24fps or 30fps? - cineframe24 or not?
 

Hi,

We are currently working in the field and are wanting to avoid problems mixing our footage in post. We are filming in high def with 2 different Sony Cameras: HVR-A1U & HVR-Z7U.

The latter can film true progressive 24P – as well as any of the other standard formats, while the former can only film in regular 1080i/29.97fps – and has the option of using Sony’s “Cineframe24” and “Cineframe30”. Our final output will never be transferred to film – but will be projected at a major world forum to its primary audience and broadcast in high def on TV to it secondary audience. To date, we have filmed all of our footage in 24P on the Z7U and using cineframe24 on the A1U – but we have only just begun and are considering a switch.
We are both directors not camera people/editors so please forgive our ignorance - any advice is very much appreciated, Thanks in advance for your input.

I can't speak for the HVR-Z7U since I have no experience with that camera. The HVR-A1U on the other hand has often been my second camera. My experience has been that if you're shooting action requiring quick horizontal pans Cineframe is the only choice. I shoot races so this is a big consideration for me. Not using Cineframe results in the dreaded interleave jags which are very time consuming to deal with in post producing imperfect results.

The next consideration is frame rate. I shoot for viewing on TV monitors and want a crisp video look so I choose 30fps. This is contrary to the "film look" most are striving for.

The last consideration is resolution. If you're planning on the final project being 1080 be prepared for some upresing since Cineframe on this camera is effectively 720p. This hasn't been very much of a problem for me since I downres to 16:9 SD widescreen but have noticed some additional artifacts and loss of sharpness when editing in 1080.

One additional note. Mixing a CMOS sensor camera such as the HVR-A1U with a 3 CCD camera has created some challenging color correction problems in post. The A1U for example tends to produce rich and saturated greens but lacks a bit in the reds. On the other hand a 3 CCD camera can produce much better reds and less saturated greens. This headache is worst when the two cameras are used to shoot different angles of the same scene.

Steve