1080i or 720p

nazmac21

nazmac21

macrumors 6502a
I am going to record my friend (who raps) on video camera (to make music videos) but I am not sure what format would be the best for this in iMovie. I am also planning on burning this to a DVD. I have a 4:3 TV and he has a 16:9 TV (if this helps). Also could somebody explain in detail the differences between 1080i and 720p.
 
nazmac21 said:
I am going to record my friend (who raps) on video camera (to make music videos) but I am not sure what format would be the best for this in iMovie. I am also planning on burning this to a DVD. I have a 4:3 TV and he has a 16:9 TV (if this helps). Also could somebody explain in detail the differences between 1080i and 720p.
Click to expand...

The first thing I should mention is that no DVD supports anything higher than 480p. So you won't be able to burn HD. Once the Blu-Ray Mac Pros come out, that will be a different story. But for now, we're stuck with Standard Definition.

Shooting in HD will (in most cases) still produce a higher quality image, even when downrez'ed to 480p. And in order to do this, you'll need an HD camera (which I'm assuming you have). On to the resolution differences.

720p is argumed by many to be a superior resolution. Despite the fact that it has fewer vertical lines than 1080i, it is a progressive frame (hence the p), which means the full TV screen refreshes rather than just part. This means motion is smooth, and it's more film-like.

1080i contains more lines, as I mentioned. However, it's an interlaced format. This means that every screen refresh only changes out every other line- not the whole frame. This will often produce jaggy edges with motion. Some argue that this is in fact less resolution being displayed on the screen at any one time as it's only half the display- but that's an argument for another day.

Anyway, I'd always choose a progressive resolution. It's more filmy, and I'm just better acquainted with it. Here are some more links to read through to fill in the gaps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlaced

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_scan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720p

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080i
 
You'll often find people saying that 720p is better for fast-motion video (sports, etc.) and that 1080i produces better stills and slower-motion video. This may be true (to a point, anyway), but, in actuality, if one were to show a group of people the same video in both formats, very few would notice any differences between the two versions of the video unless they were specifically looking for them. You'll be fine using either format.
 
Use A Sony HDR-HC7 & Final Cut Studio 5.1 UB

nazmac21 said:
I am going to record my friend (who raps) on video camera (to make music videos) but I am not sure what format would be the best for this in iMovie. I am also planning on burning this to a DVD. I have a 4:3 TV and he has a 16:9 TV (if this helps). Also could somebody explain in detail the differences between 1080i and 720p.
Click to expand...
Go to our Sony HDR-HC7 HDV Camcorder thread and learn why that's the camera you want to do this job. You CAN burn HD DVDs with Final Cut Pro 5.1, Compressor and DVD Studio Pro 4 on regular SL DVDs that will playback in HD from any modern Mac. :)

But even if you're going to just produce a SD version with iMovie and iDVD, widescreen 16:9 is definitely the way to go. The beauty of mastering in HDV is that you can dumb it down to DV and it will look way better than from a DV master. Plus you're future proofing your work for when your friend becomes rich and famous and he can sell the footage you shoot now for a lot more money in HD and/or get it on HD only music channels which I am certain are soon to come if not out there already.

This subject is too complicated to expect an answer from one post here. But all your answers are on that new HC7 thread if you take the time to read most of it. Please post any questions you still think aren't answered over there and we'll fill you in. It's a much better place for you to find all your answers than this thread you just started. We are up to 157 posts with over 7,000 views in less than a month. And I have no doubt this is the camera you should use. :)
 
nazmac21 said:
I am going to record my friend (who raps) on video camera (to make music videos) but I am not sure what format would be the best for this in iMovie. I am also planning on burning this to a DVD. I have a 4:3 TV and he has a 16:9 TV (if this helps). Also could somebody
explain in detail the differences between 1080i and 720p.
Click to expand...
Honestly, if I was you I wouldn't really worry about what format I was shooting on right now. If you don't already have a camera borrow a friend's (preferably a MiniDV or HDV camera as the cameras that shoot onto HDDs, mini-DVDs or flash memory aren't very "Mac friendly") and experiment to get feel for how the camera operates. Also keep in mind that there are other aspects that are at least as, if not more, important than the camera. Namely your concept for the video and lighting (audio isn't an issue for you because you'll friend will be lip synching to his own music). No attempt to control/manipulate the lighting is probably the biggest thing that screams "amateur video." You might think about going to the local party supply store and getting creative w/some rented colored lights, mirror ball, and/or fog machine.

