The highest resolution method to deinterlace DV

and make it look like film

DVFilm Maker Online Help

System Requirements - Macintosh Version

  1. A large amount of hard drive space (6GB to process 10 minutes).
  2. A PowerPC processor (iMac, G3 or G4), 128MB memory recommended.
    G5 with 1GB memeory required for HDV conversions.
  3. Quicktime 6 with "Recommended" (full) installation (included on CDROM).
  4. OS X (10.0-10.4).
  5. DV/HDV editing software such as Final Cut Pro or iMovie.
  6. Can also be used with non-DV editing systems which can import/export Quicktimes, see FAQ # 6 below.

Installation

  1. Copy the contents of the DVFilm folder onto your desktop. If you are downloading the software from our website, use the .sit archive file for OS9 or OS 10.0-10.2. For OS 10.3 or later (Panther or Tiger), the .sitx archive must be used, in order for the execute permissions to be set correctly.
  2. Double-click on the DVFilm Maker icon in the application forlder to start.

A quick-start guide will appear to guide you through the processig steps and explain each option. Please click here for an online version of the quick-start guide.

Conversion of Completed Movie Files to 30P/25P/24P Film-Motion

  1. For long projects, it's recommended that you break up your film into 10-20 minute scenes, or 20-minute "reels" and process them separately. For Final Cut Pro you must export a self-contained FCP Movie. For other applications you can export a DV Quicktime. In either case, use DV- NTSC compression at 720 x 480, 29.97 frames/sec or DV-PAL compression at 720 x 576, 25 frames/sec as appropriate. If your editor allows you to choose the quality setting, use maximum quality. Remember that DVFilm needs the original, unprocessed version of this file for transfer to film. The export audio settings need to be uncompressed audio (format = None) and 16 bits per sample, in stereo. Maker will also process silent movies. Here is a page of suggested quicktime settings for iMovieHD and FCP
  2. Start DVFilm Maker. Drag the source movie to the window (OSX only) or from the File menu, select File->Open, navigate to the directory which contains your source material, and double-click on the desired input file. It must be a self-contained FCP Movie, Quicktime, or DV stream file.
  3. Player controls will open to show you the movie. You can use the volume control, the slider, and the single frame buttons to examine the source footage.
  4. Click on Process->View Options to choose how you want the material to be processed. The process options may appear automatically if the drag-and-drop feature is used. If the source material is 16:9 anamorphic (squeezed) you may choose to shrink that down vertically with a letterbox (after deinterlacing). If the source material is 4:3 (standard television aspect ratio) you may choose to crop that to 16:9 with a letterbox. Or you may choose not to use letterbox at all. The check box for Deinterlace must be checked if your footage was shot standard interlaced NTSC or PAL. Uncheck the box if your footage was shot in frame-movie mode (Canon XL-1 or GL-1) or progressive-scan. If you shot with the Panasonic DVX100 and you want to edit at 24P, use the 24P options.
  5. The processing options will be saved and used as the defaults the next time you run the program, but only if the Quickstart Guide is deselected, presuming that you are an experienced user.
  6. Use 24P Motion - check this box for simulated 24 frames/sec motion. The source movie must be 60i, standard interlaced NTSC at 1/60th sec shutter speed for this option to work.
  7. Add Grain - check this box to add simulated film grain.
  8. Red Boost - check this box to boost the red layer for warmer tones.
  9. After you have chosen your desired options, click OK or Start.
  10. To start processing from the main menu, click Process->Start Process.
  11. Processing takes approximately 5-10 minutes for each minute of material, depending on the speed of your hard drive and computer. While it is processing you may use your computer for other tasks. To cancel processing, click Stop on the progress bar pop-up. You can also click Pause/Resume to pause processing.
  12. After processing is complete, the player controls will allow you to view the processed footage. Depending on the speed of your computer, DVFilm Maker may not be able to play back the movie in real time, so you will need to print the footage to tape using FCP or iMovie to see the results (see following step).
  13. The processed footage is saved to a temporary file called New Movie. Always change the name before you use this file: click on File->SaveAs and enter the name of the Quicktime file to which you would like to save the results, and select the directory where you want to save it. The directory you choose must be on the same disk drive as the source movie. For iMovie users, you must use File->Export to export the movie to a DV stream.

Conversion of Raw Clips to 24P/25P for 24P/25P editing

  1. Capture the video with your editing application.
  2. Start DVFilm Maker. Drag the clip to the window (OSX only) or from the File menu, select File->Open, navigate to the directory which contains your clip, and double-click on the desired input file. It must be a self-contained FCP Movie, Quicktime, or DV stream file. For HDV clips, follow the special instructions here.
  3. Player controls will open to show you the movie. You can use the volume control, the slider, and the single frame buttons to examine the source footage.
  4. Click on Process->View Options to choose how you want the material to be processed. The process options may appear automatically if the drag-and-drop feature is used. If you shot with the Panasonic DVX100 or Canon XL-2 and you want to edit at 24P, use the 24P options (click link for more info).
  5. The processing options will be saved and used as the defaults the next time you run the program, but only if the Quickstart Guide is deselected, presuming that you are an experienced user.
  6. After you have chosen your desired options, click OK or Start.
  7. To start processing from the main menu, click Process->Start Process.
  8. Processing takes approximately 5-10 minutes for each minute of material, depending on the speed of your hard drive and computer. While it is processing you may use your computer for other tasks. To cancel processing, click Stop on the progress bar pop-up. You can also click Pause/Resume to pause processing.
  9. After processing is complete, the player controls will allow you to view the processed footage. Depending on the speed of your computer, DVFilm Maker may not be able to play back the movie in real time, so you will need to print the footage to tape using FCP or iMovie to see the results (see following step).
  10. The processed footage is saved to a temporary file called New Movie. Always change the name before you use this file: click on File->SaveAs and enter the name of the Quicktime file to which you would like to save the results, and select the directory where you want to save it. The directory you choose must be on the same disk drive as the source movie.
  11. To edit the 24P clips, set up your FCP sequence to 23.98 frames/sec (or 25 frames/sec for PAL clips) and field dominance to no fields

Help on 24P Options - click here.

