What Capture/Export settings will produce the best image quality using FCP

Using the basic setting you quote will result in the highest quality.

It can be argued that converting or capturing your footage as ProRes 422 will help maintain the quality after multiple operations of adding effects and colour correcting.

However, don't hold your breath, as many of these "improvements" will be so marginal that you will probably never notice the difference.

The best thing is to try both with short test projects involving maximum use of tracks, effects and colour correction to see if you can see any difference . . . chances are, you won't.

I'll put forth the opposite opinion. Convert the footage to prores. At the very least do a color correction pass using a calibrated external monitor. Guaranteed it will look better.

HANG ON!

I was a little suspicious of your first post and your second is even more ambiguous and contradictory.

You said the footage was shot at HDV 1080/60i and later you say "that's better than the 25fps of the captured clips".

It sounds as though you are shooting at 25fps (1080/50i) and trying to put it into a 1080/60i sequence.

If it was shot at 1080/50i it must go into a 1080/50i sequence.

Where are you in the world? (60i is the US system and 50i the European)

Neither one is better, you simply have to use the correct one.

I suppose you could argue that a higher frame rate will give slightly smoother action but what about the folks who shoot at 24fps and even worse . . . . progressive.

30fps will also fill up your tapes/memory cards quicker.

I've just checked and New Zealand uses the "European" PAL system which is based on 25fps .

Your camera should be shooting 25fps unless you bought it in America etc. which use the 30fps NTSC system.

That's weird.

Anyway, it's obviously shooting 25fps as FCP is detecting that it is not 30fps.

So you must use the 1080/50i sequence preset.

FCP is always correct when it warns you that you have the wrong sequence settings.

Like most HDV camcorders, the Canon DV40 can down covert to SD. If the box and manual indicate PAL, then that is the SD format that it down converts to (480i50). I have not used a DV40 in years, but the SD down conversion should be available via FireWire out and analog out.

So, the packaging and manual are correct and the interpretation is incorrect. :)

Be sure that the camcorder is set to 1080i50 and that FCP is set to 1080i50.

Did you find the Easy Setup for Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i50? That one corresponds to your device. You could create a custom ProRes setup, but you probably do not need it.

-Warren

I have been using the HV20 which is mechanically identical to the HV30/HV40 for the last 4 years and tested it with both AIC and ProRes 422.

However, there was no discernable difference in the final video from using the native HDV so I stuck with that and produced many incredibly sharp and naturally coloured films.

Yeah, HDV 1080i60 is fine.

I've found it helpful to consider what format is needed for the edited master.

If you need to print back to HDV tape, then cut a HDV timeline.

If you're not going back to tape, consider AIC or ProRes.

Of course, there are other things to consider (and maybe fret about) with native HDV (like the long GOP file structure of an intraframe compressed format with 4:2:0 color sampling), but if that was _really_ a worry then HDV wasn't the way to. But, when all is said and done, as long as you're telling a good story, HDV is as good as AVCHD which is as good as DVCProHD which is as good as AVC-Intra which is as good as Red which is as good as Fisher Price Pixel Cam. Okay... I'm rambling.

-Warren