A question about field orders

Question

Situation: I'm given edited videos exported in mxf with Upper First field order.

Task: after I re-edit these videos I have to export them in 2 formats - mp4\h264 with No Fields and mxf with Upper First.

My workflow: before editing I manually select all the mxfs go to Interpret footage and set there forced No fields. Then I edit and export in mp4 and mxf with no further change.

Nuances: setting No fields in the sequence settings or in the Field order menu in the Export tab DOES NOT change the field order for the resulting videos, so an mp4 goes out with jagged edges and other interlacing artifacts.

My question is: what would be your workflow in that case, and should I come up with the export differently for both mxf and mp4, for instance, should I set the Interpret footage back to Upper first before exporting to mxf?

Averdahl · Answer

My question is: what would be your workflow in that case, and should I come up with the export differently for both mxf and mp4, for instance, should I set the Interpret footage back to Upper first before exporting to mxf?

I would never ever use Interpret Footage to change the filed order of interlaced media. Doing so will always cause trouble.

Just import the footage and do nothing, iow keeping it interlaced. Edit on a timeline that matches the footage, in your case Upper Field First. When exporting to H.264, change the Filed Order to Progressive in the Video tab/section. When exporting to MXF, just make sure that the export will match the timeline, iow Upper Field First.

If source footage is interlaced, always edit in a matching interlaced timeline, export to either progressive or interlaced depending on what you need. Never change this with Interpret Footage. De-interlacing should always be done when exporting.

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