Standards conversion Help
Intro
Convert to...
Blend, telecine
Scale only
Strict 3:2 pulldown
Clean chapter starts
Movie speed
Intro Standards conversion is the only process type that allows scaling and change of frame rate (not counting scaling by the export component or the stretch/shrink feature).
This process type allows all combinations of progressive in/out and interlaced in/out.
The frame rate change and scaling use adaptive deinterlace and high quality scaling.Convert to... You can choose from a number of standard output formats or "custom".
The standard presets includes size and frame rate and your preferred compresser. In addition most formats are by definition interlaced/progressive, clipped and/or (not) anamorphic.
It is always a good idea to check the export settings. If you make custom settings in the standard conversion pane (or edge in the output pane) these may get overruled partly or even completely by the export size settings.
Tip 1: if you want "raw to raw" scaling (encode pixels to encoded pixels), do the following: set input clip = 0; set out edge to 0; uncheck "preserve aspect ratio" in the export size dialog.
Tip 2: if you want "clean to clean" scaling, check "use input clip" in the prefs and click on the default button of the input pane; check "set output clip" in the prefs; select one of the presets; uncheck "preserve aspect ratio" in the export size dialog.
iPod, iPhone and AppleTV have their own rules for scaling and frame rate. The presets completely implement this, including aspect ratio conservation using the "fit within dimensions" method.
The settings in the output pane (interlace, edge) can be edited. The conversion type remains the same. Press the output "Defaults" button to restore. Conversely, if custom settings happen to become the same as some standard type the type remains "custom". This makes it easier to create custom settings.
The log and progress window use a simplified approach to determine the conversion type (mainly based on size and frame rate).
Tip 3: if the movie needs to be scaled for AppleTV, either make sure the input movie looks correct in QT Player Pro and check the anamorphic preferences (use input aspect ratio = true, set out aspect ratio = true) or else uncheck them and do the scaling in the standards conversion. Example: a 576x720 movie that needs aspect rato 4:3. Method 1: open in QT Player. If it is not 576x768 scale it to this size and save. Method 2: choose "Convert to AppleTV". Click "Custom". Leave "height" at 540 and change "width" setting from 676 to 720.Blend, telecine "Telecine" means fields are not blended (use nearest field). This means better compression and sharper stills.
This is the best choice for progressive -> interlaced conversion.
Also keeps smart televisions from producing artifacts when displaying at high frame rate.
"Blend" means smoother motion, especially steady motion at moderate speed (if the frame rate change is small we switch to minimal blend automatically; OTOH if the frame rate is low blend kicks in automatically).
"Minimal blend" is like telecine except that a 50% blend is performed whenever telecine would drop or duplicate a field. It is a compromise between the other two modes.Scale only Check this if you don't change frame rate, even if you are not scaling. This way you may avoid several unnecessary processing steps.
However, frame durations remain unchanged with this setting. If they are irregular (as is often the case with video digitized from an analog signal) they stay irregular!Strict 3:2 pulldown Employ the standard telecine procedure. Only available for NTSC output.
This makes it possible to recover the input movie using inverse telecine (if the input is 24p film). Otherwise you don't need this option.Clean chapter starts Prevent the last frame of the previous scene from blending into the first frame of a scene in the converted movie. This relies on the presence of a chapter track.
Only needed if you change frame rate.
The QuickTime Player Pro Help has instructions for creating a chapter track. Tip: use the movie's time scale and track edit durations. You can view these with Dumpster.Movie speed A speed larger than 1.0 makes the movie run faster. A speed of 0.5 creates a half-speed slow-motion.
The sound speed is adjusted too (preserving pitch).
In case of extreme speedup you probably want to set "telecine" and "progressive out" (no interlaced fields).
Conversely extreme slow down makes little sense without blending.