I saw a short film once that was shot using a digital still camera's movie mode. The quality was very poor (it was 320x240 source footage projected onto a theater screen), but it was more entertaining than most of the other shorts screened even though it was much lower quality. Content is king, as they say.

If you have specific looks or effects you want to try and emulate from you favorite video feel free to ask "how'd they do that?" and we'll do our best to give you an answer. The suggestion might be made though to buy Final Cut Express as iMovie may be too basic to do what you want.


Xeem said:
You'll often find people saying that 720p is better for fast-motion video (sports, etc.) and that 1080i produces better stills and slower-motion video. This may be true (to a point, anyway), but, in actuality, if one were to show a group of people the same video in both formats, very few would notice any differences between the two versions of the video unless they were specifically looking for them. You'll be fine using either format.
Click to expand...
Actually progressive formats are better for stills and slo-mo because, as pdpfilms went into, they are "whole" images as opposed to interlaced formats which are basically two "half images" shown at nearly the same instant.

Multimedia said:
Plus you're future proofing your work for when your friend becomes rich and famous and he can sell the footage you shoot now for a lot more money in HD and/or get it on HD only music channels which I am certain are soon to come if not out there already.
Click to expand...
Music videos are pretty much given away as promotional devices used to help raise awareness and sell albums. Channels don't pay to air them (if anything a label might actually pay to get their video on the air).

This subject is too complicated to expect an answer from one post here. But all your answers are on that new HC7 thread if you take the time to read most of it. Please post any questions you still think aren't answered over there and we'll fill you in. It's a much better place for you to find all your answers than this thread you just started. We are up to 157 posts with over 7,000 views in less than a month. And I have no doubt this is the camera you should use. :)
Click to expand...
I know you really, really like the HC7, but that doesn't mean it's the right camera for everyone. I think the members of this forum are better severed if we listen to their needs and make recommendations accordingly instead of taking the "one size fits all" approach. :)


Lethal
 
Xeem said:
You'll often find people saying that 720p is better for fast-motion video (sports, etc.) and that 1080i produces better stills and slower-motion video. This may be true (to a point, anyway), but, in actuality, if one were to show a group of people the same video in both formats, very few would notice any differences between the two versions of the video unless they were specifically looking for them. You'll be fine using either format.
Click to expand...

you've got it the other way around... interlaced signals produce very poor stills, while a progressive image is perfect for extracting stills. interlaced is better for fast-motion because you won't get the strobing effect of shooting progressive.


awww.... lethal beat me to it
 
bigbossbmb said:
interlaced is better for fast-motion because you won't get the strobing effect of shooting progressive.
Click to expand...
I believe the strobing effect is a result of frame rate, not of shooting a progressive image. A progressive image shot at 24fps is gonna strobe, but at 60fps it should be silky smooth.


awww.... lethal beat me to it
Click to expand...
I can see how you might have missed it though in my rambling post above.

Do you post at dvxuser.com w/the same user name?


-Lethal
 
pdpfilms said:
The first thing I should mention is that no DVD supports anything higher than 480p. So you won't be able to burn HD. Once the Blu-Ray Mac Pros come out, that will be a different story. But for now, we're stuck with Standard Definition.

Shooting in HD will (in most cases) still produce a higher quality image, even when downrez'ed to 480p. And in order to do this, you'll need an HD camera (which I'm assuming you have). On to the resolution differences.

720p is argumed by many to be a superior resolution. Despite the fact that it has fewer vertical lines than 1080i, it is a progressive frame (hence the p), which means the full TV screen refreshes rather than just part. This means motion is smooth, and it's more film-like.

