Video Editing Tips: Take Advantage of Formats

Edit Cellar by Peter Normandia

If you are creating videos for the web, then this tutorial is for you. I’m going to go over a tip I use to increase production value while capturing live events or action, and cutting to music.

In order to take advantage of this tip, there are a few parameters to meet. You must have:

1. Footage that is 1080p (or at least 1080i)
2. An NLE (non-linear editing system) capable of adjusting scale, position, and creating sequences in multiple formats.
3. 1 billion dollars to donate to my paypal account (this is not mandatory, but preferred)

Understanding Formats

There are 3 main formats for HD footage: 1080p, 1080i, & 720p. The “i” stands for interlaced. The “p” stands for progressive scan. Here is a great explanation on the difference from Geek.com:

Like displays, resolution is the prime determiner of an HDTV’s picture clarity, and those crazy numbers roughly equate to vertical resolution. A television which is 720p, for example, will support video of up to 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall. A television which is 1080p will support video of up to 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall.

But what about the trailing p and i? They refer to the television’s scan modes, but the good news is that you don’t really need to pay attention to that. If you’re curious, they refer to progressive scan and interlaced and refer to the way the screen is drawn, but virtually all modern HDTVs are progressive scan.

Simply put, progressive is the more appealing ‘visual’ format. 1080 has more pixels then 720, which equals a higher quality image, and overall larger size. read more...