GH4 Codec Storage Space Required

Michael Erlewine

Michael Erlewine

Well-known member
Can anyone provide a link to where I can see a table of the various recording formats of the GH4 as regards how much storage space each of the various recording options (4K/100m/30p, etc.) require in minutes or some measurement. This would be very helpful to many of us, I am sure.
 
With the exception of the ALL-I mode, the other GH4 shooting formats are variable bit-rate, so the final video file size will depend on how much movement your shots have and how detailed your subjects are.

Shooting in 100 Mbps IPB format, your worst case scenario with a 64 GB memory card is about 85 minutes of footage, where a real-world shooting scenario is likely close to double this time or about 2+ hours of footage.
 
TheDingo said:
With the exception of the ALL-I mode, the other GH4 shooting formats are variable bit-rate, so the final video file size will depend on how much movement your shots have and how detailed your subjects are.

Shooting in 100 Mbps IPB format, your worst case scenario with a 64 GB memory card is about 85 minutes of footage, where a real-world shooting scenario is likely close to double this time or about 2+ hours of footage.
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OK, that helps. Much appreciated. But what about shooting in 4K? 4K storage and 1080p storage must be different. As you can see, I am ignorant here, and am trying to get a handle on it. If I could, I would love to shoot in 4K and then pan&scan (Ken Burns Style) to zoom to a 1080p, if the storage does not kill me.

Any more info would be appreciated
 
Michael Erlewine said:
But what about shooting in 4K? 4K storage and 1080p storage must be different.
Click to expand...

Internally 4K and 1080p are different, but externally they are both just video files shot in either ALL-I or IPB formats recording at the data-rate set by the camera mode. So if the camera mode has a maximum bit-rate of 100 Mbps, then this is all the camera encoder has to work with, and 4K and 1080p file sizes may not be too different depending on what's going on in your image. In theory 4K should have a lot more information to store than 1080p, but it all depends on how the camera compresses the image stream.

If you're trying to come up with guidelines, I would use 4K as your standard format ( it's the best shooting format, even if you want to deliver in 1080p ), and base all your media storage requirements on this.

I am curious to see if there is any reason to shoot in ALL-I 1080p 200 Mbps with the GH4, as I have a sneaking suspicion that 4K 100 Mbps is going to be the default shooting format for most GH4 work.
 
Well,I don't know your name and I am not going to call you "The Dingo," but thanks very much for this information. It is just the kind of information I need. And do you have any suggestions to shoot in 4K and then how to use it in Premiere Pro for 1080p? Just drop it in a 1080p time line and scan&pan?
 
Michael Erlewine said:
And do you have any suggestions to shoot in 4K and then how to use it in Premiere Pro for 1080p? Just drop it in a 1080p time line and scan&pan?
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I'm a Vegas Pro fan, but I'm sure there are lots of Premiere Pro gurus on this site who can help you out. ( In Vegas Pro I always use the "Match Media" feature to sample the video files I am going to edit, and then import them into Vegas. This ensures that Vegas is always set correctly for the footage you want to edit. I expect Premiere Pro must have a similar feature. )
 
Michael Erlewine said:
any suggestions to shoot in 4K and then how to use it in Premiere Pro for 1080p?
Click to expand...

Just drop it into the 1080 sequence. BUT...use the new Set to Frame Size and not the familiar Scale to Frame Size to make it fit. Set will simply scale it down, thus allowing some freedom with zooming and repositioning if needed. Scale will rasterize at the new resolution and leave you stuck there.
 
Jim Simon said:
Just drop it into the 1080 sequence. BUT...use the new Set to Frame Size and not the familiar Scale to Frame Size to make it fit. Set will simply scale it down, thus allowing some freedom with zooming and repositioning if needed. Scale will rasterize at the new resolution and leave you stuck there.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the great tip. I have a question. If I drop a 4K GH4 clip into a 1080 timeline and the "Set to Frame Size," how then can I Pan&Scan within the larger 4K clip?
 
Hi

TheDingo said:
Internally 4K and 1080p are different, but externally they are both just video files shot in either ALL-I or IPB formats recording at the data-rate set by the camera mode. So if the camera mode has a maximum bit-rate of 100 Mbps, then this is all the camera encoder has to work with, and 4K and 1080p file sizes may not be too different depending on what's going on in your image. In theory 4K should have a lot more information to store than 1080p, but it all depends on how the camera compresses the image stream.

If you're trying to come up with guidelines, I would use 4K as your standard format ( it's the best shooting format, even if you want to deliver in 1080p ), and base all your media storage requirements on this.

I am curious to see if there is any reason to shoot in ALL-I 1080p 200 Mbps with the GH4, as I have a sneaking suspicion that 4K 100 Mbps is going to be the default shooting format for most GH4 work.
Click to expand...

For anyone wanting 60fps the only option currently is to record direct to 1080p in the GH4. So I'm sure it will get used. I love the 60fps quality and natural smooth motion, I'm not interested in making a "film" looking production personally and having to take care to avoid motion breaking down.

Regards

Phil
 
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