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About Video Formats

I tend to be persnickety about terminology because, goodness knows, there's a lot of it, both in computers and video. So, if you're going to impress people with your ability to talk in jargon, at least use it correctly! Nothing makes me feel like I'm talking to a flake faster than hearing them spout off using words totally out of context.

So, to improve your status in life, here are some key terms you need to understand:

Capturing:
The process of converting the information stored on your videotapes into a QuickTime file that Final Cut can read. This "information" includes the video, audio, timecode, and metadata (the data that describes your media) that is recorded on your tapes.

Importing:
Bringing information that is already in digital form into Final Cut. For example, all the files I included on the DVD have already been captured, so if you want to bring them into one of your projects, you would only need to import them. The difference between capturing and importing is that a captured file needs to be converted before Final Cut can use it.

FireWire:
FireWire is a communications protocol; it is not a video format. FireWire is simply how two devices, such as a computer and hard disk, or computer and video camera, communicate. It's like two people deciding they will both speak French so they can understand each other. If one were speaking English and the other German, they would not be able to understand each other. FireWire is a high-speed protocol for communication.

DV, or Digital Video:
As I use it, DV means the collection of all video formats that include MiniDV, DVCPRO-25, and DVCAM. Technical purists will argue that Betacam SX and DigiBeta are also digital formats and, although that is true, for the purposes of this book, I'm going to use the term "DV" to mean these three video formats.

The reason for lumping MiniDV, DVCAM, and DVCPRO-25 together is that, given the same camera, lens. lighting, and subject matter, the image quality and data rate of all three are the same. They record their data to tape differently, but image and compression is identical. Consequently, they are easy to lump into one collective term, "DV."

Video images in DV are significantly compressed in order to keep their file sizes and data rates small, but the video image quality remains high. The data rate for DV video is about 3.75 megabytes per second (MB/s).

SD, or Standard Definition:
As I use it, SD is a higher quality video signal than DV. Generally, SD video comes from DVCPRO-50, Betacam SX, Betacam SP, and DigiBetacam. In order to capture SD video, you generally need to use a capture card, which is a device to convert this higher quality video into a format Final Cut can read.

Although the quality of SD images is, generally, better than DV, the data rate for SD ranges from 7.5 MB/s all the way to 27 MB/s.

HD, or High Definition:
HD is the new darling of video production. Its images are spectacular, but so are its file sizes. HD video comes from a variety of sources, but fits into one of several file types: DVCPRO-HD (DVCPRO-100), 1080p, 1080i, 720p, or 720i.

HD video file sizes range from roughly the size of SD to 44 times larger than DV. In fact, the largest HD image file has a data rate of almost 160 MB/s!

Frame rate:
The speed, measured in frames per second, that your video plays back. There are, essentially, three playback rates: 24 fps, 25 fps, and 30 fps. And, in general, film and some HD use 24, PAL uses 25, and NTSC and other HD formats use 30. (Purists would argue that there are additional frame rates, such as 29.97 and 23.98. They are correct, but for now I'm ignoring them.)

Reel:
A name or number given to each reel of videotape to uniquely identify it to Final Cut Pro. I am passionate about using Reel IDs and will explain why later in this chapter.

The key point behind these specs is that even though the video formats change, Final Cut remains the same. So, whether you are cutting DV footage or a major motion picture, the process of capturing, editing, and outputting remains the same.