Skip to main content
S
SAngeli
Participating Frequently
October 29, 2018
Answered

1080i/25 project for HD and SD media production

  • October 29, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 5402 views

Hi,

occasionally I shoot video with my handycam, do the video editing and deliver it in HD and SD on Blu-Ray and DVD+R DL media. My handycam is set as 1080i/25

Here are some important video specs of the video generated by my handycam:

- Bitrate mode: Variable

- Bitrate: 21.1 Mb/s

- Maximum bitrate: 22.6 Mb/s

- Width: 1,920 pixels

- Height: 1,080 pixels

- Display aspect ratio: 16:9

- Frame rate: 25,000 FPS

- Bit depth: 8 bits

- Scan type: Interlaced

- Scan order: Top field first

- Bit / (pixel-frame): 0.406

- Audio format: AC-3

- Bitrate: 256 kb/s

- Sampling frequency: 48 kHz

- Bit depth: 16 bit

To edit the video, on Windows 10 x64 OS and with PremierePro & Encore CS6, I create a project in FullHD [AVCHD 1080i25 (50i)].

Here my few questions:

1. I find it very difficult to understand the entire path that takes me form creating the project in FullHD, complete the video editing and generate the two videos/media:

- HD in Blu-Ray with max destination bitrate (based on available disk space)

- SD in DVD+R DL with max destination bitrate

I find problems mainly when I have to handle the SD video because I lose quality of video especially in Titles, animation, still images and so on.

Could I kindly ask the assistance of someone expert with this kind of work and ask if you can very briefly list the correct steps to follow from beginning to end? Just very brief.

Here is an example of what I wish to read from your answers:

Create a new project.

Select the following preset: AVCHD 1080i25 (50i).

In Preset settings select as Editing Mode: “xyz” - Timebase: 25fps/s - Pixel Aspecti Ratio (HD 1.0 squared pixel) ……

When the project is completed select Export.

Here the preferred settings:

- Source Scaling: xyz

- Format: H.264

- Frame Rate: 25

- Aspect: Square Pixel (1.0)

- Profile: High

- Level: xxx

- Vitrate Enconding: VBR, 2 pass

- Minimul Bitrate:

- Target Bitrate

- Maximun bitrate

For creating the SD video go back to the project and select Export.

Here the preferred settings:

(take these info as reference for your answer: video lenght: 1 hour and 46 minutes - DVD+R DL media)

.........

Once this entire path is clear in my mind, I think it will be easier for me to work on it.

2. Is it correct when creating a new PremierePro project to select the following preset "AVCHD 1080i25 (50i)" for my 1080i/25 video (see at the beginning of this post the full specs)?

2a. Is this Editing Mode "AVC-Intra 100 1080i 50Hz" still fine for my 1080i/25 video?

If this is wrong, can I change editing mode with all the project already completed? Somewhere I read that if I have to change Editing mode I can select the entire Timeline, cut, then remove current editing mode, add the correct one and finally in Timeline paste. Is this correct?

3. Can I increase the destination Bitrate up to the maximum if I have capacity on the DVD and Blu-Ray to obtain best video quality?

I hope I did not ask too much. I already did my Internet research and have some experience but almost none with SD video.

Thank you very much…

      This topic has been closed for replies.
      Correct answer Averdahl

      Hi Ann Bens,

      I must produce a DVD other than a BD for which I have no questions to ask.

      I understand I have to create a dedicated SD new project and am fine so fare.

      The only thing I am not sure so far is which file format, video codec and video resolution I should use for exporting the HD project.

      I believe it is QuickTime but no CineForm codec as I do not have it.

      This is why I posted a screenshot: hoping you expert can look and advise me based on what PPro presents me.

      For me I should choose: QuickTime format + H.246 video codec

      Is this correct?

      Second question is the resolution: should I already export it in 750x576 or in native 1920x1080?

      Lastly, I noticed that going from 1080 to 720 or enabling "Set to Frame Size" it creates a pillar box looks. I was thinking, when exporting final video, to select "Scale to Fit". Would this be ok?

      My apologies if this thread is getting too long for me to understand.

      PS: Ann Bens states that "There is no point in exporting as quicktime as everything will be re-encoded."

      Am I jus wasting my time in exporting HD video in QuickTime format, creating a new DV PAL project, importing the QuickTime video into timeline and finally exporting it in MPEG2-DVD for concluding the work with Encore?


      As i wrote there is no need to create a new project. Work in the same HD project and nest the HD sequence into a SD sequence. I have already provided details. No need to export the HD video to any format to downscale it to SD when nesting.

      Nesting: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-ab&ei=f03YW6_tNdDKrgTZwJCIAQ&q=nesting+in+premiere+pro&oq=nesting+in+prem…

      To clarify, the video will still look bad if you export to MPEG2-DVD, the nesting and redoing titles for SD will not enhance the video but it will enhance the titles. Standard Definition, a.k.a SD, will never look good directly out from Premiere Pro, especially when you know how the original look in HD.

