Converting HD to SD at DVinfo.net

Ryan Mueller · January 26th, 2008, 09:56 PM

Hey everyone,

What is the best way to convert 24P rev telecined HDV footage to SD DV footage? I have tried it a couple of different ways with less than satisfactory results.

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

Steve Oakley · January 26th, 2008, 10:22 PM

if you have a kona or BM card, play it out to DV tape via the card. at least its RT. while you could go via AE, compressor, or whatever in software, it will take a lot longer and be a big deal to manually track... and you may not get TC to go thru if thats important. at least with tape you can set the TC on the tape to match back to the orignals. I doubt you'll see much if any difference between letting the kona/ BM card handle.

the procedure is basically put the HDV clips into a _HDV_ TL, set the card to down convert, and away you go. you might want to set the TL TC to match the first clip's TC for match back made simpler.

Ryan Mueller · January 27th, 2008, 10:27 AM

Hey Steve,

Unfortunately, I do not have a card. Basically I am trying to get some HV20 footage to match up with my XL2 footage. I have captured the HDV footage from the HV20 using the standard HDV capture settings within FCP. The footage is then put through compressor to reverse telecine in order to remove the pulldown and interlacing leaving me with Pro-Res HD footage with no cadence issues. The footage looks incredible once this has been completed.

The problem occurs when I try to down-res the footage to SD to put it into my timeline with my XL2 footage. I have tried using the cineform codec to convert the footage, I have tried dropping the footage directly into my timeline, and I have tried a few other methods. No matter what I do, the XL2 footage is always far superior to the down-res'd HDV footage.

This project is going to go up on broadcast television, so if anyone could please inform me of a HDV-SD conversion workflow that works well for them, I would be greatly thankful.

Thanks again,
Ryan

Andrew Kimery · January 27th, 2008, 12:52 PM

Have you tried setting the HV20 to down-convert and just capture it as SD out of the camera?

-A

Ryan Mueller · January 27th, 2008, 01:07 PM

Hey Andrew,

That might be an option. How do you set up the HV20 to down-convert? When capturing it automatically switches to an HDV out with the HDV footage. When you set the camera to lock to DV, can you actually capture it as SD?

Ryan

Andrew Kimery · January 27th, 2008, 03:53 PM

I don't have an HV20 myself, but all the other HDV cameras I've used have had some sort of menu setting that would down-convert the signal sent out over FW.

-A

Chris Harris · January 27th, 2008, 04:49 PM

Ryan,

Press the menu button, then navigate down to the 'menu' option, then scroll down to 'play/out setup 2', and under DV output, change it to 'DV locked'.

Ryan Mueller · January 27th, 2008, 07:03 PM

Thank you Chris & Andrew for your help! I will give it a try. I should be able to reverse telecine the footage as normal? Well normal for the HV20 anyway? I am new to the HV20. I bought one for my girlfriend for her birthday, so we decided to use it in our production the day she got it in the mail. Haven't really had too much time to mess around with it yet, but as long as the down conversion can keep a clear picture, I think that there may be hope for using this camera along side the XL2. We'll see.

Ryan

Sorry this post has turned into a thread that may be more suitable for the HV20 section. Wasn't quite sure who to ask.

Ryan Mueller · January 28th, 2008, 12:45 AM

OK!

I tried to let the camera do the down-conversion, it did not go so well. I ended up with the same soft image that I was getting with every other way that I tried. So I got to messing around with plugins and found one that actually has a sharpening tool that, I believe, allows me to actually use HV20 24P footage with my XL2 24P footage.

Here is a sample with two clips, one from XL2 and the other from the HV20

http://www.rpmproductions.info/video...s/combined.mov

What do you think?

Ryan

January 26th, 2008, 09:56 PM	#1
Ryan Mueller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Highlands Ranch, CO Posts: 336	Converting HD to SD Hey everyone, What is the best way to convert 24P rev telecined HDV footage to SD DV footage? I have tried it a couple of different ways with less than satisfactory results. Thanks in advance, Ryan

January 26th, 2008, 10:22 PM	#2
Steve Oakley Trustee Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: United States Posts: 1,158	if you have a kona or BM card, play it out to DV tape via the card. at least its RT. while you could go via AE, compressor, or whatever in software, it will take a lot longer and be a big deal to manually track... and you may not get TC to go thru if thats important. at least with tape you can set the TC on the tape to match back to the orignals. I doubt you'll see much if any difference between letting the kona/ BM card handle. the procedure is basically put the HDV clips into a _HDV_ TL, set the card to down convert, and away you go. you might want to set the TL TC to match the first clip's TC for match back made simpler.

January 27th, 2008, 10:27 AM	#3
Ryan Mueller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Highlands Ranch, CO Posts: 336	Hey Steve, Unfortunately, I do not have a card. Basically I am trying to get some HV20 footage to match up with my XL2 footage. I have captured the HDV footage from the HV20 using the standard HDV capture settings within FCP. The footage is then put through compressor to reverse telecine in order to remove the pulldown and interlacing leaving me with Pro-Res HD footage with no cadence issues. The footage looks incredible once this has been completed. The problem occurs when I try to down-res the footage to SD to put it into my timeline with my XL2 footage. I have tried using the cineform codec to convert the footage, I have tried dropping the footage directly into my timeline, and I have tried a few other methods. No matter what I do, the XL2 footage is always far superior to the down-res'd HDV footage. This project is going to go up on broadcast television, so if anyone could please inform me of a HDV-SD conversion workflow that works well for them, I would be greatly thankful. Thanks again, Ryan

January 27th, 2008, 12:52 PM	#4
Andrew Kimery Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 352	Have you tried setting the HV20 to down-convert and just capture it as SD out of the camera? -A

January 27th, 2008, 01:07 PM	#5
Ryan Mueller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Highlands Ranch, CO Posts: 336	Hey Andrew, That might be an option. How do you set up the HV20 to down-convert? When capturing it automatically switches to an HDV out with the HDV footage. When you set the camera to lock to DV, can you actually capture it as SD? Ryan

January 27th, 2008, 03:53 PM	#6
Andrew Kimery Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 352	I don't have an HV20 myself, but all the other HDV cameras I've used have had some sort of menu setting that would down-convert the signal sent out over FW. -A

January 27th, 2008, 04:49 PM	#7
Chris Harris Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 487	Ryan, Press the menu button, then navigate down to the 'menu' option, then scroll down to 'play/out setup 2', and under DV output, change it to 'DV locked'.

January 27th, 2008, 07:03 PM	#8
Ryan Mueller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Highlands Ranch, CO Posts: 336	Thank you Chris & Andrew for your help! I will give it a try. I should be able to reverse telecine the footage as normal? Well normal for the HV20 anyway? I am new to the HV20. I bought one for my girlfriend for her birthday, so we decided to use it in our production the day she got it in the mail. Haven't really had too much time to mess around with it yet, but as long as the down conversion can keep a clear picture, I think that there may be hope for using this camera along side the XL2. We'll see. Ryan Sorry this post has turned into a thread that may be more suitable for the HV20 section. Wasn't quite sure who to ask.

January 28th, 2008, 12:45 AM	#9
Ryan Mueller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Highlands Ranch, CO Posts: 336	OK! I tried to let the camera do the down-conversion, it did not go so well. I ended up with the same soft image that I was getting with every other way that I tried. So I got to messing around with plugins and found one that actually has a sharpening tool that, I believe, allows me to actually use HV20 24P footage with my XL2 24P footage. Here is a sample with two clips, one from XL2 and the other from the HV20 http://www.rpmproductions.info/video...s/combined.mov What do you think? Ryan