FS100 for dummies

morgan_moore said:
Im pretty sure the codec is 'thin'

I dont have great expectations of a deep gradeable codec from this camera - im pretty good at lighting to control DR in a scene

I just want reasurance that there is a simple workflow to get from AVCDH to a FCP friendly codec like Prores

Ideally Prores as that is what my back catalogue is in

Using todays tech how can one get to Pro Res on a non intel mac and how long will it take?
Click to expand...

What is relavent is what the codec contains. It is 8-bit, so you will have some limitation on how far you can push things as compared to 10-bit. Converting it to 10-bit isn't going to give you any extra information that was there because it's gone from the point it was encoded. If you are used to working with 8-bit capture codec in the past, then it should be what you expect. There is nothing wrong with transcoding, as it can gain speed enhancements on some machines, and of course, compatibility on others. With FCP you have to transcode right now as it does not support AVCHD directly yet. Since QT cannot allow me to quick view files in OSX that are AVCHD at this point, I transcode to ProRes 422 *IF* I am dealing with a lot of files. If it's just a few, I use VLC to quickly view the contents before dragging into Premiere or After Effects.

If I had a non-intel mac I'd tell you, but I sold my G5 dual 1.8Ghz machine years ago (2006 to be specific) and haven't looked back. You should REALLY REALLY REALLY consider upgrading if you are on a preIntel machine. You can get some Core2duo's for VERY cheap and it will absolutely outperform an older G5. Heck. my coreduo macbook outperformed the G5 which is why I got rid of it. I was shocked. I would be surprised if FCPX even worked on nonIntel honestly.
 
Lets forget grading bit depth and the like

im just talking workflow

I have a very easy workflow on my current computer with my DSLRs

download card
transcode (which takes some time)
edit

Im wondering if I can get a similar workflow
download
transcode
edit

with this camera on my current computer and current FCP

You may think I have donkey old kit but it works, and upgrading is not that easy or cheap in my business environment with multiple machines .. and it works fine, I dont grade a lot do greenscreen etc

S
 
I don't see why it wouldn't. AVCHD and H.264 are essentially the same thing, with each company (Panasonic, Canon, Sony, etc.) having their own flavor, with some subtle differences. So in theory, the workflow you have established for Canon DSLR footage should work perfectly fine with Sony FS-100 footage. It may be a bit slower, or a bit faster, to transcode, and there may need to be an update to Streamclip to be able to open the files. But we won't know until the camera ships whether your exact workflow will work as before. Again, in theory, it should.
 
streamclip..
Supported input formats: MPEG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD, VRO, DAT, MOV, DV, AVI, MP4, TS, M2T, MMV, REC, VID, AUD, AVR, VDR, PVR, TP0, TOD, M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3

?
 
maybe.. or not..
http://support.apple.com/kb/ta24840 "AVCHD support is available only on Intel-based Macintosh computers."

Now I am a dummy at this but my understanding of L+T is you plug in the camera.. which is no good if have a DIT getting the footy moving while you are shooting on another card
 
Looks like I might need to get hold of a file..

"ClipWrap 2.0 adds support for transcoding and rewrapping AVCHD. Please test your specific camera's files to ensure compatibility"
 
I have another dummy question.
On some shoots I want to use the Atomos Ninja with the FS100.
Unfortunately the Ninja has a very crappy playback quality so I want to record both, AVCHD to preview the clips and the Ninja.

Question: When recording internally, does the FS100 still export uncompressed through HDMI or will it then be the precompressed stream?
 
There is pre-production FS100 files on this board, you could download some and test.

I see no reason why the external HDMI would change on the FS100, and no one who has used it with an external recorder has complained as such.
 
FelixGER said:
I have another dummy question.
On some shoots I want to use the Atomos Ninja with the FS100.
Unfortunately the Ninja has a very crappy playback quality so I want to record both, AVCHD to preview the clips and the Ninja.
Click to expand...

You're right about the current playback quality on the Ninja but - for the sake of anyone reading this who doesn't know - this is a temporary feature and is absolutely not a permanent characteristic of the device. It's going to be fixed by a firmware update very soon. The current playback capability (or lack of...) is because we are currently decoding the video for playback in software. When the update is finished, the Ninja will playback to it's internal screen using the same hardware that does the ProRes encoding. So it will actually have the same visual quality as when you are viewing images in Monitor mode. All Ninja users, existing and future, will get this upgrade.

I'm the first to agree that this has taken longer than we expected, but it will happen soon.

Dave Shapton
President
Atomos EMEA
 
I had 3 separate people check out the FS100 for me at NAB and I asked 2 different reviewers online and all 5 people said there is no internal mic. Now, I REALLY hope there is one, but I have not seen anything that shows any different. I don't see anything in this video that proves it at all either.


As for some footage, a lot of people on vimeo have put up the MTS files, and on here, but just so you have something to play with, here is a few MTS files I found:

http://www.mynahmedia.com/2011/04/an-hour-with-the-sony-nex-fs100u/#more-227
 
Rick Burnett said:
I had 3 separate people check out the FS100 for me at NAB and I asked 2 different reviewers online and all 5 people said there is no internal mic. Now, I REALLY hope there is one, but I have not seen anything that shows any different. I don't see anything in this video that proves it at all either.


As for some footage, a lot of people on vimeo have put up the MTS files, and on here, but just so you have something to play with, here is a few MTS files I found:

http://www.mynahmedia.com/2011/04/an-hour-with-the-sony-nex-fs100u/#more-227
Click to expand...

There might have been different pre-production versions out in the wild because this specific reviewer has noted that there IS an internal mic:
http://vimeo.com/21838779
 
He states it, but never once talks about it in the video, and never shows it. Maybe they added one, but given the age of this video and the fact he says that he checked this out pre-NAB, you'd think people at NAB, getting the most exposure to the camera, would have seen one that would be closer to what we will expect to see. Given I have 5 nos and 1 yes, I am hesitant to believe his assertion. However, I will just ask him and see :)
 
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