HDV Encoding in Streamclip
 

Hello everyone.

I've been experimenting with streamclip and it seems to me that if I encode an .m2t file shot in 720p25 with the "Apple HDV 720p30" codec at 25fps, I can get better results, rather than if I do it with the DVCPro HD codec.
Is this a lossless operation? encoding with the Apple HDV codec...

Now...In editing on FCP, which codec will suit me best (for quality)? I hear that editing in "native" HDV may not work so well when I add filters or transitions. Is that true? Is anyone here experienced?

I don't intend to print to tape...just DVD.

>>> Correction>>> HDV codec is actually worse... I just found out.

Anyway, in order to bring my footage into Final Cut, which is the best codec?

Thanks,
Sergio.

This works for me

AIC
APPLE INTEERMEDIATE CODEC

We've discussed and compared the AIC codec in the FCP forum quite a few times. AIC is considered a "lossless" codec, but the results on progressive sources seems to be much better than interlaced sources. I find that it works very well with HD100 material.
Check out this thread:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=61472

Thanks
 

Thanks, I've searched, yet I haven't found this thread before.
It seems that AIC is very suitable for the job.

I used Native HDV, and Editing wise on a Powerbook G4 1.33 GHZ with 2 Gigs of RAM, it was great. The only time it slowed was rendering with transitions. Native HDV also takes up less space. Other than that, Native HDV has not bothered me.

In my tests I've found that AIC shows a TEENY TINY bit more macroblocking than DVCProHD/JPEG75%/Uncompressed 8bit codecs. If anyone's interested I could upload some frames, but it's more like looking at the footage through a microscope and that's not really practical. I now use AIC as apposed to DVCPRoHD for two reasons:

1.) It takes up less space by around 70% (roughly)
2.) It maintains the full frame of 1280x720 instead of pixel shifting.

When closely examining the footage, AIC is not my favorite, but it gets the job done very nicely in real life applications.

Final thought: Cineform for Mac where are you??

It's been rumored to be in the works for some time now.