don't know how the IO works, so you'd have to research that yourself. Again, do a small test on a small file, and see how long it takes to transcode vs render.
I design all my graphics in square pixels. it tends to fall apart less when I down-convert to SD or web videos, it seems.
Good Luck, and there is a lot to be learned by taking some time and troubleshooting with small test files.
Matt
Its more fun to ride a slow motorcycle fast than a fast motorcycle slow...