Ron

Frame mode has a 25% decrease in vertical resolution when compared to NTSC. Horizontal resolution stays the same. The frame mode versus deinterlacing thing has pro's and con's. Yes, Deinterlacing can give you slightly better resolution, but you also get more motion artifacts. Also, most "smart" deinterlacers take a long time to process, and have a lot of parameters to adjust, making the process even more time consuming. The frame mode just "is".

The xl1s frame mode in my experience noticeably softens the image, whereas the gl1, gl2 cameras show almost no difference. By upping the sharpness a little on the xl1s, I am able to get a nice, acceptable image. Typically, with the gl2, I turn the sharpness down a bit.

Barry

True Barry. I have a custom preset with +2 sharpness, among other things. Don't go to high with it or you'll get nasty grain. Also, sometimes that reduced resolution is a blessing. I'm currently shooting a stop-motion movie, and using frame mode to do it. The images still look sharp, to me, but all the myriad flaws in the clay produced by using it over and overagain are hidden . I tried upping the sharpness, and it makes the flaws more pronounced, even on wide shots.

still confused
 

Resurrecting a really old thread/subject here, but apparently, I just don't get it and need specific advice:

I'm shooting a commercial for tv, my first (as if you couldn't tell), so I called a local tv program manager and asked for specifics. One point he made clear was that the spot should be non-interlaced.

I thought that meant shooting in frame mode on the xl1s, but after reading these posts I'm seeing that anything for tv broadcast should be shot in normal mode--which means it will be interlaced?

Can someone give me some shooting/editing guidelines for this particular aspect, please? I don't want the guy at the station to have to call me because I messed up! BTW, we edit w/ Vegas 4, if that makes any difference.

regradless of what anyone says, on the Canon XL1s, both normal and frame movie mode are interlaced. The difference is that the frame mode has no temporal artifacting because both frames are captured at the same moment in time. Normal NTSC broadcast is, in fact, interlaced, so, I'm not sure what your station guru is saying. The only thing I can think of is to make sure you clamp your color with the NTSC filter in Vegas. Also, be sure your audio signal doesn't exceed -6 Db

Mr. Ravens!

I was hoping you would weigh in on this question. I've been interested in and entertained by your comments from the first time I "set foot" on this forum.

Thanks so much for writing in understandable language. I think I get it!

:o)
thanx
BTW, the last time i was called *mister* i was getting a ticket from a traffic cop, for speeding

a soft-spoken, gentle guy like you, speeding? I can't imagine! ;-)

"I'm shooting a commercial for tv, my first (as if you couldn't tell), so I called a local tv program manager and asked for specifics. One point he made clear was that the spot should be non-interlaced."

However, given the context of your program manager's statements, I believe this person is going for a film look temporaly, which on an XL1 would mean Frame Mode, or the 1/30 shutter speed on Normal Mode. My suggestion is to clarify this with him. Ask him if he is intending for the commercial to have a "film look", and if he is, I would conclude that he is asking you to shoot in frame mode, keeping in mind that other things add to a "film look", such as lighting, pan speeds*, etc.

*if you're shooting in frame mode, or in 24P/30P on a camera like the DVX100, be sure to keep your pans to a slower speed, as in no object should cross the screen faster than five seconds left-right or right-left. Unless, of course, you swish pan.