Sony ZU1 Downconvert

I know this should be simple so I appreciate the help. I just purchased a Sony ZU1. I shot in HDV and I want to downconvert to DV with a letterbox format.
Am I correct that my capture and sequence presets and should be DVNTSC 48 kHz.

Hmmm. I definetly need to test this.
But I thought in a 4:3 anamorphic video the image uses more vertical lines of resolution. When you play that anamorphic DVD back the DVD player squishes the image to correct the aspect ratio and fills in the rest of the black bars on the top and bottom. When you play it on a 16:9 TV it fills the screen, no bars top/bottom or sides.
But the image should not look distorted in FCP, assuming all the settings (FCP and Camera) are correct.

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Should I buy an Sony ZU1 HD Camcorder

The first TV station I worked for in 1989 (WEAR-TV3 in Pensacola) used 2inch tape to air their commercials and I learned to edit on 1" machines. Needless to say I've seen a lot of changes in my career.
I've feel like it constantly necessary to re-learn what I do and how I do it. However, now that HD is on the horizon, I am considering buying the Sony ZU1 and using FCP5 to edit my new documentary. I need to make a decision soon as I will begin primary shooting September 28th.
I have several questions about the transition to HD.
Is it possible to combine HD and non-HD footage on the same timeline?
Do I need an HD monitor or can I live with my current monitors?
What about still graphics? What sort of dpi and pixel ratios do I need?
How about After Effects. What are my composition settings and my output settings?
There is a possibility to taking the documentary to DVD for sale. Can it be produced on DVD in Hi-def and if not how do I bump it to DV?
I can't even see the number of possible traps and pitfalls to shooting and editing in Hi-Def. Perhaps this is too soon for a novice like me. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks for any input.
P.S. If I don't buy the ZU1 what camera would you guys recommend in the under $5,000 range.

Hello Michelle from downriver of you on the Indiana side.
I started my broadcast career about the same time, and can even lay claim to having made edits on the old RCA quad machines.
I've just purchased a Z1 at my university and we're just now wading through many of your questions etc. I can help you with a couple of your questions at least.
We are, at least initially, very pleased with the image quality of the Z1. I regularly work with a 13 time national Emmy winner who owns both the Z1 and an 8 year old HDCAM camera, and he is blown away at the quality of the Z1 vs. what you pay for it.
You don't have to have an external HD monitor, though it is nice. If you do want to monitor at HD reolution your desktop monitor will have to capable of that resolution.
It's starting to look like we'll be doing all of our shooting in HDV, then capturing using the on-the-fly down convert to wide-screen DV - the idea being that until a viable distribution method for set-top boxes is available, we'll continue to distribute NTSC DVD's we author in DVDSP. If a client wants the HD version at a later date, we'll quote them a price to re-master using the original footage.
A big issue you'll have to face is hard drive storage and speed should you decide to upconvert your HDV to an intermediate codec or better, for compositing. There is at least one excellent article available on the LAFCPUG web site:
http://www.lafcpug.org/Tutorials/basic_hdvxdv.html
This might help a little.

Workflow - HD from Sony Zu1 to Final Cut - To SD DVD - Best Settings

I'm starting a HD project that will be output to DVD. The main feature will be about 90 to 120 minutes in length. What is the best capture settings for footage acquired using a Sony Zu1 HD, on sony HDV mini dv tapes?
I don't have Studio 2 or quad 2.5 GH processors, so I can't use ProRes HD 422. What is the next best.
Sequence settings? Uncompressed 8 bit?
Export qt movie from that sequence with same settings?
Then Compressor?
Which Settings will work best if I want it in a 16X9 format?
Thanks to All who help!

here is a good start for you...
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/kolbtim/demystifyinghdv.php
i dont work with it, but i know it can be a hassle. your other option other than ProRes, is a codec called AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) hope that helps. its always good to try different ways out and see whats best.

