Best Capture and Sequence settings for project ending up as digital file

Question

Hi. Looking for capture/setting advice.
I am used to working in broadcast NTSC 10-bit uncompressed video, but I now have a project which needs to end up as MPEG-1 files. The tapes I have were recorded NTSC 4:3. Should I capture the footage in DV instead of Uncompressed 10-bit, and set my sequence frame size as DV? Will this avoid the reshaping of the image when I output to an MPEG1, or will I lose quality?
Thanks for the knowledge.

Answer 1

The tapes were recorded on DVCAM 4:3, but we have an
analogue capture board (AJA IO).
Then for best quality you should be capturing via FireWire as DV (its native format) and then editing in an uncompressed sequence.
This issue came up after I had captured and edited in
the 10-bit uncompressed (space is not an issue), then
was called upon to export stills of the footage,
which, of course, came out in the 720 x 486 format,
much to the consternation of the person who had to
use the stills. This person didn't understand how
the MPEG1 files could come out square, but the stills
came out in 720 x486. So it made me wonder whether I
shoudn't be editing in DV or some other "square"
format to begin with.
DV (DVCam) isn't a square pixel format. It's the same as what you've got except it's missing a measly six usually-blank lines at the top. You just have to make sure it doesn't get stretched into the 486 lines.
For your graphics person: all they have to do is stretch them to 10% narrower or 11% taller when they place them. That's all.