In Camera HDV to SD Downconverting
 

Hey all. So, I shot and edited in HDV and printed to tape back to my Z1 with little fumbling around and no serious problems. Now, I want to downconvert and capture. I selected HDV->DV Conv (Squeeze) and now FCP no longer communicates properly with my camera so I am unable to capture. Is there some capture settings I need to change in FCP or some funky trick I'm missing out on?

On my FX1 and using a PC, the HDV capture is a different "capture device" from the same camera using HDV-->DV convert. I assume FCP would have to recognize a different device also. I would assume FCP has a selector process for available capture devices. Its also possible the "squeeze selection" could be a problem. Why squeeze anyway.

Because I don't know what I'm doing and I haven't tried it yet. Should I be doing letterbox?

Capture
 

My guess is that you would have to downconvert to another dv recorder and then capture that. I can't see why that would not work. While I have not tried a direct capture from my Z1, it downconverts just fine to another record device. Might give it a try. JimT
PS I don't the format you select (letterbox, etc.) should make a difference.

When i.LINK CONV is set to HDV->DV CONV your camera is operating as a DV device. It will be recognized by your computer just like any other DV camcorder (e.g., PD170, VX2100, etc.) I own a PC so I don’t use FCP but if it’s looking for an HDV camera, it won’t find the Z1 when it’s in DV downconvert. Tell it to look for a regular DV camera instead. (note: the manual states that you should unplug the camera from the firewire port before switching between downconvert options, then plug it back into your computer so it sees the new device properly)

As far the various DOWNCONVERT settings, if you want 16:9 DV then you want to use the SQUEEZE option. This will anamorphically squeeze the video into 720x480 with a Pixel Aspect Ratio of 1.2121 (NTSC DV Widescreen assuming your camera is in NTSC mode). If you want 4:3 DV then use the EDGE CROP option. This will output standard DV 720x480 PAR 0.9091. You probably want to shoot with CAMERA SET > MARKER SEL > 4:3 if you are delivering 4:3 so that you frame your shots appropriately on the 16:9 Viewfinder LCD. Finally, the LETTERBOX option is if you want to letterbox 16:9 to 4:3. You would only want this if you are playing back footage live on a 4:3 monitor that is not letterboxing correctly. You never want to capture this way unless you actually want the black bars in your footage and lower vertical resolution.

If you do use the SQUEEZE option (which I recommend you do) make sure your FCP project is set up for DV Widescreen so it correctly unsqueezes the video back out to 16:9. (note: I’m a PC / Sony Vegas user so if this makes no sense in FCP then my apologies in advance) ;-)

~jr