Canon HFG20 PsF (PF30) or 60i?
 

I have recently acquired an old, but in mint condition, Canon HFG20. It generates very nice HD video, but it has (at least) two formats for storage, PF30 (PsF) and 60i. I am also using a DJI Pocket 2 and an Action 4 to generate 4k 30p video.

Since ultimately I want to combine and edit these files in Resolve, which format should I record in for the HFG20?

I have used ShutterEncoder/Hybrid/QTGMC, in combination with the FFV1 codec for older video files to generate good deinterlaced files for editing (but very large), so I am comfortable with this process. But I have no idea how PsF files would be handled in a similar vein.

Does anyone have any reasonable suggestions for which format I should use with the HFG20 to maximise quality and easy of subsequent manipulation?

TIA, big time!

Phil

PSF is basically interlaced where motion only occurs every two fields meaning that every pair of interlaced fields gives one progressive frame. From a technical standpoint, since your other video is likely to be 30 frames progressive, it'd make sense to store your other video also at 30PSF.

There really isn't any deinterlacing to be done with PSF, you basically just need a software that will merge the fields, or you can just tell the software not to do any deinterlacing at all and you'll visually have the same result.

60i, on the other hand, will have motion between fields, so you end up trading some sharpness for more frames/smoothness/fluidity of motion and you will require something like QTGMC to deinterlace. Deinterlacers kind of will guess at the motion happening between fields whereas if you do the 30PSF option, there is no guessing and all of the information is just there to begin with. You're getting a single progressive frame every 30th of a second represented by two interlaced fields that make one progressive frame. PSF is interesting because you can get progressive frames on both CRTs and LCD TVs without any actual deinterlacing required for either.

As said, both have their drawbacks, PSF has crisp frames but has frame jerkiness in motion, 60i has smooth frames but has motion blur within the same frame. It wouldn't matter if the contents have slow moving objects or studio type content, but if the content has fast motion scenes like sports or action, PSF will be more appropriate.

Excellent, thank you!

So one last question. Assuming I use PsF files (no fast motion will be involved), can I just insert the native files into Resolve on a 30p timeline, or do I need to ‘tell’ it that this contains interlaced footage?

Thanks for everyone’s help.

I have never used Resolve but I would de-interlace the PSF footage first before taking it to the timeline if the other files are progressive.

With PF30 footage you should act as if it's a real 30fps progressive recording, and not apply any de-interlacing to it. I don't know about Resolve, but in Serif MoviePlus I do this by right-clicking on the video, choosing Media Properties, and changing the deinterlacing method to "None".