Converting SD project to HD 720p?

[Mike Truly]

Back on this subject again.

OK, Ideally I would like to be able to convert any type of project to any other type of project but it seems that there are restrictions imposed. I have made some selections in the past that have limited me in converting one project type to another so I am trying to pick correctly this time.

Currently, I am working on a project that is SD 4x3 and it looks like the client may want me to redo the project in HD 1280x720. So since the edit is basically done but I will have to re-render everything at higher rez... I want to preserve the exact edit but change the type to 1280x720 and replace each clip with it's hi-rez counterpart.

So since I am rendering the animations at 1280x720 progressive (no fields) at 30 frames per second as TGAs and then making an HQ AVI of the animation, I should choose the 720 30p over 60p setting... correct?

I tried this and it sucessfully converts the project settings and I have my edit... great.

But I notice that the SD video when upconverted to this setting looks horrible. Extremely blurry... almost as though the images were being scaled down... not up. I will not be using this SD video in the HD project but I just wonder why it looks so bad when I changed the project settings... any idea?

Thanks!

[GrassValley_BH]

Well, since you're in a 30p project setting, the SD stuff will not only need to get upscaled to 720p, but it also needs to get deinterlaced.

Deinterlacing 60i to 30p isn't as simple as combining pairs of fields, because, as the previous terminology shows, the sampling rate is different. Simply combining pairs of fields will cause edge artifacts when there is motion.

So, most times the interlaced frame would get line-doubled with some interpolation, but now that effectively limits the vertical resolution making the image softer to begin with, which is then further enhanced by the upscaling.

I would try adding a slight Sharpen filter on the upscaled SD footage to see if it enhances things.

[Mike Truly]

Brandon,

Thanks for this. I will not be using this SD footage in the 720 30p over 60p project so it won't be a problem in this case. But I had never seen anything look this bad so thought there might be something happening incorrectly.

Thanks again.

[GrassValley_BH]

Unfortunately interlaced footage doesn't translate well to progressive, while the opposite, progressive to interlaced, is better, though the motion won't appear as fluid.