best system to watch and edit native 5d2

E

enginyr

Active member
I'm looking to upgrade and need a full solution.I don't like the fact that I need to transcode. Pc would be preferable but if need be I will buy a mac.
 
Editing native h.264 files from the 5D is a mistake on ANY system. It is a deliver codec that taxes most systems resources dramatically. Editing is slow, laborious and has a tendency for crashes on some systems. Conversion to Prores 422 locks the beauty of the h.264 file into a codec that allows most computers to operate with speed and reliability. Ultimately whether to convert is your choice, but an informed choice gives you options.
 
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Lasvideo said:
Editing native h.264 files from the 5D is a mistake on ANY system. It is a deliver codec that taxes most systems resources dramatically. Editing is slow, laborious and has a tendency for crashes on some systems. Conversion to Prores 422 locks the beauty of the h.264 file into a codec that allows most computers to operate with speed and reliability. Ultimately whether to convert is your choice, but an informed choice gives you options.
Click to expand...

What is the end result file size per second/minute when you convert to Prorez 422?
Is the image still at 1920x1080?
 
ROCKMORE said:
What is the end result file size per second/minute when you convert to Prorez 422?
Is the image still at 1920x1080?
Click to expand...

Pro Res does not change the frame size of the video unless you ask it to. If memory serves, they are using a similar bit rate structure to DNxHD, so 1080/24p should be about 115-175Mb/s or splitting the difference around a gig a minute.
 
DNxHD is WAY WAY WAY better than prores. i would even use cineform over prores. and prores would be the third choice. i haven't tested the new 4444 prores though. BUT prores is the easiest to work with in FCP and it's "good enough" for most things :)

i have a 2.5ghz macbookpro. one of the new 13" ones with 4gb RAM and the shi* graphics card... it can only just play 5d and 7d footage in real time... my friends 17" 2.15ghz 2gb ram macbookpro can't.

i can cut the h264 footage up in FCP in realtime and play it back... which works of you're just cutting it up - if you do anything that needs rendering - fades, grading, text overlays etc it's takes FOREVER to render.... that being said, you should never render it back to h264 anyway... it ruins your footage. it makes it look like shi*. you lose resolution. it looks like crap.

the best way to deal with the footage it to make a droplet in compressor. and just convert everything every night of a shoot when you're sleeping. and that gives you the original files as a back up. and the prores/DNxHD/cineform files as the editables.

or you could do a rough cut in h264 and not render anything. then chuck it into a prores/DNxHD/cineform timeline and render it out then to save HDD space. but that's kinda annoying. and you only save a bit of HDD space.


so yeah. get a half decent computer. mac or PC it doesn't matter. and spend all your money on a crap load of hard drives.
 
jenningsp said:
DNxHD is WAY WAY WAY better than prores. i would even use cineform over prores. and prores would be the third choice. i haven't tested the new 4444 prores though. BUT prores is the easiest to work with in FCP and it's "good enough" for most things :)

i have a 2.5ghz macbookpro. one of the new 13" ones with 4gb RAM and the shi* graphics card... it can only just play 5d and 7d footage in real time... my friends 17" 2.15ghz 2gb ram macbookpro can't.

i can cut the h264 footage up in FCP in realtime and play it back... which works of you're just cutting it up - if you do anything that needs rendering - fades, grading, text overlays etc it's takes FOREVER to render.... that being said, you should never render it back to h264 anyway... it ruins your footage. it makes it look like shi*. you lose resolution. it looks like crap.

the best way to deal with the footage it to make a droplet in compressor. and just convert everything every night of a shoot when you're sleeping. and that gives you the original files as a back up. and the prores/DNxHD/cineform files as the editables.

or you could do a rough cut in h264 and not render anything. then chuck it into a prores/DNxHD/cineform timeline and render it out then to save HDD space. but that's kinda annoying. and you only save a bit of HDD space.


so yeah. get a half decent computer. mac or PC it doesn't matter. and spend all your money on a crap load of hard drives.
Click to expand...

Where do I get DNxHD and what will it cost me to set up? How fast of a PC is half decent enough?
 
Lasvideo said:
I can answer half of your question. DNxHD is the proprietary codec owned by Avid and you get it when you buy an Avid editing system.
Click to expand...

This misinformation is TERRIBLE. Please get your facts in order before you say things like this...

First, DNxHD is free to download from Avid's website here:

http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=263545

Second, DNxHD is not proprietary in the least. Not only is it a SMPTE standard (VC-3) which excludes proprietary codecs, the source code to the codec is downloadable here:

http://www.avid.com/forms/DNxHDinfo.asp
 
Final cut pro is the affordable professional solution. An avid setup is going to cost more and have a steeper learning curve. Avid is better for some things, but it is not really targeted at the guy working in a home office.

Premeire and Sony Vegas are fine for some projects, but you won't find those systems in a professional post house. Best stick to final cutand do itrightthe first time. Sign up for an editing class and get the computer and software at education discount
 
Avid DNxHD is a revolutionary HD codec technology engineered to create mastering-quality HD media at dramatically reduced file sizes, shattering the barriers to real-time HD productivity, whether using local storage or in real-time collaborative workflows.
Native HD camera compression formats are efficient, but simply aren’t engineered to maintain quality during complex post production effects processing. Uncompressed HD delivers superior image quality, but data rates and file sizes can stop a workflow dead in its tracks. Avid DNxHD delivers both efficiency and quality without compromises.
“ Avid DNxHD allows you to do things you couldn’t otherwise afford to do”
- Joe Beirne, Executive Vice President of Technology, PostWorks
Key benefits


  • Optimal mastering picture quality
  • Minimal degradation over multiple generations
  • Reduced storage requirements
  • Enables real-time HD sharing and collaboration
  • Improved multi-stream performance
  • New Pro Tools 8 Workflow Improvement : The QuickTime HD codec can be exported much faster from Media Composer than other QT codecs, offers superior playback performance and picture quality in Pro Tools, and has reduced storage requirements.
Details



* Support for selected Avid DNxHD resolutions "
 
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Tom,

What version of FCP do you have? I trade DNxHD files regularly with FCP editors and they have no problems with the files at all. In fact, I am working on a short film right now where I am doing color grading on PC, and the editor is on FCP7. He installed DNxHD and has given me the clips that way out of FCP, I grade, and hand him back DNxHD clips and he drops those right into FCP. I've delivered the drive by hand to his home, and watched him put those clips into FCP without a transcode into ProRes.

I have done this workflow with several other FCP users as well. Even one FCE user in LA.
 
PerroneFord said:
This misinformation is TERRIBLE. Please get your facts in order before you say things like this...

First, DNxHD is free to download from Avid's website here:

http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=263545

Second, DNxHD is not proprietary in the least. Not only is it a SMPTE standard (VC-3) which excludes proprietary codecs, the source code to the codec is downloadable here:

http://www.avid.com/forms/DNxHDinfo.asp
Click to expand...

I got the DNxHD / PC download, thanks for the link Perrone.
Mike Rockmore
 
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