1080i contains more lines, as I mentioned. However, it's an interlaced format. This means that every screen refresh only changes out every other line- not the whole frame. This will often produce jaggy edges with motion. Some argue that this is in fact less resolution being displayed on the screen at any one time as it's only half the display- but that's an argument for another day.

Anyway, I'd always choose a progressive resolution. It's more filmy, and I'm just better acquainted with it. Here are some more links to read through to fill in the gaps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlaced

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_scan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720p

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080i
Click to expand...

Don't you get 1080p as well?:confused: Wouldn't that be the best quality then?
 
Start out with Final Cut Express for now...the learning curve on everything in Final Cut Studio is pretty steep, so starting out in Express will help you with that. Plus, like Lethal said, focus on content for now...buy the top notch system after your friend starts bringing in the Benjamins.
 
LethalWolfe said:
I believe the strobing effect is a result of frame rate, not of shooting a progressive image. A progressive image shot at 24fps is gonna strobe, but at 60fps it should be silky smooth.

I can see how you might have missed it though in my rambling post above.

Do you post at dvxuser.com w/the same user name?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm on DVXuser. yes 60p is best, I was thinking in terms of my DVX.
 
Yes The Different Resolutions All Play On The Same Set Full Screen

dextertangocci said:
But if I buy a 1080p tv, will it still play 720p and 1080i HD content?

Sorry, I don't know much about tv's:eek:
Click to expand...
Yes all these different rates auto interpolate to fill the screen. Most 1080p sets do that for all but the broadcast receptions which play @ 1080i.

But this Summer sets will begin to hit the market that will auto upconvert the 1080i to 1080p on the fly as the 1080i hits the tuner and also have faster 6ms refresh LCDs. That's Samsung's promise anyway. So if you can wait a few more months, better sets than what are on the market now are due in June-July.
 
dextertangocci said:
Don't you get 1080p as well?:confused: Wouldn't that be the best quality then?
Click to expand...

Electro Funk said:
1080p is as good as it gets right now... although not much true 1080p content out there yet...
Click to expand...

There is a LOT of "true 1080p" content out there. A LOT. Seriously.

1080p24 is routinely sent out as a 1080i60 stream. It's film source material, and by using 3:2 pulldown reversal, the full 24 frames per second are faithfully reproduced on 1080i displays. I don't know whether 1080p native displays (DLP, LCD, Plasma, LCOS etc.) can do 3:2 pulldown reversal, or if less than optimal (but well intentioned) deinterlacing schemes get in the way of showing the highest quality image.
 
Rod Rod said:
There is a LOT of "true 1080p" content out there. A LOT. Seriously.

1080p24 is routinely sent out as a 1080i60 stream. It's film source material, and by using 3:2 pulldown reversal, the full 24 frames per second are faithfully reproduced on 1080i displays. I don't know whether 1080p native displays (DLP, LCD, Plasma, LCOS etc.) can do 3:2 pulldown reversal, or if less than optimal (but well intentioned) deinterlacing schemes get in the way of showing the highest quality image.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately most of the HDTVs out there fail to display a full 1080p image (even if they are sold as 1080p sets), fail to deinterlace properly, and/or fail to properly do 3:2 pull down. Link


Lethal
 
Multimedia said:
Yes all these different rates auto interpolate to fill the screen. Most 1080p sets do that for all but the broadcast receptions which play @ 1080i.

But this Summer sets will begin to hit the market that will auto upconvert the 1080i to 1080p on the fly as the 1080i hits the tuner and also have faster 6ms refresh LCDs. That's Samsung's promise anyway. So if you can wait a few more months, better sets than what are on the market now are due in June-July.
Click to expand...

Samsung already has sets that will upconvert 1080i to p ... i own one... the hls7178w ;)
 
eXan said:
lol, it only requires a TV with 1080p resolution. The screen size is just a physical size of pixels ;)
Click to expand...

I think what nazmac21 was referring to was that you need a larger enough display to be able to make out the added image information that 1080p can provide. You also need to be sitting w/in the proper viewing distance as well.

resolution_chart.png


Lethal
 
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