| SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
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 | SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Samuel Gómez on Jul 12, 2011 at 10:46:04 pm |
Hi everyone at Cow, firstly I want to thank for this space which I can see have a lot of people on the video/film industry.
So I have a big question which I know will make different opinions, but I really need some advice on the matter:
My cousins and I are making a documentary with our combined resources for the last year and a half now, in short the documentary is about the social circumstances, family relationships and such in a village here at Colombia during the years 1920's (or even before) to aprox. the 1960's, and also a little on how that repercussions today.
For this documentary, since we have had little money to do it, we filmed quite some of the interviews which were 'ASAP' (that is As Soon As Possible) at the moment with an SD camera (720x480, 16:9 proportion fortunatley). So this, for the story of the documentary is truly good, we have almost everything that we need thanks to that decision :). Of course, at some time we could afford an HD camera and also continued to do it, with both those cameras.
We have talked about the documentary with some people in the indusrty, and they all have really liked it, so we decided to aim big and present it for international documentary festivals.
So, the big question now is how can we handle this footage for distribution?...
I know film is 2K and even 4K, so how can I blowup the footage? SD footage to HD, edit it, and then do the HD to film transfer? Should I convert the 30i footage to 24p to easy the film transfer? Or should I worry about it only when I'm facing the transfer? And even: Should I transfer to film at all or just keep it digital? Should we edit it in a 1080p timeline?, 720p? How should I export it?... Is there anything I'm not considering or misinterpreting?
I'm a little confused on the matter as you can see, so if you could give me some advice I will deeply appreciate it, really :)
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• | | | |  | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Noah Kadner on Jul 12, 2011 at 11:35:27 pm |
Just finish it in SD with what you have. No point in you trying to blow it up to film. You'll have no problem playing it in festivals in that format. And then you'll find out if you're going to get theatrical distribution- highly competitive/long odds. And then at that point you'll get help from your distributor on converting to film. But that's way down the line. Concentrate on your content right now. If it's good, the rest will fall into place.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.
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• | | | |  | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Jayasri (Joyce) Hart on Jul 13, 2011 at 6:44:57 pm |
I totally agree with Noah. Also, get a good sense of who and where your audience is. They will help you get distribution in the format where your documentary will get the most viewers. You might even find a sponsor to pay for the release.
Jayasri (Joyce) Hart
Los Angeles, USA
htp://home.earthlink.net/~hartfilms
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Samuel Gómez on Jul 13, 2011 at 10:35:27 pm |
That actually sounds like a pretty straight forward solution Noah, I'll probably do it like this if it's no problem then.
But I'm still not entirely sure since I've been reading the Sundance festival rules ( http://www.sundance.org/pdf/film-events/Submissions_FAQ.pdf ) , and they say that in case the film gets chosen I need to send them a Sony HDCAM format so they can project it (that's point 30), I'm assuming this applies even if it is only selected to exhibit it out of contest, What would happen if I get selected and I don't have a copy with those specifications? Would I still get a chance to participate anyway?
Thanks for the comment Noah :)
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Noah Kadner on Jul 14, 2011 at 12:22:36 am |
Hehe- first off don't put the cart before the horse. Getting into Sundance is like winning the lottery. That said- they will accept a regular old standard definition DVD for your entry. Then if you do happen to get really lucky any decent post production house can take your SD project and upconvert and output to HDCAM tape in an afternoon. Expect to pay a couple hundred or so plus the cost of the tape. As I said above- focus on making good content first. The rest follows.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Samuel Gómez on Jul 14, 2011 at 3:54:38 pm |
Hahaha, yes I know, I have to be very lucky to get into Sundance, I just wanted to see what types of standards would I be facing, and heck: why not checking with the highest standards I think would be out there? :b
But anyway, yes, I'll go for the SD editing then, and if anything does comes up in the future I'll do just what you said, put my hand in my pocket and find the money to blow it up (ha, blow it up), it's probably the wisest since then it would be worth the money and not just spend a lot right now only to be crossing my fingers...
So Thanks Noah, I do believe you were of a lot of help on this, now I'll go and put myself to work on it, there's work to do before editing even starts, haha :)
Samuel
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Noah Kadner on Jul 14, 2011 at 6:11:56 pm |
He he- sure. And above all have fun shooting. As someone whose been to Sundance and back I can tell you the journey is more the reward than the destination. :)
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.
