Best workflow approach to editing and transforming 576i 4:3 PAL video to 1080i 16:9

Converting interlaced footage to progressive, as Ann suggested, is a good idea. Unfortunately, most NLEs by themselves (including Premiere Pro itself) do it incorrectly: They either drop every other field or blend two consecutive fields together, resulting in further loss of image quality; in fact, performing the former will result in an effective resolution of only 720x288 (or in this case, 560x288), assuming that the image isn't resized. As a result, you not only need to convert 576i to 1080p, but you must also make the new copy 1080p50 (not 1080p25) by using a good third-party deinterlacer/bob tool.

Topaz is the way to go.

But...........going from 576i 4:3 format to cropped  16:9 1080i is a big step. (100% to 245%)

I would not make it interlaced but rather progressive.

I converted quite a few Digital 8 tapes to 1280x720 but did not touch the 4:3 ration as in two black vertical bars on the side.

I think old footage looks at its best in 4:3 as framing might not look all that great in 16:9.

Hi,

Thanks for the question. I like to transcode the footage, then begin work. That way, I can work faster and more smoothly. Try a sample workflow and see if it works flor you.

Thanks,
Kevin