55/85: scan mode tutorial

One of the biggest changes in workflow in version 5.5/8.5 is a new “Scan Mode” flag which is saved with each clip. This way, the software knows whether or not the clip is a F1, F2, or Progressive Clip. While this is effective for mixing various formats (such as HD and SD interlaced clips), it does provide an extra level of management compared to the past. This includes:

  • Scan Mode selection for projects
  • Scan Mode selection for colour sources
  • Scan Mode selection in Action setup
  • Change Scan Mode function in the Dominance menu on the desktop.
  • Auto selection of interpolation in the Action layer menu
  • The Player automatically sets the playback mode to play correctly
  • Warnings when scan modes don’t match in modules

If, like me, most of your work is F1 and you weren’t really bothered by the way the software behaved in the past, here are some hints to reduce the management….

The fxguide old school method

The first step is to define your project as a Progressive project. This way, progressive clips on the desktop won’t appear with blue (non-project res) numbers. Since F1 or F2 clips are not the same scan format as the default project settings they will appear in blue on your desktop even though they might be of the same resolution and bit depth. In the player, progressive clips and F1 clips behave the same way, so they will play back correctly.

The next thing to be aware of is the scan format popup for Colour Source and other modules. Each of these will have a selection which allows you to pick Field 1, Field 2, or Progressive. These default to the same setting as your project.

When capturing clips, you can automatically have them flagged as F1 or Progressive (or F2) using the popop box below the Ratio field. Generally, I’ll set up the VTR to capture clips as progressive. If you’ve defined a progressive project, input clip will default to progressive. If you want to be more “correct”, you can select Field One.

Under the Format….Dominance function, there is now a selection for “Change Scan Mode”. This enables you to change the scan mode of the clips without changing the clip. For instance, you have a F1 clip that you want to be progressive — use this function.

The action setup menu has also been modified to include what format the rendered result is. If you’ve set your project settings to Progressive, the output scan mode format will already be set to this. If you change the render mode (under the Front/Back/Matte buttons), the scan mode in the Setup menu will be changed as well. If, for some reason, you want to do a field render but have the clip flagged as progressive, you can change the Setup menu to Progressive and still render in fields.

If you load a F1 or F2 flagged clip into an Action layer, the field mode of this layer will be automatically switched to Interlaced. If you want to have it treated as Progressive (for instance, you leave it full frame or shift it vertically in field amounts) you will need to switch the layer to Progressive or change the scan mode of your clip.

There are also some other caveats regarding how action searches for clips with the new thinking…..

  • Action clip search – Setups under 55/85 will still look first to the desktop and then to the library to find a clip to load. However, it will not load a clip with the same name if it does not have the correct scan mode. Instead, the action layer will appear as red. So if you create a F1 clip and use it an Action and then later replace it by creating a Progressive clip and renaming it to the correct name, Action will not find the clip. Instead, the layer will appear in red type as all missing clips do.
  • Action clip search (loading old setups) – If you load a pre-55/85 action setup, the setup will initially load the clip by name only (since the setup doesn’t contain any Scan Mode data). However, once you exit Action and then re-enter, the Scan Mode becomes one of the search criteria.

Loading old archives (pre-5.5/8.5) into a project can also cause Scan Mode headaches. Since there was no Scan Mode metadata associated with clips in previous software, a scan mode format needs to be assigned to old clips. So what I’ve gotten used to doing is to load all clips as “P” clips as opposed to the discreet default for NTSC, which is F1. Under the Archive menu, there is a menu called “Archive Preferences”.

Select the 720×486 1.3333 line (or other line) and select “Edit Resolution” from the popup screen on the lower-left. Change the format to Progressive and Apply Changes. Now when you load the archive, your clips from the archive will be flagged as Progressive.

Disabling Scan Mode Warnings

There are also warnings which exist in the software whenever you try to do things which your not “supposed” to do. Such as Film Compress a progressive clip.

This can be pretty annoying over time, having to confirm everything that you’ve been able to do without a problem in the past. Thankfully, discreet has included an environment variable which you can include in the .cshrc file in your home directory. This variable will suppress all warnings and have the software behave in the “old school” way.

Submitter: John Montgomery