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• | | | |  | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Malcolm Matusky on Jul 15, 2011 at 6:27:30 pm |
The video to film transfer is a specialized process, check out http://dvfilm.com/faq.htm, $20,000 ~ $25,000 for a rough estimate. If you can shoot 24p, regardless of resolution it will help, don't blow out the highlights and remember that contrast will build when doing a transfer so be aware of this and try to shoot a bit flat. You will be grading two versions, one for digital distribution and another for the transfer process, so your post costs will go up as well.
Good luck!
Malcolm
http://www.malcolmproductions.com
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Noah Kadner on Jul 15, 2011 at 6:59:17 pm |
Precisely why it's totally premature to do any of that stuff until your movie is actually a success. No film print is needed to show at festivals or send DVDs to would be distributors.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Samuel Gómez on Jul 15, 2011 at 9:52:14 pm |
Well, I know film transfer is a really specialized process, no doubt about that, but first of all I'm not going to do it, since I said before this post I'm going to do the HDCAM conversion, and then only do it if I get selected on a festival that requires it.
Second thing, as I said on my first post, I have already shot! I have about 80% - 90% of the shooting done, and also I said that I did it on an SD camera, and maybe I should specify I did it on the only frame rate I had available (that is, the always video standard 29.97). So there's also no point on discussing that anymore.
But yeah, I did shot it on the lowest contrast I could. And now that you mention the topic, How should I make the color correction process? Or just keep if flat as it is? Thanks :) And is there any other technical aspect I should keep an eye on?
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Malcolm Matusky on Jul 16, 2011 at 5:31:53 pm |
Sorry for not reading the first post more carefully. Since you are "in the can" I would contact the transfer house to get their specs on how to prepare for their process and just be aware that you will be doing 2 completely different grading sessions for your project (budget issue)Also ask them if they need a specific mix for your audio as well.
Going for a "film" blow up, will be less of an issue in the near future, digital projection is good now, and will get better quickly. This is a legacy process because of the installed base of film projectors in theaters, that's changing quickly as well.
Malcolm
http://www.malcolmproductions.com
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• | | | | | Re: SD and HD footage blowup to later Film distribution?
by Noah Kadner on Jul 17, 2011 at 12:43:12 am |
Um no- once again do not bother doing anything for a film print at this stage. You'll be wasting time and money. Do your best grade for the format as you have it now- i.e. standard definition. That is fine for a festival screener. Can't tell you how many folks spent big $$$ to get an HDCAM print that never screened once.
Noah
Unlock the secrets of 24p, HD and Final Cut Studio with Call Box Training. Featuring the Panasonic GH2 and GoPro HD Hero.
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• | | | |  | Re: Shot in 1440x1080 60i transfer to HDCAM or DigiBeta
by Makiko Ishihara on May 20, 2013 at 3:28:43 am |
Hello,
I might have come in to the wrong place, but I'm new and I couldn't find any other place to post something under this topic of mine.
I just submitted bunch of DVDs for preview screener to festivals. The footage was shot in 1440x1080i on small JCV Everio HD camcoder. Video format - SD-Video, Signal format - 1080/60i, Recording format - MPG-1 Layer2, Audio recording mode - 48kHz.
Files were converted to ProRes422 in MPG streamer before they were imported into FCP7. I used Compressor and DVD Studio to cut the DVD I needed. I used title safe, so no text will be cut off. The DVD I made are 16:9 (Letterbox), 16:9 (Pan Scan), both in NTSC. Then I'm stuck with the exhibition format.
I know it'll be some time before I hear the result of my submissions, but I need heads up about the transfer should my film be lucky enough to be on the go. I need this information because I'll be out of town for a while and I may not have enough time to do this lucky thing upon my return and meet the deadline.
I know DCP is out of the question in my case. But I think there is some hope for HDCAM or DigiBeta tapes. Can someone direct me which way is the right way? They accept DigiBeta but some HDCAM, and no DigiBeta.
1. Can I transfer my film to either one of them? Or just one of them? Why?
2. How I should prepare the file in FCP7 before the transfer?
3. Do you know any any reasonable transfer house around Toronto GTA?
Thanks a million.
Makiko
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