24p MOV import settings?

johnmeyer wrote on 12/16/2003, 11:07 AM

I just received some Quicktime MOV files taken with a KODAK DX4330 digital still camera. I installed Quicktime authoring and can now import them to Vegas. However, I am not sure of what settings to use in order to best render these into a 29.97 DV AVI file.

Here are the specs on the MOV files:

Attributes: 309 x 206 x 24
Format: H.263
Frame rate: 14.985 (Half NTSC)
Field Order: None (progressive scan)
Pixel aspect ratio: 1.0000 (Square)
Alpha channel: none

Do I just render these using the standard NTSC properties? My goal is to put the output on DV tape and play on a standard NTSC TV set.

Comments

SonyEPM wrote on 12/16/2003, 11:42 AM

For staters, just render using the standard NTSC DV template

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/16/2003, 11:43 AM

First, they are not 24p, they are 15p.
Second, you'll just drop these on the timeline, keep them progressive by setting up a progressive project.
Next, you might want to apply supersampling, a .01 blur, and apply aspect ratio to keep them correct. (they are square pixel vs .9 for DV)
Then render as a normal NTSC file, using the Best setting, and resample the images. Since you'll be upscaling them by 2, you'll have a loss in quality, but it shouldn't be grossly significant.
When shown on a television, the display device will interlace them unless you have a progressive scan TV. But, they should be fine. If not, then allow Vegas to interlace them, lower field first.

johnmeyer wrote on 12/16/2003, 12:02 PM

First, thanks for pointing out my error in the subject line. Don't know how I did that, given that I state in the body of my original post that the video is 14.985 (half NTSC).

I'm getting two opposing views here: Sony says just render using standard 29.97 NTSC template, and Spot says change project settings to progressive, use supersampling, and motion blur. I'll try both and see what I get.

I'm also using the frameserver to serve to Motionperfect and have it create the intermediate frames (this is precisely what this application was designed for).

Spot|DSE wrote on 12/16/2003, 12:06 PM

Here's the deal, you'll get easiest and best results depending on the contents, by rendering to the standard template.
You asked about best quality. I submit, perhaps wrongly so, that you'll get a better image by upscaling as progressive, since that's the original format, and outputting, letting the display device determine the interlacing. But...that could be a problem from display to display. Letting Vegas manage this might be better. Either way, it's a small point in the bigger picture of adding the blur, etc.