Sony ZU1

Just tested this camera today for those of you who are interested in buying. Bottom line- you get what you pay for. This IS NOT a professional camera. It looks good if you have A LOT of light but when lighting is low or even marginal it is CRAP. This is not a slam on Sony- I am a Sony fan and always have been. I've just heard a a lot of praise about this camera saying it "rivals cameras 5 times it's cost"- WRONG. I would love to own this camera as a home video camera- in that respect it kicks ***. But if you are thinking about documentary work (as am I) where lighting conditions are often out of your control- beware. Again, my guess is the equivelents from JVC, Panasonic and Canon fall into the same category of- "They look great as long as you have plenty of light". BTW- If you want to use Cine mode avoid 24 frame (too extreme) and use 30 frame instead as it is MUCH less objectionable- I'm not a big fan of 1080i because it just looks like ultra sharp standard def video to me and doesn't have the aesthetic appeal of film. 30 frame is a happy middle ground unless you're shooting a subject that requires the finest of detail.
Yeah, I know... this is an edit forum but I've seen lots of references about this and other cameras in the 5Kish price range and I couldn't help but post for those of you in the buying mode. What's the alternative? Rent or lease if you're doing critical work I guess. Again, this camera has it's place- it's just not up to par for high end work IMHO.
Rant complete.

Thanks for the info. My camcorder use is primarily outdoors, but I do a lot of editing within specific frames. Need a system that is as compact as possible for travel and hiking. Heard that the interlacing frames from the HDV's are not the easiest to deal with. Looking at the new Panasonic, or back to some of the DV's with highest quality ccds w/ 16:9 format.
In the market for a new camcorder as my last one didn't survive the trip back from a recent soccer tournament in Italy. Needed to upgrade to a recorder that geared for 16:9 format anyway.

Re-digitize

I shot footage in Hi-def on a Sony ZU1 and used the camera to downconvert to DV, but I kept the letter box style. I have now decided that I want to re-digitize using 4:3. What the best way to go about this?
I worry that I will delete media or end up with way too much on my drives.
Should I move the current media to the trash and then re-digitize and empty the trash or will the re-digitized stuff go with it.
I seem to be the queen of accidently deleting my media so any help you can lend would be great.
G4 Dual Processor Mac OS X (10.4.1)

If you decide to recapture and want to overwrite the old media, delete the old media from the capture scratch and open your project. Your media will now be offline, so just highlight in the browser and recapture.
Crop edges - sounds risky unless you shot with 4:3 in mind and have nothing you want at the edges of the frame. If it was me I'd go ahead and edit with the letterboxed version, then bump it up to full screen 4:3 to verify the composition is OK. You might want to move some of those shots left or right, in which case you'd need to capture the full anamorphic frame.
But I guess you know your material better than me! Good luck with the project.

HDV out of sync in DVD

I have an HDV Pal Project that plays fines on my computer, but when we burn it to DVD, it slips out of sync randomly.
Details...
We captured the HDV material through the camera (Sony Zu1), onto a Lacie firewire 400 drive on a Dual 1.0 G4 (1 gig of Ram). Editng went fine. We upgraded to a Dual 1.8 G5 and used the Lacie through the firewire 800 port.
I exprort the 2 hour sequence as a QT movie from FCP and then move it into compressor. All I check is Bottom (for field order) and make the audio an AC3 file.
I then build the project in DVD SP and then burn it in Toast 7.01 with Taiyo Yuden discs.
When I play the DVD, after an hour or so , it will go a few seconds out of sync and then within 10 seconds, slip back into sync (and repeats randomly). If I go to another DVD player, it may or may not happen. In my DVD player (all of my DVD players are modern PAL DVD players) if it goes out of sync, I stop the disc and then start it back at the same point, and it will be in sync.
ANy thoughts
Final Cut Studio 5
Dual 1.8 G5, 2 gigs RAM, OS 10.4.6
Lacie 500 gig Firewire 400/800 drive
2 Seqeuences of 2 hours each

Try opening the project file on the G5, and export the finished sequence using File/Export/Using Compressor... use one of the stock presets... then burn the DVD in DVD SP using the resulting MPEG files.
Jerry

PAL DVD Issues

I'm not sure if this question is for this forum but I'll give it a shot.
My original FCP Project was an PAL HDV Project. Once I finished editing, I put the sequence in a DV PAL sequence, rendered it and outputted as a FCP file. I put that file in compressor to make a m2v PAL file. I took the file into DVD SP as a PAL project and burned it as a SD DVD on the G5.
The DVD tested fine on a several DVD players.
My problem is that I sent the DVD to Europe and they are experiencing major 'strobing' issues. I know there is some jitterness with HDV on motion scenes, but they are seeing constant strobing on their PAL DVD players. Am I doing something wrong. I took the DVD to a post house in Los Angeles, and it plays fine in their PAL systems. It actually play fine in my NTSC DVD player as well.
There isn't much motion in the film, mostly interviews.
Any clues of why this would happen?

