Archiving DV, best settings

[zim]

Hello,

I am looking to archive some of my video work to digital format. These are all finished pieces ranging from 1-5 min (expecting files up to 5GB). I have done some testing using the uncompressed 8-bit NTSC settings and appear to be getting what I am looking for quality wise.. with one exception. All my work is anamorphic and the outputted files are showing my title screens and video squished in QuickTime. I thought, well this is due to them being anamorphic and QuickTime is showing me the true scale as I did not specify 16:9. I also thought that once I put them back into FCP they will look fine.. but they didn't.. they looked a bit stretched (I guess that is the best way to explain it)?

So my question is: does anyone have recommendations on the best settings for creating QuickTime movies of archival quality and yet have them be presented 1. correctly in QuickTime (16:9) and 2. work correctly if I need to bring them back into FCP (say if I had a drive melt down).

Thanks!

 

[TheFuzz]

i archive everything using the PNG codec, it's lossless when you set the quality to 100 and gives much smaller file sizes than animation or uncompressed. it takes a little longer during renders, but i think it's worth it. also, it'll let you export to whatever ratio, where as ntsc forces everything into 4:3.

 

[zim]

i archive everything using the PNG codec, it's lossless when you set the quality to 100 and gives much smaller file sizes than animation or uncompressed. it takes a little longer during renders, but i think it's worth it. also, it'll let you export to whatever ratio, where as ntsc forces everything into 4:3.

I did a test with Compressor and the png was a much smaller file size then the uncompressed 8-bit, the quality was identical too.

Are you exporting with the QuickTime option or Compressor? Compressor appears to be the only way to get to the additional options, such as 16:9. I have no problems using Compressor, I use it for batching for DVD and web, but wish that there was an easy way to do this right from FCP and the QuickTime export.. maybe I am overlooking something.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[ppc_michael]

Just a quick note about your "lost" anamorphic issue: Some Quicktime files are flagged as "anamorphic" and some aren't. I think it's a Quicktime bug, but I haven't found the rhyme/reason to which files are actually tagged as anamorphic.

So if you bring a file in to FCP that isn't interpreted as anamorphic, before you put it in the timeline, you can just check the "anamorphic" box in the browser (you might have to scroll over to find it)

Alternatively, this little application will tag any video as anamorphic:
http://homepage.mac.com/sith33/FileSharing34.html

 

[zim]

Just a quick note about your "lost" anamorphic issue: Some Quicktime files are flagged as "anamorphic" and some aren't. I think it's a Quicktime bug, but I haven't found the rhyme/reason to which files are actually tagged as anamorphic.

So if you bring a file in to FCP that isn't interpreted as anamorphic, before you put it in the timeline, you can just check the "anamorphic" box in the browser (you might have to scroll over to find it)

Alternatively, this little application will tag any video as anamorphic:
http://homepage.mac.com/sith33/FileSharing34.html

Thanks! I would never have thought of checking on that. Checking off the Anamorphic option corrected the content in FCP I ran the Anamorphicizer.app but it didn't seem to fix anything, I wonder if running QT 7.1.6 has anything to do with that. Do you know if there is a way to tell QT to read the file as being anamorphic also?

Thanks again.

 

[zim]

Okay so after some thought I decided that the file that I am creating for archival purposes isn't really for showing off to people, it is mainly for me to go back to in the result of something horrible happening to my source materials. Knowing about the Anamorphic check box in FCP makes using the clip possible in the future. As for playback in QuickTime, I can just output files at an equivalent scale to 16:9 for example, 853x480.

Thanks again!

 

[theWholeTruth]

Why change settings if archiving?

You need your settings to be exactly the same when archiving.

If you are trying to archive your finished edits, Export as a Quicktime Movie, keep
your Settings 'Current' and 'Make Movie Self-Contained'. You can also layoff to tape.

If you need to go back to make changes, as long as you have the tapes or wherever the source media came from, then there is no need to archive your source media. But, if you want to archive source media, just make a clone of your source media in its original format.

 

[zim]

You need your settings to be exactly the same when archiving.

If you are trying to archive your finished edits, Export as a Quicktime Movie, keep
your Settings 'Current' and 'Make Movie Self-Contained'. You can also layoff to tape.

If you need to go back to make changes, as long as you have the tapes or wherever the source media came from, then there is no need to archive your source media. But, if you want to archive source media, just make a clone of your source media in its original format.

My problem has been that I added titled sequences so whenever I export using the 'Current' option, the titles come out looking blotchy and fuzzy.. is there a fix for that? they look good in FCP. I do have the tapes and everything is organized, so yes, I could always reimport content but having a digital high quality version that I could "archive" would be nice.

 

[theWholeTruth]

My problem has been that I added titled sequences so whenever I export using the 'Current' option, the titles come out looking blotchy and fuzzy.. is there a fix for that? they look good in FCP. I do have the tapes and everything is organized, so yes, I could always reimport content but having a digital high quality version that I could "archive" would be nice.

Are you viewing your work on your computer monitor or an external monitor, such as a CRT TV set?

Exporting as 'Current' will give you a direct digital copy of your finished edit. Using a different compression option will, if anything, degrade picture quality.

 

[zim]

Are you viewing your work on your computer monitor or an external monitor, such as a CRT TV set?

Exporting as 'Current' will give you a direct digital copy of your finished edit. Using a different compression option will, if anything, degrade picture quality.

Okay, I feel stupid now... Yes, I am viewing the exported version on my monitor, not the TV, looks fine on the TV. Not sure why I didn't realize that earlier.

Thank you!

 

[ppc_michael]

For the "blotchy" titles, Quicktime thinks it's being smart and is deinterlacing it for you, and poorly at that. You can turn off the deinterlacing by launching QUicktime, choosing Quicktime Player > Preferences, and checking the box that says "Use high-quality video setting when available."

Restart Quicktime (important) and then things should look better.

 

[zim]

For the "blotchy" titles, Quicktime thinks it's being smart and is deinterlacing it for you, and poorly at that. You can turn off the deinterlacing by launching QUicktime, choosing Quicktime Player > Preferences, and checking the box that says "Use high-quality video setting when available."

Restart Quicktime (important) and then things should look better.

Now that one I did not know about! So this solves all my problems now...

For my notes..
1. always remember to review my work on a TV (I think this was covered in video editing 101)
2. turning on the high quality option in QT will make text in DV look pretty.

So that means no more exporting.. I can actually get by with just keeping my source files and making a QT reference to them. In the end I save on space, have access to my video without having to go into FCP, and save by not having to render.

I am soooo happy.. a little sad that I spent all day on this but still very happy

 

[LethalWolfe]

2. turning on the high quality option in QT will make text in DV look pretty.

Nothing makes text in DV look pretty, but you can make it look less bad.


Lethal