Making a DVD... Should I edit in 720p or 1080p
 

Hi guys,

I'm currently in the making of a DVD (i am shooting with a Sony HVR-V1U) and I would like to know if I should do it in 720p or 1080p ?

Thanks you !!

DVDs are 480p or 480i. Not sure what you mean.

I've settled on shooting everything 1080 30p unless the client specifies something else. Progressive is the key no matter what size as you don't have to deal with interlace scaling.
By doing this, I'm covered if the client suddenly wants their web or DVD videos on a bluray or broadcast in full hd. Plus if it is to be presented smaller, I can use the extra resolution to zoom and pan in post.
The actual scaling I do happens from the final output of FCP which is a Prores 1080p file. It gets scaled down in QT7 to an 853x480 h264 file then in compressor goes to the mpeg2 for DVD.

The extra step looks better than using compressor to do all of the functions and is actually quicker. Don't ask me why...it just is! A friend who writes code for video compression company recommended this to me after I was pulling my hair out to get a good looking DVD filled to the brim with 3.7mps video.

With a V1, shoot and edit in 1080i, then downconvert to anything you like when burning. Regular DVD = 480i. Web (SD) viewing = 480p. Blu-Ray, 1080i, no down-conversion.

With a V1, 720p(anything) isn't an option.

Edit: And there you go, two completely different viewpoints on i vs. p. My understanding was DVD doesn't support 30p, only 60i and 24p.

The problem lies with getting 1080i downconverted correctly...
It requires a proper deinterlace and scaledown. Even with expensive NLE's, you still need to go to a third party source (ironically free) to get a proper deinterlace...
Anything less than this, and you're sacrificing the quality of the original material...

And yes, if you shoot 30P, proper downconversion is much easier, and DVD's simply display the upper and lower fields of an otherwise progressive picture....