Submitted by ronjeno on Tue, 08/06/2010 - 05:57

This is a clarification of my workflow. VoltaicHD has no problem importing my footage or converting it using the default option. It imports into Final Cut Pro 6.0.6. easily and, from what I can tell, the footage looks fine.

My question is do I need to do anything different since my footage was shot using the 30 FPS progressive option with the Canon Vixia? VoltaicHD's preview box says the FPS of my footage is 29.97, not true 30 FPS Progressive. I've had problems before with 30p footage being interpreted as 29.97 (with a different camera and codec) and I want to make sure I'm not going to encounter similar issues. Everything I've read about Voltaic's software does not specifically say what needs to be done with 30FPS Progressive frame rates.

The audio for the Canon Vixia footage is all in-camera, so I don't expect any sync issues, but I want to make sure I'm doing the optimal workflow using the VoltaicHD software.

Here are the camera specs:

Camera: Canon Vixia HF S100, shot using MXP quality settings which is 1920x1080 at 30 FPS progressive. The codec is AVCHD (obviously)

Here is what VoltaicHD says:

Video FPS 29.97, Resolution 1920x1080i

so, what do I need to do different, if anything? Is using the default setting the best given how the footage was shot? Thank you for any advice.

Jon

faster conversions on 30P footage

Submitted by ronjeno on Thu, 05/08/2010 - 08:04.

Thanks again for your help. I will check into Flamingo, right now I'm doing OK, but as more footage is shot that could be helpful.

Conversion time has started to become a problem. We're running into deadline issues and it's been difficult for me to keep up. Does the faster conversions option work on 30P footage like I've been describing in this thread? The FAQ says it will with progressive footage, but since 30P is interpreted as 60i, what does that mean with regards to the faster conversions option?

I plan on running some tests later, but right now I'm just doing what works.

Faster conversion

Submitted by justin on Tue, 10/08/2010 - 20:56.

Hi there,

The faster conversions are an experiment for us that we will be dropping soon. This approach has turned out to be unreliable rather than our normal approach which is reliable under all situations. We haven't publicized it yet, but we have implemented some significant error recovery processes which allow us to convert corrupted files. This kind of thing is only possible using our normal process.

Regards

Justin

30 fps footage

Submitted by justin on Fri, 11/06/2010 - 15:36.

Hi Jon,

30fps footage is actually 29.97 fps on most cameras, so thats OK. 30fps is also often stored as interlaced frames, which is what the 1080i means.

Voltaic will convert to a true progressive 29.97fps output.

Since you're using Final Cut Pro, we recommend using ProRes as the output codec rather than AIC (the default). You can convert to ProRes by going to the Custom preferences and selecting the output type as a Quicktime movie, ProRes codec.

Regards

Justin

30 fps footage

Submitted by ronjeno on Wed, 30/06/2010 - 04:53.

Hi Justin,

Thank you for your reply. I tried ProRes and I think I see Voltaic converting the footage to true progressive 1920x1080p at 29.97fps.

This is a small detail in the custom settings I have a question about and it's related to said 60i to 29.97p conversion. In the Preferences menu, under Custom, with Quicktime Movie Selected for format, then selecting the Options button, then settings under video, then selecting ProRes(HQ) there is a checkbox for Interlaced in the Compressor section. I've converted the same footage with the box unchecked and then checked with the Top Field render first for the Interlaced. Both videos produced with these custom settings create Apple ProRes(HQ) files that are progressive. An odd thing is the video converted with that Interlaced checkbox checked has a higher data rate (and file size) than the one that does not have it checked.

So, do I leave the Interlaced option unchecked? Or checked? Or does it matter, other that file size?

Also, I did a fair amount of research regarding the difference between ProRes and ProRes(HQ). What do you like to use personally, assuming you use Final Cut? Or what do you suggest?

It's frustrating trying to decode the infinite answers scattered on the Internet regarding the more technical aspects of digital video. Thank you for being straightforward and helpful.

Jon

Deinterlacing and ProRes

Submitted by justin on Fri, 02/07/2010 - 08:32.

Hi Jon,

you don't need to deinterlace in the Quicktime settings as the footage is already deinterlaced by the time it gets to the Quicktime step. We use a multi-stage conversion process in which Quicktime is the final step.

I personally use ProRes, not ProRes (HQ). I did some tests with FCP 7 when the ProRes variants were first released and found no noticeable difference between the codecs. You have to keep in mind that FCP is used by serious professionals on projects up to feature film level. Pros use cameras which capture footage at far higher quality than AVCHD, so ProRes(HQ) is really for them, not us home/indie filmmakers with AVCHD cameras.

I'm glad that our answers are helping you. The digital video world is a very complex and often confusing one.

awesome

Submitted by ronjeno on Wed, 14/07/2010 - 04:53.

I did what you said, but I used HQ....I read some places before your post that HD footage produces more noticeable artifacts with regular ProRes, but still, this is going on nonspecific Internet advice. Non-HQ ProRes would help with some of the space issues, but it's going to be a problem with either, so the next step for me is figuring out the best method to juggle all this new HD footage with some kind of economy. My work here does not have a huge budget for buying new video equipment (including hard drives), so I'll have to manage, but it should be doable for now. Using ProRes will definitely help down the line.

Aside from the huge ProRes files, the quality of the footage is definitely where we want it and that's the most important thing. Thank you for your help.

Asset Management

Submitted by justin on Wed, 14/07/2010 - 16:18.

OK - you might want to try your own tests of ProRes regular vs ProRes HQ. You might find that it makes no difference. The examples that you found may have been referring to high-end HD cameras (e.g. Sony XDCAM) which record in 4:2:2 colourspace rather than AVCHD which is 4:2:0.

When it comes to asset management and disk space management, we have FlamingoHD which is targeted at storing "native" video (and photo) assets. The idea is that you convert from AVCHD to the required format (AIC or ProRes), do the project and finish. Once the project is well and truly done, you can delete all the project assets (i.e. ProRes files) and just keep the project file. If you need to recover the project in the future you re-export the AVCHD assets into ProRes, re-connect under Final Cut Pro and you're away.

30 fps footage

Submitted by ronjeno on Wed, 30/06/2010 - 04:53.

edit: this double posted for some reason