The tale of 5 targas..

[Frank Purtiman]

I am trying the Cineform Aspect HD and am about to purchase, but we ran accross an issue that we are trying to resolve.

I have a question regarding exporting tga files from cineform files in Premier Pro 1.5. I notice a degredation in quality when comparing the monitor window in Premier vs. the exported tga file. I submitted this to Cineform but Thad suggested that I post it here in the forum instead.

Below is the original ticket that was submitted to Cineform:

The tale of 5 targas..

In the Photoshop file that I have placed at:
http://www.smudgeline.com/cineform/

There are six (6) layers in the Photoshop file..

"small" Layer this targa was originated from:
1. Capture m2t file using HDlink
2. Convert to avi with "small" HD file size
3. Avi brought into Premier Pro and exported targa.


"med" Layer this targa was originated from:
1. Capture m2t file using HDlink
2. Convert to avi with "medium" HD file size
3. Avi brought into Premier Pro and exported targa.


"large" Layer this targa was originated from:
1. Capture m2t file using HDlink
2. Convert to avi with "large" HD file size
3. Avi brought into Premier Pro and exported targa.


"qt->ppro->tga" Layer this targa was originated from:
1. Capture m2t file using Lumiere (on a G5 Mac)
2. Uncompressed Quicktime produced with MPEG Streamclip. (on a G5 Mac)
(free plugin from www.squared5.com)
3. Quicktime imported into Premier Pro (XP)
4. Tga exported from Premier Pro. (XP)


"qt->tga" Layer this targa was originated from:
1. Capture m2t file using Lumiere (on a G5 Mac)
2. Uncompressed Quicktime produced with MPEG Streamclip. (on a G5 Mac)
(free plugin from squared5.com)
3. Quicktime exports tga sequence (on a G5 Mac)


"ppro snapshot"
1. Screen snapshot of Premier Pro of the "large" cineform avi of this particular frame.


Results:

A...We did this as a comparison to make sure that there was no preferred way to obtain a superior tga sequence. We were surprised to find
that the "qt->tga" (MAC G5) method produced what appears to be a more pure image with greater detail and less pixelization.

B...The "ppro snapshot" which is simply a premier pro screen snapshot shows a less pixelated image than the targa image that was exported using both field and frame options. Is premier inducing some pixelization?

Take particular notice with his and her shirts.

Are we running into a RGB to YUV conversion issue or a 4:2:2 vs. 4:2:0 issue?
What do you think about the additional pixelization between the Premier Pro monitor window and the corresponding output targa file?

Thanks,

Frank Purtiman

[David Newman]

Did you turn "Video System RGB" off? This control is within the Playback Settings window. There isn't much of a pixelation issue (other then using Low :) ) there is definitely a constrast shift. If you use vsRGB your black level with be at 16, not the tradition computer graphics RGB of zero. Aspect HD my have given you more rope than you need, it is really handy feature to preserve all the dynamic range that this HDV cameras produce (note : traditional RGB clips some of the headroom), yet for standard TGA work you should switch the feature off.