Best HD to SD conversion?

Ben1000 wrote on 6/25/2006, 10:29 AM
Howdy...

If I have some HD and I want to deliver on SD, is it better to:

1) Capture HD, place in SD project to edit, then export

or

2) Capture HD, edit in HD project, export to SD settings?

Thoughts?

Best,

Benjamin


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Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 6/25/2006, 10:31 AM
If you only plan on going straight to DVD, might as well let the camera downconvert to DV for you (assuming you've got a Sony cam).
Or, if you want to recompose footage/pan/crop then you need to capture HDV.
Or, if you plan on delivering HD later, you need to capture HD.
Ben1000 wrote on 6/25/2006, 10:51 AM
Hi, Douglas...

It often seems like you don't really read my posts before replying (although I appreciate the reply). Perhaps I'm just not being clear enough...

My question has nothing to do with capturing, but rather with editing workflow if you already have HD, and you want to deliver in SD...

The question is whether it's better to edit in HD and then export to SD, or rather to import the footage into an SD project, and edit in SD.

My thinking was that it's better to edit in HD, as then all generated media and transitions will be HD too, but I'm looking for arguments on both sides...

Best,

Benjamin
farss wrote on 6/25/2006, 1:34 PM
Unless you're rendering intermediate clips there's no difference. The project settings make no difference to the final output (as far as I know).
So you can drop HDV into a SD project and render to HD to get the same result as if you did the whole thing in HD. The preview window will be affected and so will the default render values, that's all.

Bob.
Ben1000 wrote on 6/25/2006, 1:57 PM
...makes sense, thanks..

Best,

Benjamin
johnmeyer wrote on 6/25/2006, 3:40 PM
I've linked to this before, but I think it is relevant to your question:

My workflow for HDV to SD projects
fldave wrote on 6/25/2006, 9:42 PM
johnmeyer,

It's been a while since I've experimented with your workflow, so bear with me.

When I was doing my HDV-Vegas downconvert vs. FX1 Camera-downconvert, I noticed a difference between the aspect ratios (preview) based on the Project settings.

HDV clip on a SD timeline did not match the same SD clip on an SD timeline.

My choice: HDV clip on an HDV timeline. SD clip on an SD timeline. I got exact matches. HDV on an SD timeline, aspects were wrong.

Thoughts?
johnmeyer wrote on 6/25/2006, 11:42 PM
My choice: HDV clip on an HDV timeline. SD clip on an SD timeline. I got exact matches. HDV on an SD timeline, aspects were wrong.

I never considered putting the HDV and SD clips on the same timeline, so I can't tell you what might happen. I always put them on two different timelines, and everything comes out fine.
Laurence wrote on 6/26/2006, 8:09 AM
One thing I've noticed is that the 704 x 480 mpeg2 files are exactly the same shape (rathere than being slightly wider) as the 1080 format. Rendering a 704x480 mpeg2 file burns to DVD quite nicely in DVD Architect as well.

As far as the project format, both SD and HDV timelines give you the same SD output.
Jay-Hancock wrote on 6/26/2006, 8:24 AM
HDV clip on a SD timeline did not match the same SD clip on an SD timeline.

You can right-click the media in the timeline and edit the PAR (for that particular media file) to override the project settings. That way you can mix SD and HDV footage on one timeline. Did you try this?