Mixing and Matching Formats

No you can’t mix and match. But you have to. Get an expert advice before you start.

Let’s say you are doing a documentary that was 80% shot on HDCAM at 1080 23.98p. But then you also have some Digital Betacam interviews and the film distributor has given you their logo on DVCPRO HD tape at 720 59.94p.

How do you combine all this? Many people don’t consider that there may be a difficulty in doing so. Unfortunately, there is no one solution that fits all cases. Fortunately, it is done all the time.

Mixing different tape formats can be problematic because of different frame-per-second (fps) rates. Just because it is possible to capture all these into an offline edit system it does not mean it will be equally easy to do the final HD conform.

There are too many possible cases to consider and each can be unique in its own right. Before you embark on using formats of different frame rates talk to someone experienced in HD workflows.