Combining HD and SD, downconvert HD and output to DVD

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Level 1

69 points

Combining HD and SD, downconvert HD and output to DVD

I would like to mix AVCHD and SD (MiniDV) footage (all PAL 16:9) from two or more camcorders on the same timeline with the sole objective of creating DVDs.

For the AVCHD footage I'm videoing at the highest settings as I might want to re-edit this footage by itself at some stage in the future.

To get the best overall quality for the COMBINED footage I believe that for now I have to 'downconvert' the HD footage?

If so, would it be best to Import the AVCHD into FCE, Export (using Quicktime Conversion) as a Quicktime Movie? If so what, please, would be the recommended Options? In particular, under Video, would that be 'Apple Intermediate Codec' or maybe 'DV - PAL' or ...? Compressor Quality at 'Best' or ...?

For Size, should it be 'Compressor native' or maybe 'PAL 720 x 576 16:9' or ...?

Or maybe there's another, better way of 'downconverting'? Quicktime Pro..?

PS. I don't mind if it runs all night or how much disk space it takes.

iMac 24", 4 GB 3.06 ghz, Mac OS X (10.5.8), FCE 4.0.1

Posted on Jan 13, 2010 3:06 AM

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Answer 1

briantho Author

Level 1

69 points

Jan 13, 2010 10:16 AM in response to briantho

I've been trying a few things and I SEEM to get reasonable results by creating a project with just a clip that has been created from Log and Transfer and then doing an Export using Quicktime Conversion.

For Video Settings I specified DV-PAL, Quality: Best, Scan Mode: Interlaced, Aspect Ratio: 16:9

For Size I specified 'PAL 720x576 16:9' and Deinterlace Source Video.

As I say, the result seems OK on a television but I'm rather inexperienced and if anybody can point me at any better settings (or approach) I'd be really grateful.

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Answer 2

skalicki

Level 5

4,422 points

Jan 13, 2010 10:22 AM in response to briantho

Hi there,

To get the best quality, you should probably combine the SD and HD footage in a DV-PAL sequence in FCE. The 16:9 footage will show with letterboxing (horizontal black bars), but this can be removed by scaling the image up to fill the canvas if you are so inclined (note that this also sacrifices quality).

When you are done editing the footage, hit Option-R to render everything out and then go to +File > Export Quicktime Movie+ to create a lossless file of your original sequence that can be burned in iDVD to an SD DVD.

Edit: Noticed you said you were using all 16:9 footage. Is your SD footage anamorphic? If that's the case you should combine the footage in a DV-PAL Anamorphic sequence instead.

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Answer 3

briantho Author

Level 1

69 points

Jan 14, 2010 2:07 AM in response to skalicki

Thanks for the reply but "scaling the image up to fill the canvas ... note that this also sacrifices quality" is precisely what I'm trying to avoid. By definition writing to DVD gives an SD image so I sort of worked out it might be better to 'downconvert' the HD to SD prior to dragging things onto the timeline. My question was really what options should I use to achieve this and retain the best image quality in the process.

Perhaps as mentioned in my second message here? Or, based on experience, might there be other options?

Thanks in advance.

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