Hi,

I captured footage in HDV, 24p, 16:9 with an HV20.

I need to get an SD Master Tape, in Letterbox (720 x 480). I use Final Cut Studio 2 and live in NTSC land. I would also be burning a DVD for me, but the tape is vital. because I have to deliver the project on this SD Master Tape.

How should I proceed regarding editing, downconverting and capturing?

1. I've been reading that it's better to capture HDV, edit HDV and at the end downconvert to SD. I tried the Bonsai Method to do this, but so far I haven't been so successful. I have edgy lines.

2. Can the HV20 downconvert at the end on its own, from HDV to SD, during Print to Tape?

3. I also know it's possible to use DVLock form the start to capture SD (from HDV) to begin with... How much would the quality of the project would be affected? Is still good?

I've been doing tests for hours... any help would be deeply appreciated. Really.


Marlén

Something to keep in Mind is that the HV20 is 24F inside a 60i signal. So, I'm not sure what your final output is going to be but you may want to consider de-interlacing your footage.

Here's what I would do:
I'd capture HDV via firewire, with each clip broken up (should be automatic)
Drop captures into Compressor.
Adjust frame controls to remove interlace (making 23.98) and convert to Pro-Res 422 at 1920x1080.
I'd import pro-res clips into FCP. Edit in a native 23.98 timeline and cut.
When ready for output, create a "current settings" quicktime.
Open up compressor and drop in the 23.98 QT, apply best quality NTSC DVD to create the m2v & ac3 files.
Burn with DVD Studio Pro. This will give you a 24p DVD- which will look crisp.

The only alt to this would be if you had hardware for playback (ie a deck that plays out HD-SDI to a NLE) then you could capture directly to Pro-Res.

Hope this helps.
-C

Thank you, Christopher.

BTW, How would you Print to Tape to an SD Mini DV Master Tape?

I'm not too sure what you are asking.
There are two methods for controlling a deck / camera with FCP:
Print to Video and Edit to Tape.
I usually use Edit because it can control the tape via deck control / firewire.
Print to Video is without Timecode, so you'll have to manually hit record on your deck / device.

So, if you going back to a HV-20. 1) You'd have to set it up to record via firewire. I believe the camera has to be in Playback mode and the setting is in the menu. 2) Select Print to Video in FCP. 3) Hit record on the HV-20. 4) Playback the sequence.

Hope this helps,
-C