150 Mbps 10 bit HEVC vs 400 Mbps and best cards for each

A

Amulet Man

Well-known member
A tired question, I suspect, but also a moving target as firmware is updated.

We aren't Netflix-approved lol so I'm not worried about that, but I want the best image quality I can get when shooting V Log. If that's HEVC 10 bit 4:2:0 or all-intra h264 4:2:2 that doesn't matter to me. In fact, if they're 98% identical that's fine. But I've been tricked before... by 150 Mbps on the F5 (in 1080 10 bit) and 150 Mbps on the C200 (in 4k 8 bit). Not great.

What matters to me is media reliability, playback on a modest laptop (2016 15" rMPB) in Premiere and Resolve, compatibility with Premiere, Resolve, and After Effects, and price. Image quality does matter. I do a lot of chroma keying and heavy grading, so if the difference between 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 is invisible generally but substantial there, it would make me reconsider. However, if it's 98% the same, whatever.

Would this very affordable card work for 4k HEVC (24p and 60p):

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandis...MIkr7f6pm64wIVjYCfCh1poguIEAQYASABEgLz5_D_BwE

Does HEVC or all-Intra h264 play back faster in Premiere. Neither seems to open in Quicktime player, but whatever.

Thanks!
 
Which camera?

I hope you receive an exact answer, but just wanted to point out (maybe you know) that that's a cheaper Sandisk card. On paper, the 70 MB/s writing speed may cover the specs, but it may not be sustainable (record without failure over many minutes).

For the same price, you can have the 'Extreme Pro' version (although 64GB less) which would most likely work much better (again, I cannot confirm):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...xxy_064g_gn4in_extremepro_sdxc_64gb_card.html

And for $40, you can have the 128GB version (if it works): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...xy_128g_ancin_extremepro_sdxc_128gb_card.html
 
NorBro said:
Which camera?

I hope you receive an exact answer, but just wanted to point out (maybe you know) that that's a cheaper Sandisk card. On paper, the 70 MB/s writing speed may cover the specs, but it may not be sustainable (record without failure over many minutes).

For the same price, you can have the 'Extreme Pro' version (although 64GB less) which would most likely work much better (again, I cannot confirm):

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...xxy_064g_gn4in_extremepro_sdxc_64gb_card.html

And for $40, you can have the 128GB version (if it works): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...xy_128g_ancin_extremepro_sdxc_128gb_card.html
Click to expand...

EVA1. And good call, yeah. I was looking at very high end cards (Sony Tough) but heard 150 HEVC could work on any V30 card. Maybe I shouldn't have gone with the cheapest V30 card.
 
Do yourself a favor -- buy good, fast UHS-II cards (with the second row of contacts on the card.) Preferably v60 or v90 speed. Then if you need to record at a high bitrate you have the capability.
I don't have any of the Sony Tough -- when I looked at them it seemed that they didn't have a 'write protect' switch -- and I refuse to put an unprotected card into a Mac - since they immediately write files onto the card if they can - and can on occasion mess everything up in the process. My primary cards are Angelbird V90 -- but I also have some Sony G and some Toshiba Exceria cards and have had no issues with any of them.

I personally shoot primarily at 150 mbps long-gop, since I haven't seen any real quality difference when I've shot using 400 Intra. Of course on the list posted by NorBro it does specify the Intra 400 codec. But I don't shoot Netflix shows...

When working in Premiere I'll have it make proxy files during ingest and work with them. On a fast computer doing a quick project I may not bother with proxies, but for longer edits they really help. Particularly for multicam stuff.

I don't do much in Resolve - but you may need the Studio version (not free) to open/play the 10 bit files.
 
Amulet Man said:
What matters to me is media reliability, playback on a modest laptop (2016 15" rMPB) in Premiere and Resolve, compatibility with Premiere, Resolve, and After Effects, and price.
Click to expand...

All should work fine in each of those programs. For playback on a modest laptop, consider using proxy workflow especially for HEVC and L-GOP (not terribly long to transcode and absolutely worth the investment in time to do it).


Amulet Man said:
Image quality does matter. I do a lot of chroma keying and heavy grading
Click to expand...

I would never chroma key using anything with less than 4:2:2 (until I'm convinced otherwise).


Most importantly, don't cheap out on your cards and use Dual Rec if possible! Your media is the weakest link in the chain, and don't forget that although they are getting to be much more reliable, these are still just SD cards!
 
Seanik said:
I would never chroma key using anything with less than 4:2:2 (until I'm convinced otherwise).


Most importantly, don't cheap out on your cards and use Dual Rec if possible! Your media is the weakest link in the chain, and don't forget that although they are getting to be much more reliable, these are still just SD cards!
Click to expand...

+1 +1 on both of these points.
Actually did a green screen shoot today - and yes, the camera was 4:2:2 10 bit -- and yes, everything was shot dual record. (Just because I haven't had any issues with my cards doesn't mean that I pass up the opportunity to be safe and dual record.)
 
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