Best workflow for 720p and DVD?

[Matt Desmond]

I'm planning on shooting films for computer screen display at 720p. I also want to then put those same films on a DVD later. I'm using Final Cut Pro Studio.

I'm looking to make life simple by only having to capture and edit once and then export it to the above mentioned formats.

Question 1: For best quality of image/motion, should I be shooting at 24f? 30f? 60i? I'm going to be shooting both moving and static cars as well as people. I would prefer to have the films look more like... film. I also want to be able to have some nice slow motion shots.

Question 2: What should I use for FCP import/export settings? I've been mucking around in there but haven't found the best solution yet.

Forgive me if this stuff has been asked before (got links?). There are so many options, it's hard to know what to use and I'm slightly new at this.

[Matt Desmond]

Bump... Anyone?

[Shiv Kumar]

Matt,

The first question that needs answered is what mode to shoot in since you can't change that after the fact. The FCP presets could be a trial and error thing after the editing process.

I don't believe shooting in 24f alone gives you a film look :). Using a 35mm adapter definitely makes video look more appealing and more like film the 24f does not make film look :). Besides, there are a lot of us out there (me included), that still can’t tell 24f from 30f :).

Film look, given all the hardware you could/should use still escapes a lot of us, because it has a lot to do with technique and very little to do with technology. And I don't mean this is a derogatory way but more from what I’ve learned and come to believe.

I’d shoot in 30f. The slow motion shots, if you know up front, I’d shoot in 60.

As regards FCP and presets, I can’t help you here since I don’t have/use FCP. But for web and DVD, make sure to deinterlace when your footage is interlaced. In PPro CS3 deinterlace is on by default. I have a blog post that takes about encoding for the web. You can read it http://exposureroom.com/members/skum...blogs/post/105

[Matt Desmond]

I'm aware that it will take more than a setting on the camera to get a more film like look.

I guess I'll just have to continue experimenting in FCP to get the output looking the best I can get it to look without being a huge file.

Matt

[Bill Pryor]

I'm shooting everything 24F with the XH A1. I capture in FCP's 1080P24 HDV setting.

[Alex Humphrey]

Well I would stick to 24f or 60i, 30f in my opinion should only be for broadcast or internet. Reason? DVD ares 60i but recognize flags for 24p. I have yet to see any DVD player hooked up to LCD or plasma that looked good with a DVD encoded from a 30p source. The DVD player sends the 24p recombined images to the LCD/Plasma and the following 6 interlaced frames are sent sporadically throughout each second. The result is an uneven flexing looking image. So I would recomend mostly using 24f or 60i if you are going to DVD's.

Other things to do is set your ND to it's highest setting to force the aperature open and getting closer to a narrative film look, and keep headshots at a medium to long telephoto to exagerate a narrower depth of field. Save the money that you would spend on a nice lens attachement and instead get some lights, stands, reflectors, and several good mics, and if you are outside plan on a rycote s series zeplin (minimum) or a better windshield zeplin by Rycote or Sennheizer or similar brand.

oh, and a good REAL flud tripd. Manfroto Pro 501 variants, arn't. The mathews 25 is a nice friction pod for under $200 however.

hmmm rereading your post.. I got TOTALY off subject. sorry. Hmmm shoot various scenes and camera movement and such with friends who owe you favors in 24f, 30f and 60i. keep shutter speed 2x your frame rate or more. 24f = 1/48th, 30f = 1/60th 60i = 1/60th. Try not to go past 1/125th unless you want the SAVING PRIVATE RYAN/BATTLE STAR GALACTICA look.

anyway, shoot, capture, edit and burn to DVD each frame rate and play on your friends DVD players and HDTV's. I think you will find that 24f looks the best. 30p would be better if DVD's properly recognized the format. I havn't seen a DVD player that has yet. Now when BluRay burners and players become readily available at K-Mart, then 30p and later 60p would of course be best. That day will come, but it isn't here yet. Again if you are planning on internet only, 30p is fine. Broadcast? 30p is good as well.

[Matt Desmond]

Thanks for the informative post Alex.
It is a conundrum I guess, because I want it to look good for computer displays and also on dvd. I've found that editing 60i takes more time in fcp because you have to do more rendering as opposed to 30f. So 24f may be the solution in the end.

I'm doing a test right now of the 3 modes and will report back when finished.

And I bought a 503 hdv head, which is all I can afford at the moment. I'm hoping it will do for a while.

[Matt Desmond]

So my initial thoughts after making a dvd using each of the 3 modes is that 60i looks pretty bad. Very pixelated, but smooth motion. 24f looks good, but the motion is not 100% smooth. 30p actually looks the best, I think. I still need to test it out on different TVs. Mine is a 720p Samsung.

I had the camera set on 1/250th of a sec in shutter priority mode.

I used compressor and set it on the standard 90 minute dvd best settings.

[Shiv Kumar]

Matt,

Thanks for the info!

Why was your shutter set at 1/250?

[Matt Desmond]

I was juggling matchbox cars and wanted to make sure I could stop them in motion. ;-)

I guess I should try other shutter speeds also to make this a more scientific test...

[Shiv Kumar]

Oh, Ok :)

Yes typically, the shutter speed is double the number, meaning:
for 24f use 1/48
for 30f use 1/60
for 60i use 1/120