mixing SD and HDV footage in FCP at DVinfo.net

Dave Lammey · September 28th, 2006, 12:53 PM

I recently got FCP to edit HDV footage. I have a project that has both HDV (FX1) footage and SD footage (VX2000 with 16:9 adapter), and I'd like to edit as if it were all HDV so as to produce a final product in HD, but I understand the FCP timeline does not allow one to mix SD and HDV footage ... is there a workaround? Is there something I could do to the SD footage to make it work on an HDV timeline?

Or if not, is there any word whether future versions of FCP may have this capability?

Gunleik Groven · September 28th, 2006, 01:58 PM

You could just drop the SD footage in an HDV sequence and render out a HDV file to work further on.

Upscaling (and especially to HDV) might not yeild satisfactorey results, though.

Gunleik

Noah Hayes · September 28th, 2006, 05:15 PM

Dave, do you have a Bluray burner? If not, how do you plan on distributing your footage? As someone who has done several (around 6) multicam shoots mixing HD and SD footage.... I'd highly recommend you stick to SD delivery until you get another HD(V) cam before attempting to scale it up to HD. The results will look much more even if you output to a SD DVD. You are able to mix HD/SD footage together in the same timeline in FCP 5.1 (I'm not sure about previous versions). But the footage will have some night and day differences and the VX footage will look painfully different.

Dave Lammey · September 29th, 2006, 07:48 AM

Thanks for the responses, guys ... Noah, I was planning on delivering as SD DVD now, but editing in HD and keeping an HD copy as archive so that I could later sell an HD copy once the HD-DVD / blu-Ray thing is sorted out ... I shoot mostly weddings, and I'd be keeping the VX2000 in the mix only so I could grab it when the lowlight situation made my HD cameras useless (even if the picture from the VX is noticeably softer than the HD images -- the theory being some footage is better than none). Hopefully they will come out with some more light sensitive HD cams eventually ...

so you CAN mix SD and HD footage in 5.1? I haven't had much chance to play around with it yet, that's good news.

Brian Critchlow · October 17th, 2006, 02:03 PM

If you have structured your sequences correctly and properly logged the clips, you can easily replace your SD footage with HD in the future, if your client decides they want an HD version. Stick with SD for now, its a lot easier.

September 28th, 2006, 12:53 PM	#1
Dave Lammey Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Simsbury, CT Posts: 247	mixing SD and HDV footage in FCP I recently got FCP to edit HDV footage. I have a project that has both HDV (FX1) footage and SD footage (VX2000 with 16:9 adapter), and I'd like to edit as if it were all HDV so as to produce a final product in HD, but I understand the FCP timeline does not allow one to mix SD and HDV footage ... is there a workaround? Is there something I could do to the SD footage to make it work on an HDV timeline? Or if not, is there any word whether future versions of FCP may have this capability?

September 28th, 2006, 01:58 PM	#2
Gunleik Groven Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Espa - Norway Posts: 151	You could just drop the SD footage in an HDV sequence and render out a HDV file to work further on. Upscaling (and especially to HDV) might not yeild satisfactorey results, though. Gunleik __________________ Red? Sure!

September 28th, 2006, 05:15 PM	#3
Noah Hayes Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Sterling, Virginia Posts: 226	Dave, do you have a Bluray burner? If not, how do you plan on distributing your footage? As someone who has done several (around 6) multicam shoots mixing HD and SD footage.... I'd highly recommend you stick to SD delivery until you get another HD(V) cam before attempting to scale it up to HD. The results will look much more even if you output to a SD DVD. You are able to mix HD/SD footage together in the same timeline in FCP 5.1 (I'm not sure about previous versions). But the footage will have some night and day differences and the VX footage will look painfully different.

September 29th, 2006, 07:48 AM	#4
Dave Lammey Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Simsbury, CT Posts: 247	Thanks for the responses, guys ... Noah, I was planning on delivering as SD DVD now, but editing in HD and keeping an HD copy as archive so that I could later sell an HD copy once the HD-DVD / blu-Ray thing is sorted out ... I shoot mostly weddings, and I'd be keeping the VX2000 in the mix only so I could grab it when the lowlight situation made my HD cameras useless (even if the picture from the VX is noticeably softer than the HD images -- the theory being some footage is better than none). Hopefully they will come out with some more light sensitive HD cams eventually ... so you CAN mix SD and HD footage in 5.1? I haven't had much chance to play around with it yet, that's good news.

October 17th, 2006, 02:03 PM	#5
Brian Critchlow Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Santa Cruz, CA Posts: 133	If you have structured your sequences correctly and properly logged the clips, you can easily replace your SD footage with HD in the future, if your client decides they want an HD version. Stick with SD for now, its a lot easier.