It was originally shot in PAL 1080i50 on a Sony Zu1. I am assuming that is true PAL.
I made a DV PAL sequence first because the rendering time and conversion time to m2v files is much less.
Is the DVD burner that are installed on G5's capable of burning true PAL DVD's? I have one of the original G5's.

PLEASE HELP - 24P footage issue

Hey Guys,
SO I was hoping someone might be able to shed some light on a problem I'm having. We shot and have edited a feature film on the Sony ZU1 camcorder on their 24P setting CF24, and I captured it into Final Cut with the pull down setting and it looks great. The problem is when I try and make a DVD copy of the master file, it has a horrible shutter look on the TV. Am I not exporting it properly...it looks amazing on the computer? IS there anything I can do to preserve the quality from the computer to a master export?
I have been fooling around with COmpressor and made two High Quality DVD MPEG2 exports from the Final Cut Quicktime File, with one on the compressor 23.98 and one at 29.97. The 23.98 MPEG had a horizontal interlace to it and the 29.97 MPEG had a really nice clow to it but a nasty flicker to some aspects.
I know that Sony Cineframe is not the best 24P option but seeing as that is unchangeble is there anyway to take my computer quality flow to DVD?

Sony HDV only records to tape as either 60i or 50i. If you have changed the time base somehow then that is your issue. Unless you are truly taking this footage to film then you don't need to ever change the frame rate. You can't remove frames from an interlace only camera.
Z1

DVDSP Settings 16x9 Project

I have just shot my first project in 16x9 with a Sony ZU1. I am shooting standard def, 16x9. Can someone tell me what settings I should use in DVDSP? I see 16x9 pan and scan, 16x9 letterbox, and 16x9 pan and scan and letterbox.
Are there any other settings I need to be aware of?
I basically want people who have a high def tv to see the image full screen and people who have standard def to see the screen as letterbox.
Thanks,
Scott

I am still confused. I want those with a widescreen tv to see the DVD in full screen and standard def viewers to watch it letterbox. If I set my settings to letterbox, then what would a person watching a widescreen tv see?
I did a test burn using 16x9 pan and scan and letterbox. On my standard def tv it displayed letterbox and on my portable DVD player which is widescreen, it displayed correctly filling the entire screen. Wouldn't the combination of these settings be correct?
I don't have a native widescreen or high def tv yet, but plan on buying one soon. I have an 23 inch HD Apple Cinema Display and use a production monitor which has both 4x3 and 16x9 modes. The 16x9 mode is letterboxed.
Thanks,
Scott

PAL Format Question

Hi Folks,
I am preparing to shoot a film using the Sony Zu1, and I wanted to use the 24fps feature, but unfortunately, this camera does not have that. My DP suggested I shoot it in PAL, thus getting as close to 24fps as we could.
I was just wondering what kind of nightmares this would create later in post...
Or is there something in FCP that can achieve the 24fps look while shooting NTSC 30fps?
Thanks for any ideas!
Chris

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http://www.joesfilters.com/
http://www.kafwang.com/
The last is the link for the eureka plugas although the site seems to be down at the mo.

Unable to capture HDV with Sony HDR-FX1 in FCE 4

Hello all,
Been using an HDR-FX1 for a while, shooting mostly DV, and today I began experimenting with HDV. I shot 8 minutes of footage with the camera in HDV mode.
When I setup FCE 4 for Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60, the capture window doesn't recognize the camera. However, if I set the FX1 to down convert to DV via firewire, FCE recognizes the camera and I'm able to capture.
How do I (or can I) capture HDV into FCE 4 with the FX1? Is there something (a setting perhaps) that I'm missing? Do I need to jump to FC Pro for this?
My system: 1.6 GHz PowerPC G5 (tower), 2 GB RAM, Sony FX1, FCE 4.0, QT 7.3.1
Thanks in advance,
tg

