PAL 24p DVD

[Danny O'Neill]

Hi, like most im in search of the holy grail of film looks. The one thing im struggling with is the final step of getting it onto a DVD.

Im in the UK so shoot in 1080i 50i 25fps. I edit on a timeline set to match this and render using the default MainConcept MPEG2 PAL DV Widescreen profile.

All works, great. However the final render looks very 'videoey'. Very smooth, very sharp and the framerate looks nothing like I Want it to.

I render at 24fps for Vimeo and that looks exactly how I want the DVD to. However if I render in 24p no matter what I do DVDA will want to reencode it unless I use an NTSC 24p project. And as my clients are in the UK I dont want to use an NTSC project.

Now I know TV programs are shot using the same camera (FX1) and they look better, its just when I put it on DVD I get this very smooth video look

Any advice?

[John Estcourt]

Hi Danny, the best option would be to film in 25p@ 1/50 shutter to start with and then render to 25p which is a legal frame rate for pal dvd because that will give you the motion you are looking for.(very little difference between 25p and 24p)
But to achieve the 'film' look you would also have to adjust the gamma and colour of your video to get away from the video look as imho the film look is more a combination of frame rate, colour/lighting .
I generally choose the frame rate to match what I am filming, if its theatre/ sports i film in 50i because I want the video / being there look. If its short films like some of the stuff ive posted here or weddings , then its 25p.
I sometimes capture and convert straight to 24p from 25p using HDlink if i am going straight to bluray or web.
hope this helps a bit.
john

[Danny O'Neill]

Thanks John, since writing this Ive spend all afternoon playing with different settings and simply rendering in progressive gave me just what I Was looking for.

I had already got the colours sorted and it was just frame rate and feel I was having problems with.