Shooting on 16mm editing on Final Cut - What format should I output to?

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Shooting on 16mm editing on Final Cut - What format should I output to?

Hi
Just wondering if you shoot 16mm standard and also on Super8mm is it worth telecining to HD or should I use Beta SP.
At the moment I plan on transferring to miniDV and outputting to Beta SP.
What have other ppl done??

Mac Pro

Posted on Apr 7, 2009 2:14 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 7, 2009 3:31 AM in response to Derville

You could get much better results telecine-ing to 720p24, even with super8 footage,
Capture all that resolution before you process further.

You would loose so much richness transferring to miniDV;
and I don't understand why you would work with Betacam SP,
unless the format is required as a deliverable.

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Answer 2

Derville Author

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Apr 7, 2009 6:24 AM in response to stuckfootage

ok - so that's digitising as HDV.

why is is 720p24 and not 720p25?

I think we need to deliver to Beta SP - how are HDV/Beta conversions?

Are HDV tapes way better than ordinary miniDVs?

btw i live in PAL-land!
thanks

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Answer 3

Apr 7, 2009 6:30 AM in response to Derville

The least-complicated workflow would be to just telecine to your output format. Beta SP is an old format though - it's worth checking if they can take DigiBeta instead.

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Answer 4

Derville Author

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Apr 7, 2009 8:09 AM in response to Jon Chappell

But if i could output to HDV would it look better than Digibeta? or is it much of a muchness...

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Answer 5

Jim Cookman

Level 7

23,447 points

Apr 7, 2009 8:25 AM in response to Derville

FORGET HDV-- it's a terrible format. Telecine to true HD, assuming you've shot super 16, OR have framed for that aspect ratio. Then you could post in true hd, and do a digibeta out, and down the line also have an hd master.

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Answer 6

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Apr 7, 2009 8:27 AM in response to Derville

720p24 isn't HDV...it can be DVCPRO HD or HDCAM. Is it better than BetaSP? Yes, it is HD. But it is the worse format of HD out there. Telecine to DVCPRO HD or ProRes (direct to QT capture). Then you can edit in HD and downconvert to BetaSP when you are done.

Shane

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Answer 7

Apr 7, 2009 10:53 AM in response to Shane Ross

btw i live in PAL-land!

so capturing to 25 would be the way to go, but you might want to slow down the audio
to 96% of the original.

Oops, sorry about my 720p24 comment. Yes, DVCPRO HD or ProRes would be good
as an intermediate codec, and 1080 is a good size for 16mm. If the footage is destined
for BetaSP, then it should 1080i25 rather than 1080p25, if I'm not mistaken.

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Answer 8

Derville Author

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Apr 9, 2009 3:58 AM in response to Shane Ross

OK I've done a bit more research. We need to produce a high quality QT file as a final output. If we telecine to Pro Res - I take it these are QT files which would be on an external hard drive. Would they be 1080 25p because we have shot on film?
As we're shooting Standard 16mm - we would have masked the frame whilst shooting - Do you know what the ratio I would mask to, to make it compatible to HD when i telecine?
Also if I edit FCP using ProRes QT files - what settings would i use to create the final QT?
And is it easy to transfer the QT file to Beta or Digi Beta?
thanks for your help
Btw we're not recording sound and will overlay a track afterwards.
Cheers

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