Help on Batch Processing - click here

Help on Advanced Options

The advanced options pop-up is provided for experienced users who wish to experiment with the processing parameters.

  1. Show Motion Detector Mask - Use this to output the motion detector mask instead of processed video, to allow you to adjust the motion detector sensitivity. The motion detector output is white where there is motion detected, and black where there is no motion detected. Select a value for the Motion Detector Sensitivity (starting and stopping the process each time) so that static areas of the screen are perfectly black.
  2. Show Line Detector Mask - Use this to output the line detector mask instead of processed video, to allow you to see where the line detector is working.
  3. Line Detector On - Use this option to reduce dot crawl on nearly horizontal lines when the camera is moving slightly. Do not use this option with high-shutter speed video. Note: using this option will slow down processing time significantly.
  4. Motion Detector Sensitivity - range 1-1000, default value = 50 Lower values will allow more interlacing to leak through but may work better with brightly lit scenes. Higher values will results in less leak-through but may reduce vertical resolution in areas that are not moving. Higher values may work better with very dark or low-contrast video.
  5. Grain Amount - range 0-10, default value = 4. Lower values will look less grainy, higher values will look more grainy.
  6. Red Boost Amount, range 0-10 default value = 7. Lower values will look less red, higher values will look more red.
  7. Blur Horizontal Lines - Use this option to smooth out or blur horizontal lines to reduce dot crawl. This option can help improve the appearance of video taken with high shutter speed settings or with low-quality video cameras.
  8. Blur Amount, range 1-3, default value = 1. Lower values will blur less, higher values will blur more.
  9. Use YUV Processing - Use this option for YUV processing. Note: turn this option off for consistent results with older versions (<2.0) of DVFilm Maker, or for use with RGB video sources like uncompressed Quicktime.
  10. User Selects Output Folder - Use this option to specify which drive and folder to save the output movies (OSX only). Otherwise the output movies will go into the same folder as the source movie.
  11. User Selects Compression - Use this option to manually configure the Quicktime output compression settings. Some codecs like the Avid Quicktime PAL codec require manual setting of 4:2:0 color sampling. If this option is not used, then DVFilm Maker will attempt to use the same codec and settings as the source movie.
  12. Output Folder - drag into here the folder you wish to use for output movies (OSX only).
  13. Process in background - gives up more time to the computer between frames so you can use it for other tasks. Slows down processing speed.

Known Issues and Workarounds

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Do I need to use Quicktime 6 or can I use an earlier version? You need to use QT 6.5.1 or later versions, because of a bug on QUicktime 6.5. Also the DV codec in version 5 and later versions is greatly improved over versions 4 and earlier. The DVFilm Maker CDROM includes a self-contained Quicktime 6 installer so you do not need to download from the Apple website.
  2. Can I use DVFilm Maker to convert NTSC to PAL? Yes, click here for more info.
  3. Can I use DVFIlm Maker to convert PAL to NTSC? No, for that you need DVFilm Atlantis.
  4. DVFilm Maker will not read my movie, what's wrong? Your files must be in a form readable by Quicktime 6, which includes Quicktime files with any compression method supported by QT6. This does not include editor project files. Try opening the file with the Quicktime player. If the Quicktime player cannot read your file, then DVFilm Maker will not be able to read it either.
  5. How can I use DVFilm Maker with other video editing systems? If you can use your editing program to export a Quicktime, export your project with the following settings: Quicktime, Motion JPEG B, Quality level 95% or higher, using the same frame size with which the video was captured. You can use a higher quality setting but 95% is the recommended minimum. Read the exported Quicktime into DVFilm Maker and process it. DVFilm Maker will use the Motion JPEG B encoder to create the new movie. Then import the new Quicktime movie into your video editing program for conversion and playback.
  6. The DeInterlace option seems to have no effect on my video, why not? If you shot frame mode, or used a slow shutter speed of 1/30th sec or slower, cameras like the Canon XL-1 and the Sony VX-2000 will record both fields simultaneously, and so the DeInterlace option in Maker has no effect. We do not recommend shooting in these modes because non-interlaced NTSC cannot be converted to 24 fps for transfer to film, the 24P film motion option cannot be used, and also because the slower shutter speeds will blur motion much more than a movie camera would. With DVFilm Maker and standard, interlaced video, you get both film-like video suitable for digital projection and (with your unprocessed video) compatibility with transfer to film.
  7. What about fast shutter speeds like 1/250th sec? We do not recommend these either. Processed footage will look best and most film-like at 1/60th sec shutter speed. If you need more information on why to use certain shutter speeds and how that interacts with transfer to film or with DVFilm Maker, we recommend the book SHOOTING DIGITAL.
  8. Do I get free updates when you make performance improvements to the software or release a new version? Bug fixes or upgrades to registered users are sent free by email, on request. Updates on CDROM are available by mail to registered users, for a small upgrade fee ($35).Go to the DVFilm Update Center
  9. What happened to the OS9 version? OS9 is no longer supported, however there will be a final release for OS9 users in Summer 2005 that will include features up through release 2.0 with bug fixes. After this release the OS9 version will no longer be sold or updated, but can still be downloaded by existing customers.