I had a similar issue with iMovie08 import using HDR-HC1... You may want to try this to see if it helps:
1> Close the import app (FCE, in your case)
2> Unplug the FW cable from the camcorder (Most important step)
3> Go into the Sony menu and re-select the HDV settings (explicit HDV, not Auto + Conv off) in the camcorder
4> Re-connect the FW cable, and restart FCE
I use these steps successfully while switching between HDV and DV imports from my camcorder using iMovie 08. Hopefully, this resolves your problem with FCE. Later this weekend, I plan to experiment (for the first time) with FCE HDV import to try and see the export quality difference between FCE and iM08 (which apparently downconverts everything to 540 lines!).

Unable to capture 480i SD from Sony HC1

I must be doing something wrong.
I want to capture video from my HC1 as SD 480i but all I get is firewire control. I have tried DV NTSC and DV NTSC Anamorphic with no results. My tape footage is HDV with the camcorder set to downconvert the iLink output to SD 480i.
I can boot into windows and capture 480i using Premiere Pro.
HDV capture is not a problem.
Any ideas? I am totally new to FCP and the Mac and I really want to learn to use FC Studio.
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.7) Dual 3 GHz w/ 2MB RAM, Final Cut Studio 5.1

Hi James,
This is a good workaround for curing your camera recognition problem:
First, check that your Easy Setup / Timeline / Camera or Deck Settings are all exactly the same, then making sure your camera or deck is in VTR mode, try to capture again.
Still not working?
Check whether iMovie recognises your camera.
FCP uses a different form of QT than iMovie for capturing, so if the camera works in iMovie (or if it's listed in System Profiler) but not FCP, it obviously means your Mac can see the VTR but FCP can't, so you need to do this QuickTime fix.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301852
Follow Apple's instructions carefully and you should have things running in no time - it's quite harmless!
But if the Camera / Deck isn't recognised by iMovie or System Profiler, try resetting the Firewire Bus . . . Turn off the Mac and disconnect the power and all Firewire cables. Leave it for 30 mins then connect back up.
Still not working? Try a different Firewire cable.
Failing all this, try resetting the PMU (Power Management Unit). The method varies from machine to machine, so visit the Apple site and search for it in support.
Don't use iMovie for capturing - it doesn't give you a timecode and that's very important.
Let us know how you get on!
Andy
Quad 8GB. 250+500 HDs. G-Raid 1TB. NORTON. FCP 5.1.1. Shake 4.1. Sony HVR Z1E Mac OS X (10.4.7)
"I've taught you all I know, and still you know nothing".

Compatibility of Sony HC1 to Capture in FCE 3.0.1

I’m attempting to Capture HD video from a Sony HC1 camcorder to my iMac G5, EyeSight, Pre-Intel, 2.1 Ghz, 250G Built-In Hard Drive via Firewire. (No external FW hard drives are involved.)
I’m using FCE 3.0.1 which Apple considers compatible with the Sony HC1.
I have no problem capturing video from this camera if I select Sequence Preset DV NTSC 48Khz, but that captures 720x480 resolution.
If I select Apple Codec 1080i60 via Easy Setup, and go to File-Capture, select Capture Now, the preview window appears, but is black, no video.
The HCI camcorder LCD display is showing video but my Preview window is black like the video has been cut off. Anyone with any ideas why this is happening?
I wish there were a site that gives a step by step “setup” for capturing HD video from the Sony HC1 HD camcorder using FCE 3.0.1, or other major camcorders.
I called Apple and was told my version of FCE, purchased in Feb’06 is no longer “supported” because the newer version (FCE 3.5) is now being sold. They suggested that I go to the Apple support website for possible help, which I did do. The Apple rep listened politely to my problem but was unable to give me even a small clue, suggestions to try. He did offer to upgrade me to FCE 3.5 but then admitted that the Sony HC1 is not compatible with the FCE 3.5 version.
I found this post from CHRIS on April 15, 2005:
“A good question to ask at this point is does the Sony HC1 work properly with Final Cut Express HD in HDV mode?
Also is it true that Final Cut Express HD does not edit HDV in it's native format and FCP HD does?----CHRIS”
Has anyone determined an answer to this question that was posed over a year ago? I hope I don’t have to purchase FC Pro Studio to do HD!! If so, Apple needs to rename this software product minus “HD”.
BoBo
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5) 2.1 GHz with i Sight & 20" Display
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.3) 2.1 GHz with i Sight & 20" Display

