Im pretty new to HV20 and HD in general; but I took some footage of my daughter chasing a balloon and movement is very pixilated. I know the lighting was not ideal; but I think something may be wrong in the capture process. The footage looks fine on my HDTV via HDMI, but when I import using AIE (1080i60 EasySet up) via Final Cut Express HD, it comes out pixilated. Am I doing something wrong? I recorded in HDV (not 24p)

Thanks!

Here is a short clip, I have the entire 1 minute file is someone is interested; but you can see a bit of what I'm talking about in this 10 sec. clip:

http://homepage.mac.com/WebObjects/FileSharing.woa/wa/default?user=brucefamily&templatefn=FileSharing16.html&xmlfn=TKDocument.16.xml&sitefn=TKSite.7.xml&aff=consumer&cty=US&lang=en

are you talking about the interlacing? i don't see any pixelation

I think so...Am I correct that this is normal and would have to be removed somehow from all footage taken with the HV20?

EDIT:
I've done some more searching (probably should have done before posting...sorry) I think my footage is interlaced. Am I correct that this is normal to see on a computer screen without some sort of "deinterlacing"? I guess this means if I have footage that some will play back on a monitor and some will watch on a TV, I have to create 2 versions?

Sorry for the newbie questions...I'm still learning.

if you play the footage in VLC player, under video> deinterlacer> click "blend"

you will not see interlacing on a tv, but you will on a progressive monitor. in order to get the true 24 progressive on your footage, you have to remove pulldown with a program like AE.

Thanks Adam..but I didn't record in 24p. I recorded in the standard HDV mode (which I believe is 30fps)...am I missing something (quite possible)

The camera only outputs in 60i (30frames interlaced), even if you record in 24p in which case the 24p is contained within the 60i "wrapper", so what removing pulldown refers to is the removal of that "wrapper". If your end product is simply to go to dvd in standard def then you don't really need to go progressive and for playback on your pc then vlc player will take good care of you with its ability to de-interlace on the fly.The nice thing is that even if you record in 24p and do not remove the pulldown you will still retain that "film" look since what the pulldown is doing is duplicating a few frames here and there to bring it up to the 30 frames that the HDV "wrapper" needs to use to record to tape. So if your not making scripted movies as such and just using it as a home video cam for the kids then you dont have to worry much about dealing with pulldown and progressive. Having true 24 frames progressive is a something you want if you are adding alot of effects work to your video in editing. Right now removing the pulldown is very much possible but for the most part more difficult than it needs to be at the moment due to a few factors that you can read about elsewhere in these forums. Hope that help's clear some thing's up for ya.

If you are just recording in regular HDV mode then yes your footage is definitely interlaced, and yes you will definitely see tons of motion artifacts on your computer screen unless you deinterlace. Some people might describe it as 30fps, but really it is 60i (60 interlaced frames per second which is some ways like 30 full frames per second). If you need more detail on 60i or interlaced video, I would direct you to wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlaced as it will probably give you a clearer definition than I could.

you can also view it deinterlaced or as a single field in quicktime, open the movie in quicktime, click on the window menu->show movie properties, click on the video track, then visual settings, and at the bottom you will see 3 check boxes- high qual, single field, and deinterlace. when you check/uncheck them with the movie open you will immediately see the effects, i recommend playing with it.

also if you do deinterlace it all it will still work fine on a tv, albeit not quite as smooth. deinterlaced footage is essentially the same as the cams that have a "frame" movie mode, like the xl1s etc... the bottom line is to just play around and figure out what you like best, and what your final product is more likely to be. personally i shoot everything 24p and remove pulldown, because everything i do goes to the web or to dvd