Any way to get progressive from a FX1?

Sunflux wrote on 10/25/2008, 5:14 AM
I've had the Sony FX1 since it first came out, and have just lived with always having to deinterlace its output for use on the web. However, lately I am less and less satisfied with the results, especially compared to how crisp the original 1080i footage is (and played back with a *capable* deinterlacer).

So, I guess my question is two-fold. First, is there any way to get actual progressive output from the FX1. I know there's that "cineframe 24" thing, however I had been under the impression that it was generally useless.

Second, is there a better way to deinterlace. Vegas' deinterlacing is sooo basic and unacceptable. Playing back the original M2Ts on my PC or through the PS3 on a 1080p display looks so much better - and that's done realtime!

For my latest project, instead of rendering direct to my final resolutions I'm rendering out to 1080i M2T and then batching my final resolutions in TMPGENC - I'm getting much sharper looking output at the same bitrate using its adaptive deinterlacer. Even steady scenes with no movement have finer detail, so I don't know if it's also doing a better job of resizing.

Has anyone heard whether Vegas will ever come with a better stock deinterlacing solution? Something motion adaptive would be nice.

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 10/25/2008, 7:49 AM
> I know there's that "cineframe 24" thing, however I had been under the impression that it was generally useless.

Actually you can get quite stunning 24p if you use CineForm's NeoHDV (or Connect HD) to capture and convert to "real" 24p. It will remove the funky pulldown that Sony implemented and leave you with a true 23.976 fps files.

> Vegas' deinterlacing is sooo basic and unacceptable.

That's why Vegas has a plug-in architecture. Feel free to get another deinterlacer and try it. I would start with Mike Crash's free Smart Deinterlace. (It looks like the links on that page are dead but at least you know what to look for)

As for standalone applications, DVFilm Maker has an excellent deinterlacer. They have examples on their web site and a free demo so you can process some footage and see for yourself.

~jr
bsuratt wrote on 10/25/2008, 8:36 AM
JohnnyRoy,

At one time I recall you saying you were getting good downconvert from HDV to SD. Are you using the Mike Crash deinterlacer? Any new advice on this subject? (I'm still plagued with some "frizz" on fast moving objects as well as striping on horizontal lines.)


JohnnyRoy wrote on 10/25/2008, 8:57 AM
I was not deinterlacing. I've downconverted in camera which is very camera dependent. The Sony Z1 does an excellent job at downconverting. Mostly these days I shoot 1080-60i and edit HDV and output to Blu-ray (if the project is for me) and SD DVD (if the project is for someone else). Again, I don't deinterlace, I just use the DVD Architect DVD Widescreen template and it does a great job.

~jr
corug7 wrote on 10/25/2008, 10:40 AM
Mike Crash's deinterlacer is very good, indeed. Also, Cineframe 30 does a fine job of deinterlacing and doesn't add the funky pulldown, but you will lose some resolution over 1080i. There are some decent hardware deinterlacers out there, but you'll pay more for them than you paid for the camera.
Sunflux wrote on 10/25/2008, 4:35 PM
> Actually you can get quite stunning 24p if you use CineForm's NeoHDV (or Connect HD) to capture and convert to "real" 24p. It will remove the funky pulldown that Sony implemented and leave you with a true 23.976 fps files.

The only problem with that is you're stuck using Cineform compressed files, right? I do fairly complex projects, and for years I hit memory walls rendering when using AVI files... but ever since I switched to editing M2T on the timeline that's gone away.

How exactly do the plug-in deinterlacers get added to the workflow?