ProRes 422 or HDV 1080/60i?

So I'm capturing some HDV (1440x1080, 60i) footage. Should I capture in the HDV 1080/60i setting or should I use Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) setting? Which is better?

I have hours of footage where the camera starts and stops quite a bit and was hoping that the HDV 1080/60i setting was no worse than the ProRes setting as when you use the ProRes capture setting it creates a new clip for each time the camera stops (unless there's a way to stop this). If the capture quality is significantly better using ProRes then I will deal with the multiple clips.

Lastly, if I do use the HDV 1080/60 setting for my captures, should I also set my Sequences to HDV 1080/60 or would it be better to set the Sequences to Prores?

Any feedback would be appreciated!

Ok... so I can capture in the native format (HDV 1080/60i) but once I get it into my Sequence, conform the footage to the ProRes setting in the Sequence. Correct?

I heartily agree with Chris: capture to ProRes.

You CAN put the HDV in a ProRes 422 sequence, but ask yourself this first: are you willing to roll the dice with image quality?

It's your call.......

Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA

I'm sure it's in the Log & Capture settings if you really want to do that. Play with it & see.

Personally, I LIKE it when FCP gives me separate clips. I can sort by time code so everything's in chronological order, and it's easy to week out bad takes, bad shots, etc.: it saves a ton of storage. I also get to decide if I want to keep two equally-good takes.

Try that if you capture one big, long, cumbersome clip. You'd need to use Media Manager. And you'd lose those just-as-good takes unless you toss them into a timeline you made just for the purpose.

Eventually, you'll have no choice in the matter, anyway: card-based footage always comes in as individual shots during Log & Transfer. You might as well get used to it.

Dave LaRonde
Sr. Promotion Producer
KCRG-TV (ABC) Cedar Rapids, IA

Doing the HDV to ProRes capture, IIRC, only gives you Capture Now functionality, strips out the original TC, and gives you 1440x1080 ProRes files. I only mention the last part because in the past I've had odd issues with'thin raster' ProRes files (which were fixed be re-exporting that offending clips at full raster then cutting them back into the timeline). I didn't do extensive testing, so maybe it was just dumb luck, but I got the feeling that ProRes is 'expected' to be full raster and it was the thin raster that was the source of my problems.

I've done the HDV or XDCAM EX in a ProRes sequence workflow on dozens of TV shows w/o problems of note that I can remember. I feel like it's getting the best of both worlds.

Just another opinion to think about.


-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

The only way to capture HDV to ProRes is to 'Capture Now', which is not always ideal if TC is important to you.
Option # 2 it to capture HDV and convert using Compressor. It works, but is time consuming.
Option # 3 is to capture HDV, and change your render setting to ProRes. I often find this is the best solution for me since I'm using a JVC camera with a relatively short GOP which doesn't eat up a lot of resources like the Sony 15 frame GOP does. You can always bake and re-import any clips that will need a lot of filters, etc. And you can always work in a ProRes sequence too, if you like. The best idea is to try each workflow with your set-up on a small amount of material and see what works best for you.
On the make a new clip on TC break issue, it doesn't matter. HDV will always make a new clip if there is a TC or GOP break, even if you have FCP set to ignore camera start/stop. This is due to the GOP structure. One missing frame equals 6 (in JVC) or 15 (in Sony) missing frames, since they are interdependent. There is no way to ignore that many missing frames.
As someone said earlier in the thread, ProRes HQ is overkill, and gives you little in return. There are a few workflows that might benefit from it if you were doing extensive compositing , but for 99% of what most are doing, regular ProRes is fine.

Scott Sheriff
Director
http://www.sstdigitalmedia.com


"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." ---Red Adair

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