I just converted a bunch of old miniDV tapes from 20 years back. That was easily done with QuickTime player.
Now, when importing the files to my library, FCP tells me that their resolution is 585x480 and not the expected default 720x576. I can easily create a Project with this weird picture size.
My question is: Is manually changing the default DV size to the custom actual size the right thing to do? Is there something I forget here?
Tx
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Claude
Hi Al! Of course, here is what I did:
1- I plug in my old JVC GR-DVL30e videocamera (PAL) to my iMac (Catalina) using a Firewire connection. I need a Firewire/Thunderbolt adapter cable since my iMac has no Firewire socket. Just a detail...
2 - I start QuickTime Player from my iMac.
3 - I launch a New movie recording session from QTP, selecting the DV options.
4 - I press to red recording button then I start playing my tape from the videocam
2 - When the tape is run through, I save the mov file from QTP to the computer
Then I create a new FCP (10.5.2) library, and import the mov file.
In the end, I start creating a Project...
My question relates to the non standard resolution of the mov file saved by QTP: 585x480 instead of 720x576 DV expected by FCP.
Should I manually change the resolution to a custom 585x480 or let FCP use the DV resolution?
Worse, QTP inspector gives me this info about the mov file, a "current size" of 639x480... (see the screenshot below)
I am definitely confused, having 3 alternatives, what resolution should I give to the FCP project?
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Br,
I have just carried out a short test ( PAL ) and can confirm that with quality set to high , H264 , the resolution is the same as yours i.e. 585x480 . With quality set to Maximum I get 720x576 ,ProRes .
I have never used QTP before today to capture DV so have never noticed the difference between the two .
Why the difference I do not know .
By default, Big Sur QT Player displays this for my PAL 4:3 sample .dv.
720x576 is most important (current size is just what it happens to be scaled at. Somehow QT player displays 767x576 instead 768x576 for the AFAIK square pixel size). PCM audio should be 48000 kHz for 16-bit but sometimes 32000 kHz 12-bit audio is used although AFAIK it can provoke audio sync issues. DV is 3.6 MB/s (28.8 Mb/s).
MediaInfo for that file:
General
Complete name : /Users/matti/Desktop/PAL_4_3.dv
Format : DV
Commercial name : DVCAM
File size : 6.87 MiB
Duration : 2 s 0 ms
Overall bit rate mode : Constant
Overall bit rate : 28.8 Mb/s
Recorded date : 2001-12-08 13:11:31.000
Video
Format : DV
Commercial name : DVCAM
Duration : 2 s 0 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 24.4 Mb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Bottom Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 2.357
Time code of first frame : 00:25:43:00
Time code source : Subcode time code
Stream size : 5.83 MiB (85%)
Encoding settings : ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus
Audio
ID : 0
Format : PCM
Format settings : Big / Signed
Duration : 2 s 0 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 536 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 375 KiB (5%)
Looks like 12 bit audio and I'm wondering if the DV was shot using the LP (long play) mode?
At any rate you should capture using the QuickTime Maximum Quality to generate ProRes files that FCPro will be happier with:
High produces H.264 which you currently have.
Not at all sure why the current PAL DV is non-standard, something is afoot.
Al
PAL 4:3 (and 16:9) .dv is 720x576 rectangular pixels. (FWIW iMovie HD 5-6 and some QT versions had a bug that tagged 16:9 Full Quality DV export as 4:3 but that could be fixed by re-exporting the .dv with QuickTime Player Pro 7 with 16:9 flag set).
Anyway, if you want to convert 4:3 .dv PAL to square pixel H.264/265:
Source must be resampled to 788x576 and cropped 10+10 pixels from both sides to 768x576 (or cropped 9+9 pixels from both sides to 702x576 and scaled to 768x576). If there is important material on the sides, leave it at 788x576 or:
Some apps cheat and scale straight to 768x576 but the error is so small that it goes unnoticed unless looked for.
PAL 16:9 .dv to 1920x1080 square pixels:
Source must be resampled to 1969x1080 and cropped with 24+25 pixels from both sides to 1920x1080 (or cropped 9+9 pixels from both sides to 702x576 and scaled to 1920x1080).
http://web.archive.org/web/20140218044518/http://lipas.uwasa.fi/~f76998/video/conversion/
Yes I did. FCP capture is somehow very unstable (FCP hanged or refused to start) and the result very puzzling: FCP sliced a 7 min tapes in tiny file chunks of few seconds each. I suspect this is due to an unstable TimeCode fed by the video cam but I am not sure.
In any way, the file slicing was not convincing and I gave up capturing my miniDV tape with FCP.
QuickTimePlayer was much more reliable and generated a single file.
BTW, without questioning me, FCP decided to give the captured files chunks a resolution of 720x576. I believe this is what Matti recommended me to do.
Tx to all of you for you advices and time!
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Claude
Can you outline a step by step of all the equipment used in the transfer?
Al
Have you tried to capture the tape directly into FCP.?
If you have had problems with capturing into FCP then I can understand why you are trying QTP.
585x480 is a weird resolution for PAL. I guess vertical 480 relates to NTSC and horizontal 585 relates to 702x576 PAL active area (480 x 702/576 = 585).
MiniDV tape format, 585x480 or 720x576
