HD 16:9 to DV for editing
 

Shot some HD tests on Sony CineAlta F900, great camera I must say, want to edit them on my computer using Premiere Pro 1.51... we shot 24p, on HDCAM40 tape, what instructions should I tell the dup lab when transferring to miniDV tape for capturing myself at home using my miniDV camera?

I would like to keep the native 16:9, so I want to import into a 16:9 project... first attempt though, the lab gave me 4:3 letterbox, which looks fine on the camera window, but in the timeline stays 4:3, actually boxed on all four sides black. I thought I was clear that I wanted a 16:9 ntsc output, but that's not what I have.

Now, I can have them redo it... I vaguely understand that it may need to be anomorphic conversion?? This would show up on my camera as squished but show correctly in Premiere...? if someone could explain that and its benefits that would be great...

...or...

I could just render the footage as I have it to fit properly...

I must say, connecting the camera to my 36" HDTV I see artifacts that I don't really like... the footage is shot well/looks great, but clearly downconverting to DV is a step way down...

I do want the best transfer possible, perhaps I should be transferring to SD or HDV, not sure if my system can handle though (see specs below). Question: would having it transferred squished give me more pixals and higher quality than the 4:3 transfer I already have? Does it really make a difference?? Is there better way to go about this?

Also, would also like to preserve the timecode, the 4:3 transfer did not include the timecode from the hdcam tape. I just don't know how to explain to the lab what I need. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

David

PS - testing for a short, we have tested 16mm, HD 24p, soon to test HDV on Sony Z1, trying to decide which way to go that my home system can handle, may mix mediums, want a grainy look and will be doing some AE work and using Magic Bullet, final output on DVD, doubt I'll go back to film, but you never know... P4 3.2 hyperthread, 7200 sata drives, 1 gig ram, premiere pro 1.51...

update
 

Ok, so had long conversation with the lab... we're going to downconvert the HD to dvcam, 16:9, squeezed anamorphic, with time code... I'll see how that works....

>Question: would having it transferred squished give me more pixals and higher quality than the 4:3 transfer I already have?

Yes. You definitely want it anamorphic on your DVCAM tape so that the image uses all 720x480 pixels (which will not be the case if it is transferred letterboxed). It will look fine on your computer monitor once you pull it into a 16:9 Premiere project.

DV/DVCam are certainly capable of carrying the timecode ... not sure why it wasn't there for you the first time.

It sounds like you have the lab people on track now - good luck!

Thanks, Graham, will know tomorrow how that works out... looking forward to playing out on my HD tv just to compare the artifacts, they are providing a dvcam deck in case my camera won't run the dvcam tape... I'll hook that up to the tv and compare to the 4:3 from before...

I have thought about downconverting to hdv, contemplating buying the Sony Z1 and shooting the rest with it... the lab expressed some grief over hdv, they didn't trust it enough to advise me yea or nay... I am very tempted though to get this camera!

I'll report back how my tests turn out... thanks again.

Ok, dvcam did the trick... it looked fine in Premiere after I had Premiere interpret the clips to 16:9... I must say, much better quality going this route vs. minidv... system handles it just fine.... reads the timecode, etc... all is good again... thanks!