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Up-Convert DV (Anamorphic 16x9) to HD size (ratio)

Hello Everyone,

I need to up-convert DV (Anamorphic 16x9) footage (originally shot on DVCAM) to an HD ratio... I understand that the footage is not going to be HD, but I need it to be HD Size (ratio) for export to an HD DVD & and for viewing in HD size on the web. I downloaded Red Giants "Instant HD," and I'm having problems getting it to work.

In general, I am super confused as to the interlaced\progressive issue, frame rate, etc.

In short, what is the best way to get this done in the best quality possible, and in what format of HD should I do this? 1280x720p? 1920x1080p? 1920x1080i? or 1440x1080i?

Also, will there be cutting, letterboxing, stretching, etc?

Thanks, as I can not get straight answers anywhere on the web.

Frankie

iMac\ 2.4 Intel Core 2 Duo\ 2 GB SDRAM, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Oct 18, 2012 8:46 PM

Best reply

Captain Mench

Level 6

13,814 points

Posted on Oct 18, 2012 11:06 PM

It really depends on what you want to get out of it. I created a droplet for myself a long time ago from Compressor that worked really well (for ME). Here's what I suggest:

1) Take and afternoon to try different things until you get what you want.

2) Open Compressor and select the SETTING tab

3) Click the CREATE NEW SETTING (plus with arrow) and then QUICKTIME MOVIE and name it SD2HD or something

4) New Inspector window will pop up... select Video: SETTINGS...

5) change COMPRESSION TYPE: to (your pick, but I'd use...) Apple ProRes 422 (LT) and leave everything else the same (OK)

6) Back in the INSPECTOR below the description are a bunch of squares (you're in ENCODER right now) - click on the third one, FRAME CONTROLS

7) Click the COG button next to FRAME CONTROLS: and change the controls then to ON.

8) These next ones you'll need to mess with to get the best settings later... but start with: Resize Filter BEST, leave the others as is.

9) now click the GEOMETRY square and change FRAME SIZE to whatever you want... 1920x1080?? Anamorphic should scale right to that size.

10) SAVE

11) Then, in teh SETTINGS window of compressor scroll down to bottom and you'll see a Custom folder and your setting there.

12) Try small pieces of 10 seconds to see if you like it. Also, 10 seconds gives you an idea of how long it will take... 10 second clip takes 1 minute to convert? Well, then your video will average 6:1 compression time - which is important if you've got kids to take to soccer.

Keep messing with the Geometry size (720 might just be big enough and won't look as crappy) and Frame Controls - Details Levels... Anti-aliasing... etc.

Good luck,

ColMench

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28 replies

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Feb 21, 2013 10:41 AM in response to Frankiejmovies

>Update: we now have the AppleProRes File sized at 853x480 which is 16x9 Anamorphic.

No...720x480 anamorphic is 16:9 SD Anamorphic. What you have is 16:9 square pixels. That is a very non-standard format. Broadcast SD 16:9 is always anamorphic...and FCP is designed to work with broadcast formats. You have a 16:9 square pixel SD format, that is very non-standard.

How did you end up with that format? Why didn't you convert the footage to 1920x1080 60i straight away? Why this intermediate step?

Feb 22, 2013 1:21 PM in response to Shane Ross

I tried to export straight to 1920x1080 60i, but the movie kept coming out 4:3 and not widescreen. The editor that I'm working with told me to just export AppleProRes (current size), and he would take it from there. When I exported the AppleProRes, it kept coming out 4:3. So I read in another forum that it was a QuickTime issue, and it said to open the file in QuickTime and adjust the movie settings 853x480 manually. This made the movie look normal and that is what the editor is trying to make HD ratio, but he is getting interlacing. Anyway, that is where the extra step came from. What should we do from here Shane?

Thanks again for all your help,

Frank

Feb 22, 2013 7:56 PM in response to Frankiejmovies

Actually, Shane, can you please give me the exact settings to choose to export my DV 16x9 Anamorphic in 1920x1080 60i in AppleProRes. And what is the best way to do it? Export directly from my current DV timeline? Or first drop the movie onto a HD 1920x1080 timeline, and then export it. I will be exporting using compressor from final cut.

Thanks,

Frank

Feb 23, 2013 10:42 AM in response to Frankiejmovies

export as a selfcontained qt with sequence settings. Bring this quicktime into compressor. Apply the appropriate prores preset and customize in the geoemetry panel for square pixels and 1920x1080, In the frame control tab, enable frame controls and set resizing filter to best. Do a short test, by setting an in and out in the preview window. Should work just fine.

