Video file formats, recording, writing to media, using

[Brett Stark]

Hello All - 

 

this is a really basic question, so if there is a good/easy resource - can you please just send me the link and I will go and read etc?

 

I have a new sony rx100 II. Yay!

 

From user guide:

When you create AVCHD discs from movies recorded in [60p 28M(PS)]/[50p 28M(PS)], [60i 24M(FX)]/[50i 24M(FX)] or [24p 24M(FX)]/[25p 24M(FX)], it will take time as the image quality must be converted. To save [60p 28M(PS)]/[50p 28M(PS)], [60i 24M(FX)]/[50i 24M(FX)] or [24p 24M(FX)]/[25p 24M(FX)]movies without converting the image quality, use Blu-ray discs. 

 

 

In the record setting on the menu of the camera:

60i 24M(FX)

60i 17M(FH)

60p 28M(PS)

24p 24M(FX)

24p 17M(FH)

 

I understand (i think!) the basics of interlaced vs progressive...

 

Background - at the moment, i am mainly shooting wierd little clips i see and family stuff - not yet into serious film/video making..

 

So, some questions:

- what do the above acronyms/nomenclature mean?

 

- when would i shoot interlaced vs progressive?

 

- when would I use the above settings over the other for any reason? Is there a setting I would just leave it on 95% of the time? Does the answer depend I guess on what media I want to put the video onto in the future? If it just stays on the computer and I stream/watch via say apple TV I guess that bit doesn't matter. 

 

- at some point, I'll be back in Australia where PAL is used. Does this sway the answer at all?

 

Or is it simply - shoot in 24p (one of them above - what is 24m vs 17m?) - and worry about it later??:)

 

Thanks for any help/answers.

 

Brett

 

[Brett Stark]

OK, so xxM is the bit rate and who cares what the letters after it mean i guess!

 

so, is the answer simply shoot 24p 24M and deal with it later - including what media to write video to (if any) and what to do about PAL/NTSC?

 

i only have imovie (so far).

 

thx

[Axel]

No interlace! Interlace needs to be deinterlaced when viewed on a progressive device (which are all modern TVs and monitors). Hobbyists (if they don't have 50p/60p) sometimes prefer it, because doubling the motion phases smoothes their shaky camera to some extend (smears the details, that's what "i" does on progressive displays). The better solution is: Avoid shaky camera, this also improves resolution (veeery much, complicated to explain with my limited english)!

 

24p 24M (the latter probably the data rate in mbps) is the way to go, and 60p (if it looks good) for slomos (don't know though if iMovie treats this well). Use a shutter of 1/48 or 1/50 always to get the right amount of motion blur in your video (1/100 for 60p).

 

About the PAL dilemma: It never was one, as long as you don't work for your local broadcaster. It applied to DVD only, and even then it was not a problem at all. PAL DVD players always play back NTSC DVDs also ("as" PAL60). 24p are NTSC conform. For SD (I don't know if iDVD will make problems, but I don't think so. It's big brother, DVD Studio Pro, just said, "the frame rate does not match PAL", so you had to change the project properties or the frame rate).

 

24p are also BD conform, no matter which country.

 

Viewing on a computer: Most monitors have 60Hz frequency. Now, even if you played back 25p on this, the very light swallowing of frames never disturbed anyone, it's hardly noticeable. Also the other way around: If the refresh rate is 75Hz, a 24p movie will still look fine.

 

As of now, 50p/60p are not supported by youtube, vimeo (they transcode it tacidly to 30p, in case of 50p originals with stuttering) and most BD hardware. 

[jgharding]

M = mbps. Amount of data per second. megabits per second

 

Higher is better quality (in general) but larger files.

 

Professional formats range from around 50 mbps to 700mbps or so and more. so 24mbps is a bare minimum really, don't use the lower setting.

[maxotics]

And professional RAW starts at 30MBS (mega bytes per second), which would be 30x8(bits) 240mbps.  If you hang around this forum that may confuse you at first.

[Brett Stark]

Thanks. 24p 24m it is...although now i want to try some 60p too. thx