Picture Profiles - What are the advantages?...

[Dave Draper]

OK, I've gotta ask... What are the advantages of using a Picture Profile as opposed to shooting without one?

I'm not against them - I use them myself. I'm just looking for a proportional magnitude of opinions.

For me, I guess it's because working with 35MB/s VBR footage doesn't allow me as much flexibility in post as I'd like, and thus I feel the need to create as much of the "look" in-camera as I can, before everything gets compressed and recorded onto the SxS cards.

DD.

 

[devnull]

First you'll have to quantify why working with 35Mb VBR footage limits you. What is it that you can't do, or can't do as well PPs?

 

[Shipsides]

FCP Color doesn't work well with Long GOP Codecs. This isn't true for all color grading software but there are more issues compared to working with I-Frame codecs. Also I can totally understand why you would be hesitant to work with a 8-Bit 4:2:0 codec when color grading.

However, I think that shooting to maximize your camera range will leave you with much more options. A PP with an extreme setting locks you into one look and can makes it difficult to correct.

I shoot for range and then take the steps that are needed to deal with the footage in post.

 

[mico]

FCP Color doesn't work well with Long GOP Codecs. This isn't true for all color grading software but there are more issues compared to working with I-Frame codecs. Also I can totally understand why you would be hesitant to work with a 8-Bit 4:2:0 codec when color grading.

However, I think that shooting to maximize your camera range will leave you with much more options. A PP with an extreme setting locks you into one look and can makes it difficult to correct.

I shoot for range and then take the steps that are needed to deal with the footage in post.

Just for FCP's sake you can transcode long GOP footage to prores which Color will accept with out problems.

Not using a picture profile you are basically letting Sony decide what looks good for you. A look is subjective.

If you want to know how footage grades theres a dvd for sale that has full resolution clips for you to play with.

Or since Shipsides works for Abel Cine Tech you can ask him for some time with the cam. Bring a portable hard drive with you and shoot to see what works for you.

 

[devnull]

I'd suggest it's the software your using and the way your using it, rather the codec it's self. Mpeg2 works very well in Edius. I can run multiple streams with cc in real time un-rendered, on a mid range quad core.
To me it's always been my practice to examine the whole process end to end, and not buy gear ad hoc. Make sure the camera you buy, with the codec and media, all work well with the software and hardware you have or want to get.
Most people don't seem to do this, they make brand or product choices regardless of their interoperability. The old adage, not planning to succeed is planning to fail. Check, test, speak to users, (not sellers), then you can make your choices based on knowledge rather than marketing brochures.