50i footage shot on Z1U and downconverted to SD?

[Justin Lomax]

When shooting with the PAL option on the Z1U at 50i (or even CF25) what steps are necessary to be able to edit in HDV at 24fps, but then transfer the video to an NTSC 30fps signal for use on a DVD?
I want to be able to shoot in the 50i or CF25 mode and then convert to 24fps. I have read a lot of forums on the topic but have yet to here one clear step by step solution. Any suggestions?

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Justin Lomax

Any suggestions?

A 24fps movie is 3:2:2:3'd by the DVD player, so you don't need to go to 30/29.97 fps for the DVD - the player will do that for you.

The Gotcha is that 24fps from PAL (e.g. 4% slowdown) can't be used for NTSC DVDs because it's 576 lines, not 480. Conversely NTSC 23.98 fps flagged 3:2 and 3:2:2:3 24fps 480 lines) can't be used for PAL projects (though almost all PAL DVD players will play NTSC DVDs).

<deep breath>

To make a 24fps SD movie for NTSC using HDV 25 fps assets
- Shoot at 50i (keep the temporal info during editing for slowmo)*
- Edit and finish at 50i
- Use DVFilm Maker to deinterlace 50i to 25p (http://www.dvfilm.com)
- Convert your finished HDV 25fps movie to SD 24fps NTSC, which you can do in Compressor. Ensure Compressor knows it's progressive.
- Import as a 23.98 fps movie in DVD Studio Pro
- Burn, watch, admire.

Now, some further info... I'll state up front that this is theoretical but based on my experiences over the weekend...

Cinema Tools (part of the Final Cut Suite) can change the FPS of a QuickTime movie without altering any of the temporal data - just the flag that says "I am 25fps".

Whilst waiting for a render, I flipped through the DVD Studio Pro manual, which outlines the steps for taking your (now 24fps) QT movie through an encoder and the appropriate flags set. All straightforward. Should happen automatically.

*CF25 seems to have its 'use' in shooting HDV for downconverting to Progressive SD (25p) as there is some resolution loss on the HDV image. Note that if downconverting to SD, consider converting in-software rather than in-camera, and convert to DVCPRO-50 rather than DV - you get higher colour resolution that way.

** Oh, and another thing learned with a Z1 this weekend: instead of finding a fully tweaked camera setting, aim to get a flatter image (black stretch) and underexpose by half a stop or so - then in FCP pull the mids down a bit and see amazing depth of tone and rich colour saturation appear as if by magic.

[John Rofrano]

Originally Posted by Matt Daviss

The Gotcha is that 24fps from PAL (e.g. 4% slowdown) can't be used for NTSC DVDs because it's 576 lines, not 480

True, but...

Originally Posted by Justin Lomax

When shooting with the PAL option on the Z1U at 50i (or even CF25)

Justin, Did you really mean PAL as in DV 720x576 or did you really mean HDV 50i 1440x1080 in which case your vertical resolution is still 1080i which you can then take down to 480 in software downconvert?

Your question is confusing because it sounds like you just want to use CF25 to get to 24fps and make an NTSC DVD (and don’t really care about PAL). In that case you might want to check out CineForm Connect HD. It will allow you to capture your CF25 footage as 24fps (slowing down 4% on-the-fly).

I agree with everything Matt said, especially leaving your footage at 24fps and letting the DVD player add the pulldown. You’ll also get an advantage if some has a progressive DVD player and monitor, there will be no interlacing involved at all.

~jr