24p, 30p or 60i for best quality on BD and DVD???

[bigrick]

Hi Edius lovers,

I just purchased a used SONY PMW-EX1 (That's all I can afford....)

It can shoot 1920X1080 in either 24p, 30p or 60i. I have viewed Doug Jensen's "Mastering the Sony PMW-EX1" and he recommends using strictly 30p.

All my shoots will either end up on BD or DVD. I want to shoot only in one mode. The question is: what should I shoot in to get the best quality when I burn to DVD or BD?

I know that BD doesn't support 30p, So if I shoot in 30p, I guess Edius will convert to something else. I am not sure if it will be 60i or 24p., but will I get good quality in BD using 30p?

If I shoot in 30p, will the DVD end up in 30p and will the quality be good?

If I take Doug Jensen's advice, I would be tempted to used 30p, but is this the best format for both DVD and BD?

Other question: If I shoot in 30p, should my timelime always be in 30p , even if the output is in either BD or DVD?

Thanks in advance for your precious advice.

[THoff]

You have to edit in a project that is DVD or BD compliant, or you won't be able to burn a disk from within Edius.

Edius will happily work with 30p material in 60i projects and the results I have gotten when outputting to DVD and BD have been excellent. I've really not been able to detect a difference in display quality between 24p and 30p over 60i when burning a BD.

[Bassman]

Rick,

Having choices with HD is great but I would suggest going for first hand knowledge to make your final decision.

Take out your camera and shoot in all of the formats it offers - 720p60, 1080p24, 1080p30, 1080i then go to Edius and do a complete workflow for all of the formats. Export to disc and go preview on your television.

This is the only way to truly know what you are doing. When you find the look(s) you like then you can make a choice for that particular job.

1080p30 is a great format but it might not be as good as 720p60 for filming a lot of action. It might be just fine for your tastes. Experiment.

Edius can handle everything , but if you want to burn a DVD straight from the timeline, interlaced is your best option. Meaning as THoff stated, edit your footage on an interlaced timeline and and you will have access to high quality downsampling within Edius.

[dpalomaki]

And if shooting for paying clients, be sure to determine their expectations as well. What looks good to one person's eyes might not be what they want/expect. A film look with 24p is nice - for emulating film. But it might not do well with fast moving shots that are not well scripted/controlled by a production staff.