Rob Stiff
March 24th, 2007, 10:11 PM
Has anyone converted XDCAM HD Footage to DVCPRO HD format?
I was told by an FCP Apple support guy that some people have had
great results converting XDCAM HD Footage to DVCPRO HD and then
color correcting.
Anyone have any luck expanding the color space
in post to make the footage look better / more colorful?
Nate Weaver
March 24th, 2007, 11:36 PM
You can do the same by doing the CC in a native timeline, and then exporting to whatever (DVCPRO HD, uncompressed, etc).
Doing that though doesn't really gain you anything, if your frame size stays the same. The source is 4:2:0, there are no free lunches. If you're downrezzing to 720p or SD though, you have something to gain by going to a 4:2:2 codec.
Putting 4:2:0 XDCAM HD in a 1080p 4:2:2 codec (like 1080p DVCPRO HD) is putting 7lbs in a 10lb bag, if that describes it any better.
Alister Chapman
March 25th, 2007, 03:23 AM
Going to DVCPRO HD reduces the luminance resolution and the color space, while 4:2:2 is at a lower resolution than XDCAM HD's 4:2:0. You would be better off going to uncompressed. If your then going back up to a full Res HD format for export the extra compression steps will probably negate any advantages you may have gained going to DVCPRO. I have had very good results grading XDCAM, esp with Avid. Avid's color tools seem cleaner than FCP's.