HVR V1E - 25p Progressive editing

[birder42]

I have had the camera for a couple of years. I use Adobe Premier Elements for editing.

I am interested in the 25p option for wildlife -stills etc but have not used it much.

Sony convert 25p to 50i interlaced. How does the editor know this is the case? I assume that unless it has the necessary option it just thinks this is ordinary 50i & treats the fields as if they were taken 1/50 sec apart instead of simultaneously?

Does anyone know of an editor that can deal with the Sony method?

[Frank]

I have had the camera for a couple of years. I use Adobe Premier Elements for editing.

You might want to consider trying Premiere Pro. I believe that Adobe offers a free trial version.

Sony convert 25p to 50i interlaced.

There's no conversion involved. They're merely writing out the progressive frames as if each frame were really composed of two interlaced fields. This recording technique is called PsF, or Progressive segmented Frame.

If I may be permitted to quote from an old version of my "Frank's thoughts on HDV" Web page, now archived by the Wayback Machine at http://web.archive.org/web/200801251113 ... s.net/hdv/

Additionally, and this is a departure for Sony in terms of its HDV product line, the HVR-V1 series camcorders can shoot not only the usual interlaced video (1080i), but also progressive mode video (1080p). In the 50 Hz PAL-like versions of the HVR-V1, the alternate lines of each progressive frame are treated as a single field of a standard interlaced video frame, allowing ordinary edit systems and HDV VCRs to see the 25p data as regular 50i interlaced video. The edit system or VCR, therefore, isn't aware that the two fields of any given frame, when combined, will form a perfect progressive frame. This method of storing progressive frames of video within an interlaced video format is known as PsF, or Progressive segmented Frame, and is commonly used in Sony's HDCAM format. The 60 Hz NTSC-like versions of the HVR-V1 use this same PsF method to handle 30p (29.97p) progressive frames...

How does the editor know this is the case?

It doesn't. The PsF mode is used for compatibility purposes. No consumer grade monitors, and only a few professional grade monitors, understand PsF, so by writing the data as if it were interlaced, a high degree of compatibility is ensured.

The problem with PsF is that in systems where it's not understood, needless deinterlacing may occur. I say "needless" because the video is really already in a progressive form and should therefore not be subjected to a deinterlacing operation.

I assume that unless it has the necessary option it just thinks this is ordinary 50i & treats the fields as if they were taken 1/50 sec apart instead of simultaneously?

That is absolutely correct.

Does anyone know of an editor that can deal with the Sony method?

Along with Adobe Premiere Pro, you might also want to try Sony Vegas Pro.

Regards,

Frank, Independent Consultant, Somewhere in the State of New York
Read Frank's thoughts on HDV
[ also covers AVCHD (including AVCCAM & NXCAM) and XDCAM EX ].

[birder42]

Thanks for your comments. I will have a look at the editors you suggest.