1080p24 ... downconvert question
 

hey guys ive searched but haven't found the answer to this question. Im shooting on my A1 at 1080 24F, is there any way to capture from hd to sd? i didn't choose downconvert in camera when i was shooting so im wondering if im married to the hd?

ive read about downconverting with the compressor function and making the dvd through dvd studio and that seems like a feasible choice, but if someone could help clarify this for me that would be great.

As much as I'd like to I have not had the pleasure of capturing footage from an A1. If the A1 is like all other HDV cameras you can downconvert in the camera on capture.

Which depending on how much footage you have it might be better to recapture, HDV cameras generally do a good job with real-time downconvert.

If you end result is a DVD, then the downconversion from 1080p24 is really easy. There's lots of reasons to edit in HDV, namely better downconversion quality, and rentention of an HD edit for later.

Make sure the timeline is active, select Export via Compressor from the File menu, and then select any of the MPEG-2 DVD presets. I suggest "Best Quality 90 Minutes"

This will make an anamorphic MPEG2 that DVDSP will recognize correctly as such, and then make the track you bring that m2v into anamorphic as well. DVD player will then squeeze vertically and add black bars to top and bottom of frame.

If you need your letterbox to be rendered into a 4:3 m2v, then you have to add a filter to the Compressor preset you use.

But the above will get you to a DVD, and it's easy as pie.

Nate that was the way i was planning on doing it actually planning on doing it.

i was planning on just capturing all hd and importing it as such, the only problem is i'm starting to realize how much space hd takes up! lots of b-roll for my doc might make it a problem. but the picture will be worth it i think. I have a 300 gig seagate external hard drive, so im not too worried about space.