Picture file format for documentary

[Stephen Floyd]

I have been scanning pictures for a documentary and many of the files have turned out quite small. (200k or so.) I am saving them as jpg, which is the file format I have been sternly advised to use, but I am wondering if it really matters what kind of format you use in FCP.

 

Can I use bmp or any other higher resolution format? What is the normal file format for such an endeavor?

[Vincent Sweeney]

FX guys I have worked with before usually ask for tiff's

[Phil Rhodes]

Well, just in case this wasn't clear - JPEG is compressed, BMP isn't. If it's standard definition, 200K is not that much so you're compressing heavily. If it's HD, it's absolutely paltry, and I would be surprised if it didn't look awful. Also, JPEG will be easier on your disks when editing, but BMP will be easier on your processor since there's no (or very little) work involved in decompressing it.

 

Many modern NLEs will happily edit BMP or JPEG sequences, and if you are sure you will never want to take it to have work done on it anywhere else, then go right ahead. If you feel you may eventually want to go elsewhere with your original material, consider DPX or TIFF.

 

That said part of the glory of these basic formats is that they're readily convertible to almost anything else, given time and disk space.

 

P

[Stephen Floyd]

FX guys I have worked with before usually ask for tiff's

 

That is what I was hoping to hear. I used tiff files in journalism, so that should be an easy format to utilize.