      Yes, you are wasting you time and will loose quality if you export HD to H.264 and bring it into a new project, or excisting project, and the re-encode it to MPEG2-DVD. H.264 are highly compressed.

      1 reply

      Averdahl
      Community Expert
      AverdahlCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 29, 2018
      1. The destinations bitrate is not defined by the aviable space on the Blu-ray/DVD disc. There are tons of info about what bitrate to use on the internet but for Blu-ray you must use the H.264 Blu-Ray exporter and set the bitrate to approx 25-30 Mbps. For DVD you must use the MPEG2-DVD exporter and set the max bitrate to approx 8 Mbps and make sure that the Field Order is set to Upper Field First. I prefer CBR encoding over VBR encoding.
      2. As long as the preset match your source footage you are ok.
      3. Yes, but the editing mode itself does not affect you output quality in any way as long as it matches your source footage. Changing the Editing Mode is possible to do on excisting Sequences by going to Sequence > Sequence Settings. But again, you want it to match your source footage when it comes to 25 fps, 1080i.
      4. Avoid to max out the bitrate. If the bitrate is too high the players will start having issues to playback the media. See answer #1. Going higher than those values wont add much.

      Regarding text on the SD video it will never look good when it´s downscaled from HD. What you can do is to nest the HD timeline into a SD timeline (PAL, 25i, Upper Field First) and redo the text the so the text is SD. When you nest the HD timeline into an SD timeline, right click on it on the SD timeline and select Set to Frame Size to make the video fit in the SD frame. You will need to turn off the text layers in the HD timeline when you do the final SD render. Yes, more work but the end result will look better.

      Still valid when it comes to text in SD and in HD: Great Titles with the DV Codec : Adobe Premiere Pro basics Tutorial

        S
        SAngeliAuthor
        Participating Frequently
        October 29, 2018

        Hi Averdahl,

        many thanks for having taken your time to reply to me.

        Few follow-up questions, if possible.

        Can you please tell me if this would be a correct way to work on SD video coming from HD project?

        In within AVCHD 1080i25 project, I would select the entire video and export it using the MPEG2-DVD format. PremierePro will generate four files: “.m2v”, “.wav”, “.m2v.xmpses” and “.xmp”.

        Then, I create a brand-new project selecting as Preset “DV-PAL 48kHz Widescreen”. I will import into timeline only “.m2v” and “.wav” files (ignoring those other two files). Video will be “ready to go”. Will need to adjust titles and still pictures by selecting “Set to Frame Size” (which will retain SD quality as if I would have created them from scratch) and I should be done (more/less). Then I will export the entire SD project as “MPEG2-DVD” format which I will be used in Encore to create the DVD.

        Is this correct so far?

        I fail to understand what is “Use Frame Blending” feature. Is it useful for still pictures? I noticed that when seeing still pictures in SD they look kind of ok but they “sparkle” just a bit.

        Many thanks also for the link “DV Codec”.

        Averdahl
        Community Expert
        AverdahlCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 29, 2018

        There is no "correct" way, there are many different ways to do it and the answer on how-to depends on who you ask.

        I do this:

        1. File > New > Sequence
        2. Select the DV-PAL 48kHz Widescreen preset and click on Settings and change Fields to Upper Fields First and click OK.
        3. Find the HD sequence in the Project panel and drag it to the DV-PAL 48kHz Widescreen sequence, just the way you drag a video clip.
        4. Right click on the HD sequence in the DV-PAL 48kHz Widescreen sequence and select Set to Frame Size

        You will now see the edited HD sequence inside the DV-PAL 48kHz Widescreen sequence. In Premiere Pro this is called Nesting and there are tons of tutorials about it on the internet. All edits/changes you do in the HD sequence will be reflected in the SD sequence. Now, redo the titles in on the DV-PAL 48kHz Widescreen sequence and then export it to MPEG2-DVD. To make it easy to disable all titles in the HD sequence it is handy to have all titles on one track so it is easy to hide them in one go, or at least have dedicated tracks for titles if you need several layers of them. Try to export one short version when the titles made in the HD version and one short version with the titles made in the SD sequence to see the difference. Maybe you won´t think the extra work is wort it, so it is worth testing before dedicate time to it.

        If you opt for exporting the HD sequence and bring that into Premiere Pro do not choose MPEG2-DVD, you want to export it as HD in an intermediate codec such as the CineForm codec that is bundled with Premiere Pro.

        No, Frame Blending is not useful for still images only for video.

        Going from HD to SD will always look bad, so you will never get a result that looks as good as HD but now in a smaller frame. And, do not rely on previewing SD material on a computer screen. Burn a DVD with let´s say Adobe Encore and look at it on a television. (Unless you have a broadcast monitor attached to a Blackmagic card.)

        I assume that you are going to use some kind of a Blu-ray/DVD authoring application? If yes, they will handle separate video and audio files fine.

        Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices