Working with Mini DV Tape

[Alifilms12]

I've been working on a project for the past 1 1/2 years that originated on MiniDV tape. I set it aside for a few months and when I came back the footage now looks interlaced with "combing". I thought this might be a result of  Premiere Pro retiring tape-based workflows. Is there a way to fix this problem or a workaround? 

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi @Alifilms12,

Please post a screenshot of your sequence settings. That would help immensely.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Alifilms12]

Thanks for your quick response. Here are a few images. I really appreciate your help! 

1. Sequence Settings - I haven't changed any settings since starting the project. 

2. Before - taken about a year ago

3. Now - This is happening with all Mini dv footage I bring into Premiere. 

[Alifilms12]

I noticed that the footage looks great when I playback in quicktime. The problem occurs when I bring the footage into Premiere. 

[Ann Bens]

You cannot put mini dv footage in a 1080p sequence without having interlaced artifacts.

Post screenshot clip in MediaInfo in treeview here on forum.

[Ann Bens]

Nor can you upscale mini dv in a hd sequence without significant image quality loss after export.

[Alifilms12]

Thanks for your response. The interlacing also occurs in a SD sequence. The footage plays back in Quicktime on my desktop without combing (I think that's the term) but the probelm occurs in Premiere regardless of SD or HD. 

I'm expecting a loss of quality, but hoping to resolve the combing if possible. 

[Ann Bens]

If you want help please post the screenshot.

[Alifilms12]

What appears as motion blur in quicktime changes to lines when imported into premiere.

[Ann Bens]

Please post the Mediainfo screenshot.

You have more than one issue............

(sequence settings, fields and PAR)

[Averdahl]

...but the probelm occurs in Premiere regardless of SD or HD. 

I'm expecting a loss of quality, but hoping to resolve the combing if possible. 

By @Alifilms12

The Sequence Setting says that the timeline is set to 23.976 fps. If i remember correctly DV @ 23.976 were always  progressive.

So, if your DV footage is 23.976 and thus progressive i would right click one of the clips that look bad in the Project panel and go to Modify > Interpret Footage and look under Field Order and make sure that it is set to No Fields (Progressive Scan). Click OK and see if it playbacks as bad or better on the timeline.

I have had the opposite happen to me with old DV projects, iow that interlaced media is interpreted as progressive media in a newer version of Premiere Pro. Using Interpret Footage to set it back to interlaced did the trick.

It is important to know your source footage, iow knowing if it is interlaced or not and if interlaced, knowing if it is upper field or lower fields. Use the free of charge MediaInfo (mediaarea.net) app to check that. Premiere Pro can be kind of hit-and-miss when it comes to getting it right.

If this is the solution, it´s good to know that you can select multiple video clips and use the Interpret Footage command. So changing let´s say 100 clips can be done in one go.

[Alifilms12]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll give it a shot and let you know. 

[Ann Bens]

Mini dv is interlaced.

Did you check your display settings.

[Alifilms12]

Thank you for your response! Do you mean the display settings on my monitor or in Premiere? Any suggested for how to set my display would be much appreciated. I'm attaching a shot of my sequence settings and footage. 

Thanks! 

[Remote Index]

"Mini dv is interlaced."

I'll just chime in and say there are scenarios in which progressive video can be found "originated on MiniDV tape." DVCPro material is one such scenario. There are others.

It would help if the original poster clarified the source of the material (camera, transfer source if not camera original, etc.).

R.

[Alifilms12]

Thanks for your response. The footage was shot and captured years ago. I recently imported the material into Premiere from an external harddrive. Hope this is helpful.

[Remote Index]

Hello Alifilms12,

"Old", while not without its own value as a descriptor, marks what might be the beginning of more useful information.

Do you know if the tapes this came from were camera originals (ie. the material was shot direct to miniDV tape, from which the files you have were a direct capture)?

Do you know if the miniDV tapes were DVCPro or consumer miniDV? I can't recall with certainty (and perhaps another forum member will chime in with better information) but I think DVCam could also be recorded to miniDV tape. Uncertainty on this question is also useful information.

Alternately, they may have been captured from miniDV dubs from other sources.

If you can't answer any of those questions, you could answer this: why do you think they were captured from miniDV tape?

All of that information is helpful when assessing the issue.

(Also I'll plant the idea here that the issue might be as simple as the wrong field order being set / displayed.)

R.

[Alifilms12]

I can tell you a lot about the tapes...

I shot the footage on the Panasonic DVX 100B and captured in Final Cut Pro 7 (or slightly earlier version). I'm guessing the tapes are considered consumer quality. The footage was stored on an external harddrive. I have copied the footage once or twice since updating external harddrives.

Hope this is helpful. Thank you for your detailed response! 

[Ann Bens]

I am out!

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hello @Alifilms12,

Thanks for the message. You might want to check it in MediaInfo, a free app you can download (that's what Ann was asking you to do, as it makes troubleshooting easier; otherwise, we're guessing). 

If you shot on the 100B, It's probably 23.976 progressive, non-square pixels, anamorphic 16:9 (widescreen). You possibly captured using 2:3:3:2 pulldown settings. Without the MediaInfo screenshot in the "Tree" view, one cannot be sure.

For FCP 7, this article describes how you likely handled the footage. I hope the info helps.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Alifilms12 · Accepted solution]

The problem seems to be solved. Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions. Each comment got me closer to figuring out the issue.

Modify Clip

PAR - Conform to: D1/DV NTSC (0.9091)

Field Order - Conform to: No Fields (Progressive Scan)

Field Options - Flicker Removal (This solved the combing problem)

[Kevin-Monahan]

Cool, @Alifilms12! Thanks for letting the community know.

Kevin