Neo 2K HDMI Capture Canon Hv20 4:4:4 Color space

[Carl Fuermann]

I am testing the following: HDMI capture from HV20 via Cineform Neo 2K with final output to 35mm film.

Currently I have Sony Vegas 7.

How do I make sure I am using the 4:4:4 colorspace? This is what I currently have the capture settings at:

Type: AVI
Quality: Film Scan 2
Frame Format: Progressive
Frame Rate Change: Remove 3-2 pulldown

Does Film Scan 2 automatically use the 4:4:4 colorspace?

In Vegas when I render what options should be checked to provide the best quality? Currently I am using the following:

1) Use Video Systems RGB on both encode and decode
2) Enable 4:4:4 encoding
3) Film Scan 2

Finally, Will I get better quality by using a different editing program than Sony Vegas or by going with Vegas 8?

Thanks for any help with these questions.

[David Newman]

HV20 is only 4:2:2 over HDMI so we do capture that way. While up converting to 4:4:4 is technically possible, the compute requirement nearly doubles for no invisible benefit at this stage. Once within your NLE the 4:4:4 rendering ability will help, particularly with any additions like effects and titles. Currently the 32-bit float support CineForm files is only offered within the Adobe products, so that is the only main downside to Vegas (7 or 8.) Vegas 8 does offer 32-bit processing upon decoded file, which helps if you do all your work in Vegas 8 and export to CineForm 444 for your completely project.