What is the best way to export HDV in Final Cut...?

[Victor74]

Hey all, hope you can help with my problem...

I am editing HDV footage in Final Cut Studio... the footage has been captured into HDV, and my sequence and workflow is all HDV. The footage looks amazing, with the colours really popping.

Now, whenever I export the an edit to Quicktime using the the Export>QT Conversion>Apple Pro Res 422 (HQ) route within FCS, the quality of the video is good, but the colours in the QT file I export look muted, almost desaturated... and I can't figure out why?

The final edit will end up on SD DVD anyway, but am I following the best route for exporting HDV footage intended for SD DVD?

Is the Apple Pro Res 422 HQ codec best for exporting HDV? Or can someone recommend another way of doing this, so that my final edit retains the best possible quality/colour?

Many thanks informed ones.

Victor

[cgbier]

If you want to go SD, send it to Compressor and use one of the DVD templates.

ProRes422 might mute you colors as it has to invent something that isn't there.

[HueyNRolf]

Yeah +1 to CG's comment.
Sounds like the wrong workflow to me. You should transcode to Prores after capture Edit then export the project using 'export sequence' Don't use 'QT conversion. Then you can use Compressor or DVDSP to encode your DVD.

[Victor74]

Yeah +1 to CG's comment.
Sounds like the wrong workflow to me. You should transcode to Prores after capture Edit then export the project using 'export sequence' Don't use 'QT conversion. Then you can use Compressor or DVDSP to encode your DVD.

Hmm, and I thought my workflow route was the best one... goes to show!

How do I transcode to Pro Res after capture....

Is that changing my sequence to Pro Res within PREFERENCES after I finish the edit?

Victor

[cgbier]

You actually transcode to ProRes DURING capture already. There is an Easy Setup for it available. You can also use AIC. Is the same quality when exported to SD, and saves you a lot of HD space.

[Victor74]

You actually transcode to ProRes DURING capture already. There is an Easy Setup for it available. You can also use AIC. Is the same quality when exported to SD, and saves you a lot of HD space.

Thanks for the info - I've already captured my footage and halfway through editing so I'll use the Transcode to Pro Res for next time.

But as a test - I made a duplicate of my current edit, went into sequence settings and changed this to Apple Pro Res 422. I then selected the entire sequence and rendered it, then exported the sequence to QT (not using QT conversion).

The exported file size is pretty big (19 gig for about 12 mins) - but this method really helped the image/colour saturation, and it looks so much more better. I have a few more tests to run to tweak the image a little, but this may be the way forward in the meantime.

[cgbier]

As you are exporting your stuff to SD, I assume you want to play it on a TV. Don't go overboard with the colors. Computer monitors have a wider color space than TV.
Make sure you stay broadcast save (there is a button to click on the canvas)