Canon HF10 - 50i or 25p ?

[theaterguy]

All,
I am recording a theater show, and want to get the best material for editing, authoring and finally distributing the show on both DVD and blue ray. I am in PAL land.

I am using Vegas pro and DVD architect pro.

I did try shooting in both modes (25p/50i), it appears as the 50i footage sometimes (fast movements) is flickering when watching on my PC in Vegas. I know I should try this out in practice (go through the entire process and burn the media) to compare, but the last show is tonight and I was hoping to get a piece of advice for getting the best shot.

I am shooting with Tv 1/125. Would that be acceptable, the movements are rarely fast.

Thanks,

[filmboss80]

Although interlaced video does not look as good as progressive on a computer monitor, it is quite fine for most television sets -- especially if there is a lot of motion. With new HDTV sets and Blu-ray, progressive is becoming more common, and since motion in your theater show is not fast, 25p is certainly appropriate.

There is not really a definitive answer here. In the end, you just have to think about final output and motion issues to make your decision. One problem is that you have shot in both modes, so it will be difficult to edit between performances unless you deinterlace the 50i footage.

Also, use the default shutter speed. You want smooth motion and good exposure.

[racer-x]

When in doubt, go with interlaced 50i. If your final output is SD / dvd, then you can use avisynth to separate the fields and get a very clean 25p, or 50i.............................................

As for shutter speed, I always go for what I can get away with, without the camera using gain. If available light let's you get away with 1/125, go for it. Indoors I usually go with 1/60 - 1/100 (NTSC) and outdoors I go with 1/250 (NTSC)......

[theaterguy]

Thanks for the responses. And yes, I chose 1/125 to avoid gain. Now the shooting is done and I need to spend some time with Vegas.