1DC: Any way to play 1D C footage smoothly?

Pascal Parvex

Pascal Parvex

Well-known member
I don't own a 4K camera yet (except the GoPro 3 Black Edition with only 12 frames per second) and have been looking for something suitable for me. As long as there is no C100 4K, the 1D C is my favorite. I finally found some clips for download from it, but they won't play smoothly on my rig (i7 860 2.8 GHZ, 8 GB RAM, GTX 770, 512 GB Samsung 830 SSD, LG DCI 4K Cinema Display). VLC only shows the first frame, Quicktime plays better, but stutters heavily. I converted them to ProRes with a free utility, they now play smoothly with Quicktime and stutter with VLC. I also downloaded the EOS Movie Utility, but this utility does not recognize the clips. I suppose it is because the uploader renamed them* before providing them online.

So, the question is, does there any player exist that will play original 1D C footage smoothly on my PC?

*Could not find the clips anymore. How do I have to name the clips and folder, so that they are recognized by the Canon Movie Utility?
 
not sure if the software is your problem. I work with mac, but own the camera since 2013. In the beginning with an SSD (about 300 Mbs read/write speed) I had to transcode to play them smoothly. Nowadays with a PCI Flash Harddrive in my mac (900Mbs read/write speed) I can play and edit the native files. I think some of the newer Pcs offer PCI Flas as well.
 
franzschuier said:
not sure if the software is your problem. I work with mac, but own the camera since 2013. In the beginning with an SSD (about 300 Mbs read/write speed) I had to transcode to play them smoothly. Nowadays with a PCI Flash Harddrive in my mac (900Mbs read/write speed) I can play and edit the native files. I think some of the newer Pcs offer PCI Flas as well.
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Are you talking about Megabytes or Megabits? My 830 Samsung SSD has a read/write speed of about 490/390 Megabytes. So this should be more than enough for the 504 Megabits (4K/24) of the 1D C, which would come down to 63 Megabytes. I wonder if it is a software problem, the MJPEG codec playback not beeing optimized except for the EOS Movie Utility. But for later to recognize my files, I need the folder structure and file name scheme. Can someboy provide me with that?

And what kind of Mac do you have, Franz? iMac, Mac Pro?
 
It's the native codec of MJPEG that is the issue.

My workflow has been to convert all original clips to ProRes (via FCPX) on import. I then delete the MJPEG files and treat the ProRes as my new "masters". File sizes remain roughly the same.

Try to get them into an intermediate format designed for editing. That should play fine.

I have edited 1Dc clips since 2013 on my MacBook Pro from 2012 without issue.

MJPEG has offered me around 500 Mb/s INTERNAL 422 intra frame compression 4k recording for years now. That goes a long way to compensate for some inefficiency.
 
Sorry Megabytes or Mb/s, i always forget what is what. Theoretically a SSD should be fast enough, yes. This is just my experience with my MacBook Pro Late 2013 with 1TB Flash storage. I think the Flash HD makes the difference as I used a 2014 Macbook Air with Flash storage on some shoots and it plays the native 1D-C footage as well. I think its even faster in the new MBP with around 1800 MB/s and the new iMacs have over 2000 MB/s. http://barefeats.com/imac5k12.html
Since using computers with this kind of storage I have felt the largest bump in felt real live performance for ages. I am still struggling to find a RAID as fast as my internal HD (I use a pegasus T2 R4, but only the R6 or R8 seem to be faster).
 
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Thank you for all the answers. I thought that my SSD would be enough.

About the file structure for playing with the Canon Player (EOS Movie Utility): Is it documented in the manual for the 1D C?

Edit: All I can tell from the manual is that the folder structure is XX-XXXX, for example 101-0027 like displayed in the manual. But how about an actual file name?

The only footage straight out of camera i could find is this, just re-found the link: https://www.copy.com/s/t:rDIskAZ7Fq1f;p:/PIXLA 1Dc native;oid:206369
 
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Media Player Classic does the trick rather well. It is virtually stutterfree. And the Canon tool should work for freshly recorded files.

