I typically shoot 30p with the XHA1 and export a 1280x720 file. I am now using a new editing system that gives me an export option of 1080 30p. Can I assume that this is the best export option with footage shot in the 30p mode?

Kinda depends on what you mean by best. What NLE are you using? What are you doing with the exported file?

Using Sony Vegas Pro 11. Thee xported file will go to the web. I then plan on burning a dvd from the file.

No sense at all in up-rezzing footage shot at 720 to 1080. All the missing pixels will have to be invented. DVD is SD so it will get compressed into MPEG2 at 852x480. Most web HD content is 1280x720. There, most sites recommend you export using h.264 to a 1280x720 file at 5000kbps. Keep everything 30p.

When, shooting in 30p with the XHA1, is the camera automatically shooting 720 instead of 1080?

I think you are mixing some things up, the xh-a1 doesn't shoot 720p (1280x720), it shoots 1440x1080.

Normally it's always advised to start your project up with the same resolution as your source and since your NLE changes the pixel-aspect ratio it will look like 16:9, from there you can export to any resolution.

I edit in Edius 5.51 and mix footage from 1920x1080 camera's with my xh-a1 on a 1920x1080 timeline without any problems and out put to 1080p, 720p, dvd or smaller sizes for the web, since the results are great I prefer this method because if I export a photo to print on my dvd covers it has the correct aspect ratio while in a hdv timeline it doesn't.

Ok, so can I assume that exporting 1080p as oposed to 720p will yield better results when uploading to Vimeo or you tube? Do both accept 1080p? I

Only one way to find out :)

I always export to a 720p file with a bitrate of 5000kbs for youtube or vimeo with good results, but I could export to a 1080p file as well, I only don't do this because I feel that 720p is good and sharp enough for internet use.

Exporting to 1080 will result in a much larger file and will take longer to upload... possibly 5 times longer. Very little HD web video is 1080. It's mostly 720. So it's going to be converted sooner or later. Both Youtube and Vimeo have guidelines for preparing video for upload. Go read them.

Thanks for the input guys.

Exporting to 1080 will result in a much larger file and will take longer to upload... possibly 5 times longer.


Are you sure about that? If I keep the bitrate at 5000kbs, does it make any difference then if I output to 720p or 1080p dimensions? The file size should remain the same, it's only the resolution that changes. I can imagine if you want to keep the same visual quality on a 1080p file compared to a 720p file you need to increase the bitrate, only in that case the 1080p will get larger in size but not by 5 times.

Yes. If you keep the bitrate the same then it won't be bigger and take longer. But if you use a larger frame size up, you should probably scale the bitrate up proportionally for equivalent image quality. The 5000kbs bitrate recommendation is for 1280x720.

Like you said most webvideo's are 720p but I see more 1080p video's appear lately, for youtube it doesn't matter if you upload 1080p as they convert to several qualities so you can choose depending on your internet connection and pc speed.
For vimeo I don't know how it works as you just have a hd or sd option, youtube's player seems to be "smarter" as for my internetpc, which is a P4 3,2ghz running linux, it seems to autoselect the best quality and I can play up to 720p video's without any stutter, vimeo on the other hand I always have to deselect the HD option as that is not playable.
I think if you need to be sure that your video is playing on the mayority of pc's and if you don't use youtube or vimeo 360p and 1500kbs is the max you can use, I always use my daughters small 10 inch netbook with a single atom core as a reference and that plays my videos fine.

No sense at all in up-rezzing footage shot at 720 to 1080. All the missing pixels will have to be invented. DVD is SD so it will get compressed into MPEG2 at 852x480. Most web HD content is 1280x720. There, most sites recommend you export using h.264 to a 1280x720 file at 5000kbps. Keep everything 30p.

If the DVD's are being down converted to SD, is there a way to maximize the look of the video. I don't like the footage once I've converted to a DVD. Blue is not an option because not everyone that my product is marketed to has a blue ray. I'm told that the more passes that one does in Encoder, the better the quality of the video. To date, I haven't seen a finished DVD product that looks even close to the DVDs that you rent at the store.

The image quality of the DVD directly related to the quality of the original plus the quality of the MPEG encoder used to create the DVD from the original. You get what you pay for. You can pay for higher quality MPEG2 compressors that will yield better results than the free stuff that comes with your computer or NLE. Still yet, it can never be better than the original. Personally, I found DVDs made from my EX1R were leaps and bounds better than those made from my XH-A1 using the same Compressor presets. Stunningly better actually. YMMV

The current common consumer/prosumer image capture formats (AVCHD, HDV, etc.) are not lossless. Every time you transcode you lose something, even if slight.

Economical encoding software is, well, economical, and while typically very good these days, it not as good as the high end stuff Hollywood uses that we would like to afford. Multi-pass encoding is important for good VBR recordings but what really counts is what is done during each pass. If your encoding software is more than a couple years old, check the new stuff. ( BTW, IMHO the downconvert from HDV to SD firewire output in the XH-A1 is not all that great.)

The captured original sets the limits on resolution. In post you can apply various effects to improve image white balance, sharpness, brightness noise, gamma, etc. to make it "prettier to the viewer." But a better original will give a better final result.

In this day of upscaling DVD and Blu-ray players, HD TV sets,HD home theater projectors, etc. the viewing system and how it is set-up will have a significant impact of the quality the end user sees, and may compensate for overly hot, or unduely flat material on a DVD.

My approach is to shoot the higest available native resolution, use a NLE that allows editing in the native formats I shoot (I use Edius), and do the downconvert to DVD or what ever delivery format at the end of the process.

In the end it boils down to meeting the customer/client/end user's expectations.