Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED to SD

J

Jee_Haa

Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Age
59
Website
www.bld.nl
Hi all.

I have been doing tests and tests and tests to find out how I could possibly down convert 4K and 2K footage to SD video and tape it. I encountered many problems with jagged diagonal lines and moire patterns in the final down-converted movie. I never imagined the solution would be so very simple...

I edited a commercial in 2K. This however had to become SD PAL at some point. So after running many tests with disappointing results I made a sequence in FCP in standard PAL format. Then I dragged the 2K sequence in and noticed FCP automatically downscales the footage to fit the sequence. But to my big surprise, after rendering the footage that caused me so much trouble looked perfect!! No more jagged lines, no more moire patterns. But a very nice, clear and sharp output, very rich in detail and certainly very useful to dump to tape.

Hope this works too for you guys!

Jos
 
FCP's quality of downconvert is primarily controlled in the Video Processing tab of your sequence settings. For example your motion filtering quality should be cranked up to Best for the best looking renders. Ultimately you might find better results bouncing through Compressor and cranking all of the frame controls up. It will take a lot longer but the results will be worth it.

Noah
 
karilla said:
from my expirience you must downconvert to HD first and then use a hardware downconvert to SD.
Click to expand...

Definitely one way to go but I wouldn't say required.

Noah
 
The freeware MPEG Streamclip does excellent downscales.

Regards,

Uli
 
Biba said:
Question about hardware downconvert. You mean to convert signal and record it on some DVR , ?
Click to expand...

downconvert through hardware either specific devices or use the HD deck downconvert option.

I got better results from my hdcam deck then from my kona 3 card.
 
karilla said:
downconvert through hardware either specific devices or use the HD deck downconvert option.

I got better results from my hdcam deck then from my kona 3 card.
Click to expand...

Karilla, which hdcam model you are using and from which signal source is you recording from? Lim
 
Jee_Haa said:
Hi all.

I have been doing tests and tests and tests to find out how I could possibly down convert 4K and 2K footage to SD video and tape it. I encountered many problems with jagged diagonal lines and moire patterns in the final down-converted movie. I never imagined the solution would be so very simple...

I edited a commercial in 2K. This however had to become SD PAL at some point. So after running many tests with disappointing results I made a sequence in FCP in standard PAL format. Then I dragged the 2K sequence in and noticed FCP automatically downscales the footage to fit the sequence. But to my big surprise, after rendering the footage that caused me so much trouble looked perfect!! No more jagged lines, no more moire patterns. But a very nice, clear and sharp output, very rich in detail and certainly very useful to dump to tape.

Hope this works too for you guys!

Jos
Click to expand...

Hi there, what frame rate was your original project, does fcp automatically
convert the frame rate correctly?

Regards
Stricko
 
stricko108 said:
Hi there, what frame rate was your original project, does fcp automatically
convert the frame rate correctly?

Regards
Stricko
Click to expand...

If not I remember a FCP plugin that did a great job of frame rate conversion. If I recall it was designed by some bloke name of Nattress:-)
 
NoahK said:
Ultimately you might find better results bouncing through Compressor and cranking all of the frame controls up. It will take a lot longer but the results will be worth it.

Noah
Click to expand...

To be honest, I have tried that too. But bounced through compressor i did keep the artifacts such as moire patterns and sawtooth on diagonal lines. But dragging it into an SD timeline got rid of those problems and looks far better. But what do you mean by cranking up the frame controls? Should i keyframe every frame?

Jos
 
stricko108 said:
Hi there, what frame rate was your original project, does fcp automatically
convert the frame rate correctly?

Regards
Stricko
Click to expand...

We shot it at 25 frames. The final edit was supposed to be SD PAL so that seemed the best choice. I haven't tried a conversion of frame rates yet. Anyway I think its best to shoot in the frame rate you eventually want to finalize in, is it not?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top