Video Stills.

[Exit Stage Left]

I was interested to see what I could do with some DV video from 2007. I put it through Apple Compressor, converted it to Pro-res 4.2.2, loaded it onto the Final Cut Pro X timeline, where I adjusted it , then saved it as a JPG still, and uploaded it to Facebook. It's of Marina Bloom on the start line of the Mersey Roads 24.

[LEE]

Had a play with this.  Hope you don't mind.

Not sure what the native Resolution is of the extracted "still frame", this was just enough to work with (I expect the original may be higher-res.)

(Love the 1,000 yard stare).


4K Video can produce 8Mp "stills" which has huge implications for the future of stills cameras (and the vendors of storage media - My stills camera has already forced me into 4TB Hard Drives.).

I think the your photo would be acceptable quality for a smaller magazine image, I wouldn't want to enlarge it beyond this, it's pixelating already.


Note. 8K Video is on the horizon.  The storage implications are concerning but I suppose it's only a matter of time.  I think that produces a 32Mp frame !!!!!

[Exit Stage Left]

We're already using 4K. The Panasonic LX100 can work in 4K picture mode, with every frame a JPEG. As here at PBP.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0By9I2VwhZ9iWenlDdm1uVGpFdXM/view?usp=sharing


That's at a data rate of 100 Mps. The still of Marina Bloom is from an interlaced 720x576 SD image using the DV codec, at 25 Mps. The de-interlacing has an effect similar to a high acutance developer, emphasising edge effects.
In theory the 4K codec is seeking to describe 8 times the information, with only 4 times the data rate.
I've been looking through some material on Mini DV tapes, to see if it's worth recapturing from tape, There's quite a bit of information in the DV codec which it was hard to do much with using the editing programs I had in 2007.
I had a go with some of the start footage of the Mersey Roads in 2007. the de-interlacing is interesting, as it generates a black outline around movement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dQNhLOoEjE

[The French Tandem]

I really love this photograph, ESL! The deep concentration in the eyes of the racer is so perfectly balanced by the warm kindness on the face of the volunteer.

[Exit Stage Left]

I like the composition, Heather was filming on the start line. I'd gone off at number 4, so I was about 12 miles up the road when that was taken.
I tend to neglect the older video footage, as tapes are harder to deal with.  File-based video is much easier to handle, and the HD is more detailed. I thought I'd try a workflow that would preserve any of the original data, but it requires a lot of hard disc space.