View Full Version : What capture resolution Should I Use


Tim Palmer-Benson
July 3rd, 2009, 10:14 AM
I have an XHAI and XLHI and have been capturing in Apple Pro Res at 1920 x 1080. However I am wondering if I should instead be capturing in 1440 x 1080 since this is the true resolution of the CCDs

Also I am wondering how I should be capturing from an HV30....I use the HV30 as a deck to import my tapes. I have been doing it with 1920 x 1080. After reading a bunch of posts I have become alarmed that I am doing things incorrectly!

I'd like to use the HV30 as a second camcorder in my productions. If I shoot in AV at its fullest resolution and in 601, should I again be capturing in 1440 x 1080?

Tim

Robert M Wright
July 4th, 2009, 09:40 AM
1080 line HDV is recorded as 1440x1080 (CCD pixel count is not the issue). There's no point in resizing to 1920x1080, while transcoding, during capture.

Tim Palmer-Benson
July 4th, 2009, 10:00 AM
So, the cameras I am talking about are really 1440 x 1080 cameras not full 1080 p capable cameras...right? I found an interesting Wikipedia on this.
1080p - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p)

Since posting my question, I have been looking at the clip properties in the timeline and in the browser. I see 1440 x 1080. So by importing at the higher resolution, have I just wasted processing time/effort and nothing else? No detrimental effects to the captured video?

I also looked in the "distort" properties in Motion tab for the same clip, but I don't quite understand what I am seeing there.

Tim

Robert M Wright
July 4th, 2009, 10:32 AM
Yes, if you are shooting with an HDV camera, you are recording 1440x1080 images (unless shooting 720p with JVC's cameras). You are deteriorating the image (if only just slightly) by resizing (but not as a practical matter). Resizing to 1920x1080, while transcoding, will take more CPU power for the encoding and result in larger files (to get the same quality image you could get at 1440x1080), with no benefit.