Mini-Dv/DV-Cam Flaw Exposed...

[Alex]

4-1-1 versus 4-2-2 has to do with the sampling rate of each video frame. (I don't know the technical specs).

I have learned that if you plan on doing compositing when editing digitally, (matte effects and chroma keying...) that 4-1-1 processing (what Mini-DV and DV-Cam use) is inadequate!

4-2-2 processing is the known standard, a standard that Digital BetaCam, Beta-Cam SP, Digital-S, and maybe DVC-Pro 50 subscribe to.

I have heard this from two totally different sources, (with corroboration from a third source).

Anyone else heard about this issue? Does the issue of 4-1-1 processing versus 4-2-2 processing have more or less relevance depending on the video standard one uses... such as PAL versus NTSC?

[TA152]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 28, 2003 11:12 PM: Message edited by: S8 Booster ]</font>

[TA152]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 28, 2003 11:12 PM: Message edited by: S8 Booster ]</font>

[Skagnetti]

Do people even do matte effects anymore?

With DV, there are easier ways to do things than using mattes.

[Alex]

Isn't the idea to do as much compositing and matting as possible? One can achieve a higher production value by shooting "plain" locations and then matting everything in during the digital editing phase.

[daveduck]

NTSC DV is 4:1:1
PAL DV is 4:2:0

It's very tough to pull decent green/bluescreen mattes from DV, but with precise lighting can be done. I shot a bunch of green screen stuff for the flick I'm editing now (NTSC) and probably would think twice about attempting it again. Our PAL shots look much better, but next time I'd rent a 4:2:2 format camera for such shots. Saves a ton of trouble in post.

DD

[Alex]

So are we to assume that you are editing on a non-linear system that supports 4-2-2?

Otherwise, even if one shoots with 4-2-2 in mind, loading it into a 4-1-1 environment would not gain you anything, would it?

[daveduck]

Sure, you'd need to have the capability to edit in the format you shot. In this case, though, we didn't shoot in 4:2:2, so it's not an issue.

Final Cut, out of the box, handles 4:1:1 and 4:2:0

The stuff I brough back from Indonesia we did in PAL, ran through the Atlantis software converter, and am now editing in NTSC. Looks great.

In fact, since these are compression issues that are increasingly handled by software, I don't see why with sufficient disk speed and processor power that FCP couldn't handle any compression scheme.

DD