FCP - Transcoded File Size?

[hatch]

I'm seriously considering selling my HVX200 and switching to the HMC150 in the coming weeks. But I'm trying to figure out exactly how big my transcoded ProRes files are going to be after Log And Transfer in Final Cut Pro. I plan to shoot 720P/24.

Am I really going to be looking at 1GB/min for media storage? I work in documentary features, and as much as I like the idea of the cheap SDHC cards I am not thrilled about only fitting 16 hours of footage on a 1TB G-RAID drive.

[Kit_L]

Re. transcoded file size: the Apple Pro Res files are about three times the size of the originals, although I assume that can vary with the visual complexity of the scene. So, that figure of 1Gb/min seems a bit pessimistic, but once the big machine is up and running today, I will check the footage I have shot so far.

As for cost, I bought a new drive for a FW box that had a small drive in it and the present cost per Gb here is about 3Gb/dollar. It is very cheap now and will only go down.

Or are you concerned about the bulk of the drives themselves? cheers, kl

[jamesc]

HMC150 720p/24 records at 24 Mbps. ProRes 422 720p/24 is 66 Mbps or ~.5GB/min (based on this chart (http://provideocoalition.com/images/uploads/prerescomparisonchart.jpg)). If you were shooting 720p/24 on your HVX, I'm assuming that was DVCProHD 40 Mbps or 0.3GB/min. So 35.3 hours of footage vs. 57 hours.

Another option is to encode the AVCHD to DVCProHD with Panasonic's free AVCHD -> DVCProHD tool: https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/desk/e/download.htm. Although, I'm not sure if it will detect the 720p/24 and convert to 40Mbps DVCProHD (my assumption is that it will). I'll try it out tomorrow.

[Humanoid Typhoon]

Friend of mine is testing out a Panasonic for his production studio. Gig per minute for prores. A LITTLE less for AIC. Pretty crappy but oh well. Hopefully FCS3 comes out soon and support it natively.

[FarCountry]

I just transcoded ten clips, half were shot at 1080p30, half at 720p60, and all transcoded to prores at pretty close to 1gig per minute. I also just ordered another 1.5 TB drive today. It is a GB hog, but it edits smoothly. I think my strategy is going to be to keep one drive as my prores drive for active projects, and not do any backups on that drive, then keep all my project files (original AVCHD files, FCP, Compressor, DVDsp, color, motion) and renders on another drive that I keep backups for. Then I figure that as I fill those, I can decide whether or not to ditch the renders at some point and then shelf the drive and hope for the best (ie that I don't need to go back to old jobs). I can always re-transcode at some point if an old job comes back. Or something like that.

[nantnee]

i converted a 14min avchd file to prores HQ- a whopping 17gbs. Def going to need a bigger external.

[jamesc]

ProRes 422 uses different bitrates for different resolutions and sizes. It also uses
variable bit rate encoding, so these are theoretical maximums:

720p/24 - 66 Mbps - 8.25 MB/sec - 0.495 GB/min
720p/30 - 84 Mbps - 8.25 MB/sec - 0.615 GB/min
720p/60 - 166 Mbps - 20.75 MB/sec - 1.22 GB/min
1080p/24 - 132 Mbps - 16.5 MB/sec - 0.967 GB/min
1080p/30 - 166 Mbps - 20.75 MB/sec - 1.22 GB/min