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Editing HDV for DVD (what capture codec)

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Chaos123x

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2008
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I am shooting a project on HDV that in the end will be on DVD.

If I shoot HDV what formate do I capture and edit with?

I was thinking of capturing in native HDV but set my rendering to ProRes.

I'm looking to speed up render times and not have huge files.


Wanted to get some advice so should I capture Native HDV? Pro Res? intermediate coded? DvcPro HD? or since I am outputting the final project on DVD would the DV codec work?

So let me know what I can do to get fast render times and still have a quality image.
 
r.j.s

r.j.s

Moderator emeritus
Mar 7, 2007
15,026
52
Texas
If the only end product will be DVD, I'd shoot DV. (Only if I KNOW DVD will be the only result)

Why waste all that time and energy converting between HD formats when SD will be the result?
 
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Chaos123x

macrumors 68000
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Jul 8, 2008
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True but does it not look better when you shoot something in HD then down convert to SD? I have a DV mode on my camera so I can shoot in DV, not sure if it will look better or worse when it goes to DVD.
 
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Chaos123x

macrumors 68000
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Jul 8, 2008
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Yes, I am using firewire.

Would DV shot with same camera look the same on DVD?

I am using the el'cheapo Sony HD1000U for this. :cool:
 
LethalWolfe

LethalWolfe

macrumors G3
Jan 11, 2002
9,370
124
Los Angeles
All other things being equal it should look better, but it's not always the case as you have to careful in process the footage so you don't accidentally mess something up. Even if you just wanted to work in SD I'd still shoot in HD because that gives you the chance to reframe the shoot w/o losing image quality.


Lethal
 
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TaKashMoney

macrumors 6502
Jul 15, 2005
298
0
Hey I dont mean to hijack the thread, but what benefit does changing the render setting to ProRes offer?

Will hardware and drive speed requirements and/or render times go up significantly from HDV?

I am currently editing a lot of things in HDV and would love to know!
 
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Chaos123x

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2008
1,698
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TaKashMoney said:
Hey I dont mean to hijack the thread, but what benefit does changing the render setting to ProRes offer?

Will hardware and drive speed requirements and/or render times go up significantly from HDV?

I am currently editing a lot of things in HDV and would love to know!
Click to expand...

I think it makes rendering faster and less lossy while maintaing the small file sizes of HDV.
 
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TaKashMoney

macrumors 6502
Jul 15, 2005
298
0
Hmm now what are the benefits/drawbacks of just capturing in HDV over ProRes?

This is all a little confusing to me, so is the following correct?

Capturing in HDV:
Small file sizes, real time capture

Capturing in ProRes 422:
Much larger files, lag behind camera for capture

Render set to HDV:
Longer rendering times, poor color details 4:2:0 (?), and codec breakdown with effects/transitions

Render set to ProRes 422:
Quicker render times, better color 4:2:2, no breakdown with effects/transitions


So the best of both worlds seems to be to capture in HDV and set render setting to ProRes. Now, what should the sequence setting be? In Final Cut Pro > Audio/Video Settings > Sequence Setting Tab should I set it to HDV or Apple ProRes 422?

Thank you so much everyone!
 
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Chaos123x

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2008
1,698
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HDV advantage is the files sizes are small.

The disadvantage is that it has long render times and it's GOP (not great for editing in the first place).

ProRes files are huge compared to DV or HDV (but small compared to uncompressed HD)

ProRes is supposed to render stuff fast.

As far as I can tell though ProRes is no where near as fast as editing in DV.

Kinda bummed actually it makes my Octo Mac Pro feel like my old G5 again. :mad:
 
CaptainChunk

CaptainChunk

macrumors 68020
Apr 16, 2008
2,142
6
Phoenix, AZ
As far as I can tell though ProRes is no where near as fast as editing in DV.

Kinda bummed actually it makes my Octo Mac Pro feel like my old G5 again.
Click to expand...

Editing ProRes can be every bit as fast as editing DV on an 8-core MP, provided that you have reasonably fast hard drives. The CPUs are not the bottleneck.

No complaints here, even when I edit out in the field on a MBP attached to an external RAID-0 scratch disk over eSATA. Sure, if I had a 7,200-rpm single-disk drive connected over FireWire, the performance difference is significant.
 
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Chaos123x

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 8, 2008
1,698
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Will a software Raid work?

I am kind of wary of hardware raids they ruined my life and credit 9 years ago in Premiere/Windows land. (long story lol)

The Apple hardware raid seems too expensive anyway.

I mean FCP does not use all 8 cores so I doubt the little bit of processing power to do the software raid is gonna kill it. right?



Also did a test capturing HDV as Prores, editing and sending the sequence to compressor, through a DVD preset on there, and the result was god awful, i think the field order was off, I had interlace artifacts out the wazzo. Not sure what settings I need to change. The DVD would not even play back right on my XBOX 360.

Tips?
 
LethalWolfe

LethalWolfe

macrumors G3
Jan 11, 2002
9,370
124
Los Angeles
I wouldn't trust the software RAID because if your OS fouls up the RAID is history, and yes the Apple RAID cards are overpriced. You'd definitely want to got 3rd party for that.


Lethal
 
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