Feb 23, 2013 12:37 PM in response to Michael Grenadier

Thanks Michael, first, anytime I export using QuickTime, the titles look horrible. Why can't I export right from timeline to compressor? What is benefit of exporting QuickTime first?

Second, what do you mean by "export with sequence settings" exactly?

Thanks again Michael,

Frank

Feb 23, 2013 12:50 PM in response to Frankiejmovies

I was talking if you were exporting from a dv timeline. If not, you can just bring your original dv files into compressor or export from fcp using file: export: quicktime move (not quicktime conversion) with current settings. This will create a bit for bit copy without any loss,

Not sure how the good the quality will be with "sending" to compressor from the timeline. Would depend on your clip settings and your timeline settings.

All I can tell you is how I work which is to convert my sources to match my sequence settings using compressor before I bring them into fcp. Compressor will do a much better job of scaling than fcp.

Feb 23, 2013 5:42 PM in response to Michael Grenadier

Thanks Michael,

I understand your process now, but I still have one major issue. My movie was shot DV 16x9 Anamorphic, and when I export the QuickTime file, it always comes out squished into 720x480 but not Anamorphic. The only way I found to fix this was to open the file in QuickTime, and adjust the video to 853x480, which looked great, but Shane from above is telling me that doing that is not good (I'm still waiting for Shane to get back on that). Overall, the problem is that I cannot find anyone that has up converted DV Abamorphic to HD size; most people out there have done it with regular DV only. Do you know of any setting that will make my Anamorphic export correctly, or something that I can do to the exported file in compressor afterwards to fix this?

Thanks, we are getting close to solving this, and this has been a great discussion that will help many others out there as well,

Frank

Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Feb 23, 2013 8:04 PM in response to Frankiejmovies

Michael is giving you good and proper information...no need for me.

>My movie was shot DV 16x9 Anamorphic, and when I export the QuickTime file, it always comes out squished into 720x480 but not Anamorphic.

That IS anamorphic. Anamorphic is horizontally squeezed...people look tall and thin. Applications like FCP will unsqueeze it to fill the frame, if the footage is tagged as anamorphic.

All the other information Michael has given is right...I guess you just need to grasp what he is saying. Export a Quicktime Movie...choose SELF CONTAINED, and CURRENT SETTINGS, do not recompress. Take the resulting file into COMPRESSOR...use the Settings Michael gave you...and submit.

Feb 23, 2013 10:17 PM in response to Shane Ross

Ok, Shane, so once I take the squished movie that I've exported from FCP, and open it in compressor, is there no setting I must choose for anamorphic? Will compressor automatically resize the squished movie to 1920x1080 without interlacing issues? Also, can I go back to the appleprores file that I changed in QuickTime ("movie properties)" to 853x480 and change it back to 720x480, and open the 720x480 file in compressor and up convert from there? That would save me another export. Or did I ruin the file by changing it to 853x480 inside QuickTime?

Thanks again guys, we are really close to solving this.

Frank

Feb 24, 2013 10:13 PM in response to Michael Grenadier

Michael,

Ok, I followed your steps and once I converted to 1920x1080 in compressor using AppleProRes for interlaced HQ, the only remaining issue is the interlacing problem. When ever there is movement, there is noticeable interlacing that was not present before.

I found one way to make it go away, but im not sure if this fully fixes the problem. I opened the 1920x1080 file in QuickTime, went to movie properties, selected video and checked the deinterlace and high quality tabs, then I saved the file. That fixed everything as far as viewing the movie in QuickTime goes. How does changing settings within QuickTime effect the file overall? And is there a better way to deinterlace?

Also, Shane, you mentioned 60i, but I have never seen an option in compressor using appleprores for 60i or anything like that. Where do I find that setting.

Also, after all this, when asked, will my 1920x1080 file be considered interlaced or progressive, and how/where can one tell if a file is interlaced or progressive in general by looking at its properties?

Thanks for all your help, and get back to me so that we can finally solve this discussion.

Frank

Feb 25, 2013 11:16 AM in response to Frankiejmovies

did you set the deinterlace filter to best and output fields to progressive in the frame controls panel in compressor?

Feb 25, 2013 2:02 PM in response to Michael Grenadier

Ok, will try that and let you know what happens. Thanks.

Feb 26, 2013 6:21 AM in response to Michael Grenadier

It worked!!!! Thanks Michael. Finally! And thanks to Shane and everyone else that helped out. This is a great method for up converting DV to HD ratio.

Frank

Up-Convert DV (Anamorphic 16x9) to HD size (ratio)