HD to SD Downconvert process

[Saul Moreno]

I have a post in the Weddings column asking if the XHA1 is a good camera for weddings, in one of the replies they brought up a good point about taking the HD video to SD. I

Can you all tell me what your process is with taking the video from HD to SD? Is it a lot lengthier process? if so about how much longer? Is there extra software that is required for this process?
I am using currently PP2.0, AE, Encore.


Here are my computer specs if anyone was wondering.
MSI P6N SLI Platinum
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (Planning on upgrading to Quad Core soon)
2GB 800mhz Patriot Extreme Memory
BFG 6800gt 256MB (Planning on upgrading soon to 8800GTS 768MB)
NEC DVD Burner


Thanks for the help, Saul

[Herman Van Deventer]

Saul ,

Jason Livingstone has posted the fundamentals on this issue.

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.ph...hlight=tmpgenc



Herman.

[Ken Wozniak]

The XH-A1 will downconvert in-camera. See page 109 in the user's manual. This is a big time saver.

[Ervin Farkas]

Originally Posted by Ken Wozniak

The XH-A1 will downconvert in-camera. See page 109 in the user's manual. This is a big time saver.

Timesaver? I don't know... But it's a good quality killer for sure! Just check the thread quoted above.

[Thomas Smet]

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

Timesaver? I don't know... But it's a good quality killer for sure! Just check the thread quoted above.

Only if you down convert in camera to DV. If you down convert to SD and pump it out via Component or SDI then you get much better results. I sometimes capture uncompressed SD files from a HDV tape and the results are very good and lightyears better then DV. You do not have the same level of control as being able to pick the math formula used to resize but the down convert does look very good and it is fast so you do not have to wait to render. A 60 minute tape will take 60 minutes to get uncompressed SD material.

[Ervin Farkas]

Correct - my answer reffers to DV compression; I am sure this is what the original question is. Few people have the computer resources to work with uncompressed video...

[Marco Wagner]

So is in camera down convert worse than down conversion in post?

[Ervin Farkas]

It is and it is not. When I said in-camera downconvert yields a lower quality picture than resizing in post, I was reffering to capturing the downconverted video in DV format via firewire. What Thomas mentioned is another way of doing it, if you have the hardware. You can record to tape in HDV format, than play it back in DV format (in-camera downconvert) and capture not via firewire but analog component or SDI.

The difference is huge (from what I am reading -never tested myself). Some claim a near 4:2:2 sampling for the resulting digitized video, as opposed to 4:1:1 in case of standard def NTSC DV. And this is where the real advantage of shooting HDV and processing/delivering standard def shows up giving you not only a better looking video but also one that can withstand heavy effects and not show generational loss. You need to have the horse power though... it's one thing to work with 25 Mbps DV and another one to work with 125Mbps uncompressed video.

[Marco Wagner]

hmmm, looks like I'll be starting with HDV and downconverting with some app.

[Ervin Farkas]

I don't see why you would not do it. I started playing with it and never shot another minute of standard def ever since! Once you get over the initial learning curve and establish your workflow, you'll love it and unless you do heavy effects and multiple layers, you don't need a $5K computer. I edit natively in PremPro - get this: with an ordinary Dell office desktop (P4 @ 3GHz/1GB RAM)!!! - and only downconvert the finished M2T file via VirtualDub for outputting on standard def DVD.

The quality jump is really rewarding! See http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=70792 for other workflow options.

[Ken Wozniak]

What I've done hasn't looked that bad...to me at least. Of course, the SD footage I'm used to seeing is from an old D8 Sony.

So, if it makes me feel any better about my eyes (and it does), I'd say the A1 downconverted footage looks better than old Sony D8 footage.

[Ken Wozniak]

One more thing. I've never had the luxury of watching my footage on a GOOD monitor. That would make a huge difference, I'm sure.

[Yunisbel Marrero]

I shoot everything in HDV and import and edit as HDV. then use Sony Vegas to downconvert to SD, everything comes out really nice, good color and good PQ. Almost HD quality, when using Vegas and DVD Arch, I only have to compress once, that why it keep good quality. I try to keep the DVD between 6 and 8mbps and the sound separate.

[Ray Bell]

Cineform makes it very very easy...

see if this helps you

http://cineform.com/products/TechNot..._and_scan.html

and this one too

http://cineform.com/products/TechNotes/Export2DVD.htm