Hi(bonjour) BoBo!
I do not know this Sony model but for my FX1 the letters "HDV" or "DV" appears in LCD screen upon shooting.
I'm pretty sure that your output is HDV, so you have to set FCE HD to Apple intermediate codec 1080i50 or 60 (depending of your localized model of camcorder-European or US) to capture HDV material (wich will be handled by Apple Intermediate Codec, no in native format). On the FX1, there is a "blue" diode on side of camera and near the firewire socket to show the current mode of export and an indication on LCD.
You can also set the camcorder to downconvert your HDV shooted material to standard definition (SD) on exporting. With this setting you have to select DV-NTSC or DV-PAL (depending of your localized camcoder) in FCE HD to import the downconverted footage in SD DV format.
See the VCR output menu to select the desired output format.
Finally you can shoot your movie in SD instead of HDV (see camcorder's manual, camcorder's menu: format and screen) in 4:3 or 16:9 format. With this setting you have to select DV-NTSC or DV-PAL (depending of your localized camcoder) in FCE HD to import the footage in SD DV format.
Seeing HDV (in Apple intermediate codec format) in Final Cut Express HD is AMAZING on a HD cinema display: 1920X1080 pixels of pure color and details.
Remember: all "easy setup" changes will take effect for new sequence only.
Good Luck!
Michel Boissonneault

Sony Z1U HDV Capture Settings for FCP 6.0

Hi, I am shooting a project on Sony's HVR-Z1U HDV camcorder at HDV 60i NTSC. Does anyone have suggestions for settings to capture the material into FCP. I have FCP Version 6, part of the FC Studio 2 upgrade.
Appreciate any feedback!

There are definiitely some advantages to editing in DV rather than HDV for easy workflow and faster renders, etc.
To capture, you'll have to get the settingns on the deck and in FCP to match. If you have the deck/camera set to HDV then choose the appropriate easy setup in FCP such as HDV 1080i60. If you want to capture as DV, then set the deck to downconvert to DV, and choose the DV NTSC easy setup. You'll want to check the anamorphic box for you capture settings and sequences, but keep in mind if your are working with DV or any SD format, that the anamorphic setting can be esaily applied to clips and sequences after creation or capture.
When you export your web clips with compressor, figure out a square-pixel frame size that is some multiple of 16:9.

Not able to capture HD content from Sony HDR-HC3

I recently purchased Final Cut Express 4, after successfully using iMovie HD for the past year. I successfully captured some DV content (non-HD) from my Sony HDR-HC3 for a project. However, when trying to capture HD footage for a 2nd project, I'm not getting anything. Here's the info:
* I made the change in "Easy Setup..." to set the format to HD using Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60.
* The footage was shot at 1080i on my HDR-HC3.
* The camera is plugged in via FireWire.
* When I choose "Capture", the the HDV Capture dialog comes up asking me for a file name. Once I give it a file name and click the Capture button, the tape starts playing and I get a black window with "Final Cut Express" in the middle (and the Apple logo). At the bottom, it says "CUEING TAPE (press 'esc' to stop)". When I press 'esc', the tape stops and the black capture window goes away.
* I never see a preview in the capture window, but I see the footage fine in my camera's LCD screen.
* A folder is created in the Capture Scratch folder, with the name I gave in the HDV Capture dialog, but nothing is ever written to this folder. It's empty.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong...I just don't seem to be capturing any video...FCE is seeing my camera and is taking control (starting and stopping) but nothing is actually being captured.

Ok, I figured it out on my own. Operator error.
When I had captured non HD content using my camera, I had to set the iLink (FireWire) conversion to "On - HDV-->DV" in the camera in order for it to work. I forgot to set it back to "Off", so the camera was downconverting to DV when output through FireWire. Once I turned off the conversion, I was able to capture in HD.

Sony ZU1 Downconvert

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