Tutorial 11: Using ULTRA with 720×486 Uncompressed clips

ULTRA works great with uncompressed AVI clips, but there are some settings you should be aware of if you are using the 720×486 (ITU-R 601) format. Since ULTRA uses a 720×480, lower-field-first (DV) resolution, 486-line clips can appear distorted if these settings are not set correctly.

To start with, make sure you are running ULTRA 1.25 or newer software. This can be found by going to Help>About ULTRA.

Fig 1: Finding out your version number

If you need to update, run Check for product updates found in the same menu. If you don’t have Internet access, there’s also an update patch available for download on our site. You can download it on a different system, and then copy it to your ULTRA machine.

When using a 486-line clip, you’ll need to specify the field order of the clip. Drag and drop the clip into the Input Clip (or other desired layer.)

Fig 2: Drag in your clip to the desired layer

Then click the layer icon to select it.

Fig 3: Select the layer icon so the green light turns on.

Then, choose the Input tab. You’ll see a drop-down menu for the field order. Select the appropriate setting for your clip.

Fig 4: Field order menu in the Input tab

TIP: You may need to consult the documentation that came with your editor to determine whether the clip uses upper-field-first or lower-field-first. The ITU-R 601 spec typically uses upper-field-first, but some editors (like the Leitch Velocity) use lower-field-first. Others, like the Newtek Video Toaster, are software-selectable. The important thing is to make sure your clip and ULTRA are set the same way.

To output an uncompressed 720×486 line clip, go to the Output tab, and select Uncompressed as the codec.

Fig 5: Selecting Uncompressed format in the output tab

Select 720×486 in the resolution drop-down menu.

Fig 6: Selecting resolution

Select the appropriate field order (the one that matches your NLE.)

Fig 7: Selecting field order