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Using the BCC UpRez Filter in Avid Editing Systems

Media Used in this Exercise: Artbeats forest.mov

Let's take the example of a client that needs to use an SD clip in an HD project. In this project we'll use Avid Xpress Pro as our host application but you could just as easily do this with any of the host applications that are supported by BCC such as Adobe, Apple, or Autodesk. We'll start by creating an HDTV 1920 x 1080 project. Into this new project, we'll import an SD 702 x 480 clip, and drag the clip into the timeline. It is important to import the media at it's native size, so you should click on the options button and select the "Maintain, non-square" option from the Avid Import Settings window.

avid filters

With the clip selected in the timeline, click on the Image group in the plug-ins window and drag the Resize filter onto the clip in the timeline. Open the Effect Control window and twirl down to the scale group and set the scale to 297 percent. This should scale the image so that it fits in the frame.

avx filters

Add a second instance of the original clip to the timeline and this time we'll apply the BCC UpRez filter to the clip. Select the clip in the timeline, then in the Avid plug-ins window click on the BCC Distortion and Perspective group and then drag the BCC UpRez filter onto the clip. In the UpRez filter go to the source parameter group and set the source pixel aspect ratio to Square Pixels and set the Source Size to NTSC D1.

avid plugins

Next we go to the transform parameter group in the UpRez filter. Click on the disclosure triangle to reveal the parmeters within this group and set the framing pop-up to Fill Frame. The SD image now fills the HD frame.

motion graphics

The media has been scaled to fit the window in both instances of the imported clip, one with host transform and the other with BCC UpRez. And comparing the image generated using the host scale controls to the image that was generated with BCC UpRez, we can see how the results are quite similar, almost identical. This is because we are still using a standard transform algorithm.

uprez compare

So now it’s on to the Filtering group. This is where we control the image sharpening or smoothing that the UpRez filter is going to apply to the clip. By default, the filter is set to use an algorithm that was designed to take the least amount of time to render while still offering an improved image result over the host transform scale alone, however the sharpening value defaults to 0 so no additional image sharpening will occur until we enter a higher value in the sharpening parameter. Set the Sharpening parameter to 50 percent and review the image result. Although this result is indeed better than the host scale result, the UpRez filter can deliver more image detail and we'll enhance it further by selecting the Magic Sharp algorithm from the Filter pop-up menu. Observe that now the image appears much clearer and closer to the original untransformed clip.

uprez compare

Now let's go back to the result that the host transform scale generated, make a mental snapshot and again compare this to the result that was generated with the UpRez filter. Notice the high level of detail that has been returned to the image with the additional filtering from within UpRez. Because every clip is different, both in terms of the image quality and content, there will be times where you may want to use one of the other Filter algorithms that are provided with this filter. If the clip was shot in low light conditions and has a lot of noise or heavy grain then the Magic Smooth algorithm will generate a more pleasing result than the Magic Sharp setting. Experimentation is the key here.

video editing