Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Convert 60i to 60p Revisited

A few questions were posted to me via YouTube on how to do 60i to 60p conversion. In a previous post I showed how to use Vegas velocity envelopes to do time remap effects. But I only mentioned the conversion process in passing with thread links on how to do it. For convenience here are two methods that have worked for me:

Standard Vegas
1) Create a Custom Project with 60p frame rate
File -> Properties -> Video -> Field order: None (progressive scan) -> Frame rate: 59.940 (Double NTSC) -> Save -> Ok
2) Load your HDV clip
3) Enable Smart Resample (this is default)
Right-click on clip -> Properties -> Smart Resample -> Ok
4) Encode video to a 60p progressive format
File -> Render As -> Pick a codec capable of progressive -> Custom -> Frame rate: 59.940 -> Apply -> Give the file a name -> Save

Mike Crash Smart Deinterlace Plugin
1) Create a Custom Project with 60p frame rate
File -> Properties -> Video -> Field order: None (progressive scan) -> Frame rate: 59.940 (Double NTSC) -> Save -> Ok
2) Load your HDV clip
3) Disable Smart Resample
Right-click on clip -> Properties -> No Resample -> Ok
4) Apply Smart Deinterlace to the video track
Video FX -> Smart Deinterlace (you must have loaded the plug-in previously) -> Drag effect to the track (not to the clip) -> Ok (use defaults)
5) Encode video to a 60p progressive format
File -> Render As -> Pick a codec capable of progressive -> Custom -> Frame rate: 59.940 -> Apply -> Give the file a name -> Save

Gotcha
The critical part is to encode in a progressive codec. HDV is interlaced. When using the Main Concept codec go to the Video tab and select Output Type MPEG-2. WMV and MP4 are always progressive.


References:
Glenn Chan's notes on Mike Crash's filter
http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=52097

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Simple Cutout Animation with CreaToon



If you're looking for a simple 2D animation package look no further! CreaToon is great for simple cutout animation like talking heads. Before I found this I was going to use Blender 3D and learn all the rigging. It saved me some time coming up with a funny effect I wanted.

CreaToon can take most image formats such as JPEG, Targa, and PNG. I like PNG as it allows for Alpha Channels to make the background transparent. This means I could edit a graphic using Paint.NET then animate it. Attaching the body parts of an animation is easy to follow through the online tutorial. Within half a day I had a minute long voiceover and animation sequence working together for my cutout characters.

With the sequence done I was able to put it in front a green background and export to AVI. Imported into Sony Vegas I applied a Chroma Key reapplied the audio and was all set. CreaToon was also capable of exporting image sequences but this method seemed easier for my style of editing.

References:
http://www.creatoon.com/index.php