HDV 1080i50 to SD MASTER Workflow

Question

Hello all.
I am working now on a documentary, shot on Sony HDV 1080i50, 70 hours material, to be delivered in DIGIBETA PAL, and I am looking to the best approach to edit and finish it. Coming from the AVID World (yes, I confess...) and having worked not so much with FCP, I really need some help with this project. I will tell you what I do have in mind, and I kindly ask you to tell me if I am crazy or it makes some sense. I do have some specific questions as well. Thank you for your help. Here is my plan:
1 – CAPTURE.
70 hours captured in DV (already have!) in order to monitor easyly and work without long GOP.
2 – OFF LINE EDITING.
Normal documentary editing. I will zoom/resize the picture a lot. As I shoot in HDV and will deliver in SD PAL, I understand I have a big margin to zoom in an image without any quality loss when downsizing back to PAL. For instance, I only made one wide shot for the interviews. I will use this shot and then zoom the picture for a close up of the face... That is the main idea. How should I do these frame resizes, direct with FCP or should I use some special plug in?
3 – ONLINE.
Recapture all material in the Sequence in HD. Now I do not know if I should do it on HDV (remember: we are going back to SD for output) or should I use one of the PRORES 422 Apple codecs. What do you think? All the frame resizes and picture effects will be kept on the recapture, or?
4 – IMAGE FINISHING.
Do the colour correction and image finishing (with the HD material). Control and finish all the image movements, zooms and resizes. Apply effects, we do have to make some face blur and things like that. Should I do the colour correction on HD or should I make it once I have already downsized to SD, after step 5?
5 – RENDER TO SD FOR OUTPUT.
Here I do not know how to do it, but I want to convert my HD (HDV or PRORES 422) Sequence to an SD Uncompressed PAL 4:2:2 10bit Sequence. How do I do this? Here I do not have nay idea… Could you please help me? Will all the resizes and zoom be kept with the correct resolution when I downsize?
6 – AUDIO FINISHING.
Audio mixing and audio effects.
7 – OUTPUT IN SD
Export of a Quicktime SD Uncompressed PAL 4:2:2 with 10bit and print to tape.
Should I export direct from FCP or use Compressor or something?
That’s it!
Please, I would ask you to take some time an help me. If thewe is something that is not clear or you need more information, fell free to write me or post and I will answer as soon as I can. Thanks again.

Answer 1

Fantin,
Not the exact answer to your question but hopefully helpful.
My workflow with HDV is as follows:
-Capture as HDV (same data rate as DV so might as well)
-Do a basic picture edit, avoiding anything fancy (long render times with long GOP as you know)
-Use Media manager to up convert to DVCProHD
-Apply all my dissolves, effects etc.
-Do sound mix in FCP
-Use FCP and Color to grade
-Export to SD DVD using Compressor via FCP timeline.
or you could presumably
-Drop onto tape using a Kona or Blacmagic card
Don't think you'll get any better quality going 10 bit uncompressed if you're starting with HDV - might as well stick with DVCProHD.
In terms of zooming into HDV footage to achieve a good quality SD frame, Im not sure the method above would accommodate that. I've always done this in the past by dropping my HDV footage directly into an SD timeline and then zooming from there - this might mean of course that you'll need to export you're entire project as DV50 Anamorphic and then replace the zoomed in wide shots onto that.
I suspect if you just zoom into the HDV on a HDV or ProRes timeline this wouldn't translate well in SD.