I have a digital animation and I must convert it to video (reocording
it with a Beta SP tape), in order to submit it to a movie festival.
 
The animation was created with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. It
was created as a mixed sort of old-style-but-digital process, with
every frame designed by hand (i.e., flat and 2-D designs only), then
scanned, colorized with Illustrator and Photoshop and grouped with
Flash - there is also a version in which the frames were aligned using
Adobe Premiere.
 
That means the animation was not created using vetorial tools - which
would mean that the original resolution didn't matter when outputting
it to video, since I would be able to enlarge it without any quality
loss.
 
So, every frame is actually a bitmap illutration, with a 640 x 480
resolution.
 
After such a great preamble, here are my questions: 
 
1) which is the better way to output the animation to video (beta-sp
format)?
 
2) am I going to lose quality in the video copy when compared to the
digital original? If so, what is the degree of the loss? How would the
animation look like in its video version?
 
3) Is the color system relevant? I mean, would there be any difference
between a copy recorded in NTSC and a copy using PAL?
 
4) If there is a risk of a quality loss in the process, is there any
way to reduce this loss? How?
 
5) After I have the copy in Beta-sp, could I output it to film (35
mm)? I understand that I would possibly have a huge loss of quality in
this case. Is that true? Can it be measured in some way? Are there any
alternatives (especially non-expensive ones, since I'm an independent
filmmaker working in Brazil) that could be used for it?
 
I've made many searches on the subject, both in websites and in
groups, but I couldn't find an objective answer for it. Please note
that "you should remake the whole movie using a larger resolution or
vetorial tools" is NOT an option. I already have the original
animation and I'm working with a tight deadline - so I need to output
the animation as it is. 

---

Clarification of Question by ren222-ga on 06 May 2002 14:47 PDT

Hey Biba, 
 
The file is .avi, but I can output it in any other file format - if I
can do it using Flash or Premiere. The connection to the video
recorder is not a problem - we are going to use the services of an
video editing company. My main concern is the resolution: I've heard
some people say that 640 x 480 is enough for VHS, but not for Beta,
and other who say that 640 x 480 is enough for any videotape - but
none of them had enough knowledge on the subject to make an definitive
statement or give me any solid advice. Also, I must keep the final
editing time as low as possible - they charge by the hour, after
all... So, I must take the movie to the editing house as edited as
possible - so I won't lose time and money there - and I must know
beforehand if I must expect quality loss in the process, how much loss
there will be (if it can be measured in any way) and what could I do
to reduce them.
 
Thanks a lot for your interest. 

Can you tell us which file format the animation is at the moment? Is
it avi, mpeg, rm, etc? And do you already have your computer connected
to a beta video recorder, or do you need to know how to do this?

If it's avi then that's great because it's an easy format to convert.
The issue over Beta or VHS doesn't matter, the real decision is
whether you use PAL or NTSC. I would advise you to make it NTSC
because it will come out much better quality. The reason is because
NTSC has a 4 x 3 ratio, and 640 x 480 fits this perfectly. With PAL
the picture would look a bit stretched.

If you want to know how it will look on tape then (if possible) try
and play the video on your pc with a screen size of 720 x 540, as this
is the actual picture size for NTSC film. If you can't do this then
try taking one frame and increasing the size.

So to answer your questions
1. Your video editing company will deal with this, as you already have
it in avi format

2. Increase the frame size to 720 x 540. There will be some loss of
quality since you are recording from digital to analogue, but it won't
be drastic

3. Yes, you should use NTSC 

4. Since it is already in avi format this is already as high as
possible.

5. I have no idea about this one I'm afraid! Maybe you could make each
frame into a 35mm slide, and then make this into a film?

Oops, forgot to add, maybe your video editing company can advise you
about making it a 35mm film? Anyway, I hope this is some help to you,
good luck with your movie festival :)

Hey, thanks a lot! That's very helpful - and comforting... So, NTSC is
the choice to make. I've heard lots of stuff on the subject - and
yours was by far the most objective answer I got. Hope I can help you
someday too - or maybe send you an invitation for the premiere... :)
Thanks again.