Edit: Only the sound fails every five or so seconds. Could not fix it.
 
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Pascal_Parvex said:
The only footage straight out of camera i could find is this, just re-found the link: https://www.copy.com/s/t%3ArDIskAZ7Fq1f%3Bp%3A%2FPIXLA 1Dc native%3Boid%3A206369
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Hi again.

I uploaded those files (two years ago?) for exactly this reason: someone was looking for native files to test the performance.

I uploaded the files with the following disclaimer: they are handheld with the Canon 24-105mm f4 IS. I was out with the kids, so I didn't have a kit—i.e. they are not filtered and the shutter is faster that 1/50 in some of them.

They are good for checking computer performance (like the original request) and to check the general characteristic of Canon Log. They are all Canon Log without sharpening.

You really should be converting them to a more flexible format.
 
Thank you Andree for uploading those files. Could never have tested out original files without you!

What is your workflow with the 1D C? Do you convert to ProRes? What settings? What software do you use for converting the original files?

I will try to play them smooth on a RAM disc.

Edit: I just tried with one of your files on a RAM disc. The different players behave just the same as on the SSD. So the latter IS fast enough, but the software players can't decode MJPEG fast enough. Or are my graphics card (770 GTX) or my processor (i860 with four cores and eight threads) not fast enough?
 
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Hi,

I use FCPX, so when I import the files they get auto converted to ProRes. I then replace the "original media" with the optimised media. This way, I end up with just the ProRes files and the mjpeg get deleted.

In the Copy folder where you found my original files there is a subfolder now called ProRes. Try those clips as well. They have just been converted, no other adjustments.

You need to find a simple workflow that works for you where the files get converted. Don't work with the mjpeg.

DaVinci Resolve Lite is free and can convert, but the free version is limited to UHD. If you convert files there via the media manager you will get black borders top/bottom. I don't think the media manager respects the project scaling settings (where you can set full screen with crop). I'm not 100% sure.
 
Thank you, downloading now. I once converted your files with the free tool "Hybrid" to ProRes, but I could not chose a bitrate, they then were only around 100 Megabits from originally 504 Megabits.

Update: I just watched the ProRes files, they play with no problems, smoothly. Great shots! Where did you film that, and with what lenses?
 
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AndreeOnline said:
Lens was Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS II.
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And it shows. :)

Well, I should be more or less okay now. All that is left is to somehow scrape together all the bucks to buy a Canon Cinema EOS 1D C. How much did you pay for it, where did you buy it and when?

All the best,

Pascal
 
I've had mine since it was released and bought it new at retail. Was on the waiting list and got one from the first batch. I think it was April 2013.

I see them available used for around $6000, but I wouldn't sell mine for that personally.

Good luck in your hunt.

PS. that ProRes conversion you mention above seems fishy. When I convert my files the ProRes 422 ends up roughly the same size. Marginally bigger... but basically the same. I don't think there is such a thing as a free ProRes converter—converting INTO ProRes.
 
AndreeOnline said:
I see them available used for around $6000, but I wouldn't sell mine for that personally.

Good luck in your hunt.

I don't think there is such a thing as a free ProRes converter—converting INTO ProRes.
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Either I buy a used one in one, two years or Canon brings a 5D C for my saved up amount.

What is cheaper: A Pro version of Quicktime or Davinci Resolve?
 
You required a 6Core i7 CPU minimum to just play the 1DC files smoothly,

I have test every imac or mac or mac pro at the apple shop before I order my Mac pro.

As for the Canon movie utility you cannot choose file to play you can only choose folder

Since every 1DC was given a unique file name by default, basically canon can tell your serial number just by looking at the file name,

the file name can be anything with .mov at the end you can rename it anything you like and Canon movie utility still play.



the file name is 4alphabet4number.mov same as that on the newer canon cameras
 
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