Urgent please help with capturing XL2 footage

[Alex Nazari]

When I digitalize footage that I've shot with the XL2 the quality is HORRIBLE

What am I doing wrong?

XL2 shot at 24p 16.9 2.3.3.2 pulldown

capturing with DV NTSC Easy Setup in final cut pro 7

the footage looks very pixelated and not high quality at all, here is an example.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/21/picture1xnk.png

you can see the pixelation I'm talking about on his face.

Thanks!!

[Ryan Chaney]

I don't think the issue is with how you're capturing, but rather it's with the lighting in the shot. I don't know the technical reasons behind it (color sampling maybe?) but in short DV cameras simply look terrible if they're shooting oversaturated red lighting... In my experience it just is what it is, unfortunately.

I shoot a ton of wedding receptions and whenever I encounter strong red lighting I just grit my teeth and brace myself for the resulting cruddy footage. =(

[Alex Nazari]

thanks for the quick response ryan I hope I'm doing something wrong cause everything I capture really just looks horrible!

heres another example if you look at the little tree in the middle or the tripod legs you can see the pixelation I'm talking about.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/4526/picture3bm.png the lines just dont look clear and crispy looks disgusting when I look at the footage on the viewfinder it doesn't look anything like this

THANKS!

[Richard Hunter]

Hi Alex. Going by the appearance of the shots, I would bet that the pull-down is not being done properly. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with FCP so cannot advise you with that. Except maybe you could try shooting something in interlaced and see if there is any difference. That might help to confirm whether it is the pull-down that is causing it.

BTW, the outdoor shot also looks very soft. Are you using the ND filter on the camera? If not, that would explain it.

Richard

[Ryan Chaney]

That second image of the tripod/tree shows that there's something else going on, other than the issue specifically with red lighting that I mentioned before. I agree that maybe it's something to do with the pulldown in FCP. If your Easy Setup was set to DV-NTSC 24p (23.98) then try setting it to DV-NTSC 24p (23.98) Advanced Pulldown Removal, or vice versa. Good luck!

[Matt Newcomb]

I don't believe any of the easy setups work with the 2:3:3:2 pull down. You have to manually set it to that in the capture window. At least on 5.1 you had to.

[Alex Nazari]

i was guessing it might be the pulldown i tried setting it up in the easy set up but that didn't work. lets see if it works in the capture window

thanks again!

[Matt Newcomb]

Red is a troublesome color for the XL2 though. I shot a lady in a red dress in broad daylight and the dress looks all pixely like that, and the only thing I could really do is desaturated the reds a little in post. So you might want to give that a try as well.

[Alex Nazari]

It's so weird though. How come it doesn't look like that in the viewfinder, or on a monitor?

[Matt Newcomb]

I think it's just the nature of the color on computer monitors. I've seen it before when people use red for their credits so I don't know if it's a specific problem to the XL2, maybe it just records the reds hotter than most cams.

[Richard Hunter]

Originally Posted by Alex Nazari

It's so weird though. How come it doesn't look like that in the viewfinder, or on a monitor?

Have you solved it yet?

Richard

[Doron Hazan]

are you using firewire?

[Michael Nistler]

Yes, I agree with everyone regarding the red light issue. Next time you can either crank down the red in your camera settings or just deal with it in post.

Regarding the pixelation and possible capture setting issue, you can quickly isolate the problem by connecting your camera directly to a monitor via your video cable. We should never put much reliance on the puny XL-2 viewfinder except for framing/focus; in fact, consider purchasing an external 7 inch monitor that mounts to your hot shoe - you'll find them sold used for around $350.

Good luck, Michael

[Ryan Mueller]

Hey Alex,

If you still have not resolved your problem, let me know. I have the remedy to what ails your footage:) Can't fix the reds for you, unfortunately that damage was done by the lighting like everyone else has said, but I can definitely fix your interlacing problem.

Ry

[Nathan Gifford]

I would check my settings when I am recording. Gain and f-stop can have a large impact on noise in the video. Also you might try doing a manual white balance.