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Should you shoot in 720p? 1080i? 1080p? Should you finally marry the person you’ve been dating for the past five years? Should you move to a city that has better cycling paths? 

 

Since we write about tech news here, and mostly post production, we can only answer the first three questions. For the others, may we suggest using a Magic 8 Ball? Or, if you’re the systematic type, check Hunch.com, a fun website that asks you questions and helps you make decisions. 

 

Now, let’s get down to business and answer the frame rate and format questions. The right way to think about this is to begin at the beginning – when you shoot.

 

Many people are using DVC Pro HD as an acquisition format and the images look great. DVC Pro HD (which always shoots at 60fps and flags frames to create 23.98 playback) is a versatile format that allows for high quality speed controls while shooting.

 

Why is that important? Speed controls (such as slow-motion, speed-ups and timelapse simulations) look a lot better when you do them in the field rather than trying to create them in post.

 

Unfortunately, as a format, DVC Pro HD (720p) has some distinct disadvantages once you have finished shooting. The biggest problem is that unless you are going to deliver in 720, you will most likely have field dominance issues when you make delivery conversions to 1080. This means that instead of each shot starting on field 1 consistently, some will start on field 1 and some will start on field 2. This can create a myriad of problems as you get into finishing your show, including color pops in your daVinci session, difficult inserts, graphics problems and Q.C. (Quality Control) issues. Oh, man. What to do?

 

Our recommendation is to treat 720p as an acquisition only format. Once you get into post, get out of 720p and start working HD 1080. It is a fairly simple process that most DVC Pro HD decks will do without any other outboard gear. When we get you into online, we will convert your 720p footage to 1080 as we capture. The rest of the online process will be done at 1080, a far easier format to deal with in post. Often we're seeing deliverables specs calling for 1080i (interlaced) and sometimes 1080p (progressive), and we can accomodate either.

 

If you are worried about “blowing up” your 720p footage to 1080, fear not. 720p goes up to 1080 beautifully. If you like, check in with us and we’ll show you a comparison. 

 

We’re here to help you find alternative workflows and optimize your post experience. Just getting ready to shoot? Talk to us about choosing a format that will make post a happy time. 

 

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8-Ball Photo credit:  Scootie via Creative Commons and Flickr.