shooting in 720p, will downconvert to 480i for dvd

[apollo1980]

Hi all.

About to shoot a project in 720p.

I want the source video footage in this resolution. Then I want to convert it to 480 resolution to edit in Sony Vegas, and burn a DVD in 480i.

I know I'm going to be asked why bother downconverting...it's because I only want the project distributed on DVD for now. If in the future someone does something with it, the source material will be in HD.

Anyway, what is the best (and I'm also looking for cheapest) way to convert from 720p to 480i for editing?

Shooting in P2, so files will be in mxf format. I'd like uncompressed video if possible when downconverting.

I have a windows 7 pc. I do, also, have the option of using a mac, but i'd like to use a pc if possible.

Thanks in advance.

[edDV]

What was the camcorder. Was it able to shoot 1280x720p/59.94?

If so... it should be possible but I haven't attempted it yet.

You would downscale to 720x480p/59.94, then export encode as MPeg2 720x480i/29.97 top field first.

[neomaine]

Why would you want to interlace your natively progressive video?

[poisondeathray]

Why would you want to interlace your natively progressive video?

Probably because his goal is standard DVD-Video , and it doesn't support 60p, and he wants to keep 60hz temporal resolution

[neomaine]

Just beyond my scope of knowledge. Thanks PDR...

[edDV]

Why would you want to interlace your natively progressive video?

DVD only supports 480i/29.97 or 480p/23.976

Since his source is camcorder 59.94p, inverse telecine isn't an option.

It is possible to "fake" 29.97p by encoding it to 29.97i. This would be done for web delivery, etc. by effectively tossing every other frame. Otherwise, interlace 480i preserves 59.94 field motion samples per second.