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Exporting .H264 as 576i (Top Field)

We record at 1080i in the studio and master at that res via FCP X, but our final transmission copy MUST be delivered as .H264 25 FPS 575i Top Field.
Try as I might we can find no way to do this using via FCPX or Compressor.
Under those circumstances we have been forced to move to Adobe Media Encoder. Problem is that when I export the 1080i timeline from FCPX as Pro-Res it seems to lose it's interlacing.
Then for some bizarre reason even when exported as .H264 576i in Media Encoder we get a 4:3 file out even though the original is 1440X1080 and the Media Encoder settings are set to 16:9. Get info says that the frame is 16:9 as well.
The same problem doesn't happen on a PC. Anybody got any ideas as to how this problem can be solved?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 3, 2015 9:25 PM

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8 replies

Mar 4, 2015 4:58 AM in response to Brett Ramsey

Hi there!

The export from a FCPX timeline adhere's with it's settings. If your original video clips are interlaced so is the timeline so logically, any export should result in an interlaced video. You can check that by importing your exported video into fcpx, clicking on it and checking its info in the inspector on top right of the application:


User uploaded file

With regard to compressor: could you please post some info on the preset you are using when converting in Compressor? Is it one of the already offered within Compressor or custom? You need to make sure that when you create a custom preset in compressor to leave the field order set to "same as source" for it to produce a result with the same field order as the original.

Mar 10, 2015 7:49 AM in response to Brett Ramsey

It is preferable to duplicate one of the existing H264 presets (the H264 for blu-ray for example) and change the size to 720x576. Since your video is 1080i, 16:9 format the pixel aspect ratio will conform to the correct values for 16:9 PAL. Leave the "Field Order" part as is , i.e. to "Same as Source". Change the bit rate to a reasonable bit rate of, say, 4 Mbps (maximum to 5.5).


User uploaded file

Mar 10, 2015 2:50 PM in response to hyphen

Thanks Hyphen,
But no luck I'm afraid. The H264 for Blue-Ray setting produces a video only file (no audio) DV 16:9 H264 again puts out only a progressive file that the Station wont take.They sent me a test file with the settings I need to reproduce but I can't find a way to do it in Compressor.
I'm told that Adobe Media Encoder may do it but I'd rather not have to commit to a subscription software future and I can't believe that there isn't a way to do it in Compressor somewhere.
Here's the media info printout on the file type required if it helps.


Video

ID : 1

Format : AVC

Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec

Format profile : High@L3.0

Format settings, CABAC : Yes

Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames

Format settings, GOP : M=2, N=12

Codec ID : avc1

Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding

Duration : 7mn 24s

Bit rate mode : Variable

Bit rate : 2 579 Kbps

Maximum bit rate : 768 Kbps

Width : 703 pixels

Original width : 720 pixels

Height : 576 pixels

Display aspect ratio : 16:9

Original display aspect ratio : 5:4

Frame rate mode : Constant

Frame rate : 25.000 fps

Color space : YUV

Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0

Bit depth : 8 bits

Scan type : Interlaced

Original scan type : Progressive

Scan order : Top Field First

Stored scan order : Bottom Field First

Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.255

Stream size : 137 MiB (95%)

Title : Core Media Video

Encoded date : UTC 2014-12-17 05:25:58

Tagged date : UTC 2014-12-17 05:27:10

Color primaries : BT.601 PAL

Transfer characteristics : BT.709

Matrix coefficients : BT.601

Audio

ID : 2

Format : AAC

Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec

Format profile : LC

Codec ID : 40

Duration : 7mn 24s

Source duration : 7mn 24s

Bit rate mode : Constant

Bit rate : 108 Kbps

Nominal bit rate : 128 Kbps

Channel(s) : 2 channels

Channel positions : Front: L R

Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz

Compression mode : Lossy

Stream size : 5.73 MiB (4%)

Source stream size : 5.73 MiB (4%)

Title : Core Media Audio

Encoded date : UTC 2014-12-17 05:25:58

Tagged date : UTC 2014-12-17 05:27:10

Exporting .H264 as 576i (Top Field)

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