Best format and method to upconvert and change ratio of video project?

[Joseph C. Krause]

I just finished a short video shot on MiniDV which is interlaced 3:2 720x480 29.97. I would like to prepare it in a digital file format and also for DVD that I can send to film and video festivals, but my many attempts to upconvert it have had bumpy results.

The video was shot with black gaffer's tape on the monitor to frame for 16:9 presentation, but was edited full-screen with the intent to crop as the final step. Now I'm looking for a "standard" 16:9 format in which to present the final project. I landed on the idea that 720p30fps would be pretty good, and have had a good deal of trouble getting things to look right.

So my question isn't necessarily how-do-I-make-it-look-best-at-720p30fps, but first -- what is the best format and approach to achieve my goal of a 16:9 good-looking final product for both digital and DVD presentation?

I'm on a Macbook Pro i7 using Final Cut 7.

[yoda313]

First off welcome to the forum.

Second of all 720p is not suitable for dvd.

https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Dvd for NTSC (which is what the U.S. uses) is 720x480. That is the capture format you will use for creating dvds.

When you say digital presentation are you referring to posting it on the internet? Would it be for streaming or simply as a file for downloading? I do not have experience hosting videos for streaming so I can't comment on that.

For a good balance of size and quality I would normally recommend wmv for posting on the internet. However since you are on a mac obviously you will be using .mov. Just choose a profile for web posting. The resolution should be smaller to make downloading easier.

[Joseph C. Krause]

Thanks for the welcome. To be clear, I want to make TWO versions of this content, one as a digital file that can be downloaded and screened at a video/film festival and the other for DVD. The DVD is a little easier to figure out, but I want to make sure that if the material is played on a 16:9 display, that it fills the screen rather than being both letterboxed and pillarboxed. Many festivals appear to accept download links for digital movie files, but don't always provide clear guidelines about format, which is why I was hoping for some kind of "standard" I could use for such a purpose.

I am not looking for the smallest file or quickest download -- this would be for submission for screening, not for casual internet viewing.

My native output from Final Cut results in a Quicktime file that is both letterboxed and pillarboxed with played on a wide screen. I have been able to simply crop the original source and deinterlace it to make a quicktime file, but I am concerned that because a 720x360 Quicktime movie probably isn't any kind of standard -- but it seems that a 720p Quicktime file would stand less chance of causing problems on disparate projectors or computers. Should I be concerned about my perception of a "standard" or simply crop and deinterlace the file?

Posting it, say, to Vimeo, is easier because they provide very specific instructions to give the best result for their site.

[redwudz]

Since you seem to be primarily using Mac tools, you would likely get more answers to Mac specific questions in our Mac Forum. Moving you.

And welcome to our forums.

[Herve]

just a remark

I have been able to simply crop the original source and deinterlace it to make a quicktime file, but I am concerned that because a 720x360 Quicktime movie probably isn't any kind of standard.

with a 720*480 source file:
- crop (from 4:3 to 16:9) => remaining informations = 720*360
- deinterlace (your mini-dv shoot as interlaced) => remaining informations (from 720*360) = 720*180

…you really want to upscale these 720*180px informations to 720p (1280*720px)?

bye