GH4 HD Video Export & Distribution

A

andvx

Active member
Hello,
A few quick questions please.

I understand that DVD quality is always SD and the only way to watch HD is with Blu-Ray. This means that any time a person wants to put a HD production on disc the only way to retain the HD quality is with Blu-Ray. Obviously the file sizes are much larger, the discs are more expensive, and a BR burner is also required.

The questions I have are:

  1. Besides streaming online, putting the HD file on a USB key, or using Blu-Ray, are there any other ways to deliver HD video to a client?
  2. For those who do film productions, weddings, parties, etc., how do you typically give your clients the final production in HD, or do they request SD?
  3. Do people still use disc drives (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray), or is everything online now via streaming or on a USB key and plugged directly into the TV or PC?
  4. Lastly, for HD exporting at 23.976fps, which h.264 preset do you use? There are several of them and they all have different file name extensions (.m4v, .mp4, .m2v, etc.) and file sizes.

Thank you very much.
 
1. You can also put an HD file on a dvd or cd as data (as opposed to an authored dvd with menus, etc.). So you'd export an H264, burn the file to disc, and the recipient would copy the file to their computer for playback (as read speeds from the cd / dvd might be too slow for smooth playback).

4. Usually .mp4 or .mov, at least on a Mac.
 
1. Data disk and SD card.
2. Blu-ray.
3. Most computers these day's don't have disk drives. But...we're talking about HD video here. The only proper place to watch that is on the big screen TV in the living room, where the Blu-ray player is. (Hence my answer to number 2.)
4. I actually export a lossless version and transcode for Blu-ray using MeGUI.
 
I haven't delivered a DVD for a lot of years. Usually I provide a file, which can be sent online or via USB drive. Sometimes Blu-ray, we do have a burner for that. It depends entirely on your client base; older clients might not be willing to deal with files alone. But they'll tell you that, after you discuss the method. Some unique situations still want SD video to fit into their pipeline. These are things where quality doesn't matter, like legal records.

For a wedding video, I would never downconvert that footage unless the client said to, without me asking.

On 4, I don't generally use presets, but when I do the names are usually pretty straightforward. Smaller videos get higher bitrates since they have small file sizes, and vice versa. Almost everything we make these days goes on something like Youtube or Facebook anyway, so I render out with around 25mbps and let them convert it server side.
 
Hi,
Thanks for your collective replies; they are extremely helpful.

I was hoping for an ideal solution to move away from using BR discs to retain HD if not viewed online or with a USB key; however, it doesn't appear to be the case for now.



Thanks again for your feedback and suggestions.
 
andvx said:
Besides streaming online, putting the HD file on a USB key, or using Blu-Ray, are there any other ways to deliver HD video to a client?
Click to expand...
You can put HD files on a DVD, but it's not a good solution since most people would expect it to play in a DVD player and it won't. You'll spend too much time explaining what it is and where they can play it.
andvx said:
For those who do film productions, weddings, parties, etc., how do you typically give your clients the final production in HD, or do they request SD?
Click to expand...
These days most clients already have a good idea of where their video is going, like broadcast, BluRay/DVD, or web so they're pretty much aiming for that when they're asking for the video. Nobody really requests SD anymore unless they're making some DVDs.
andvx said:
Do people still use disc drives (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray), or is everything online now via streaming or on a USB key and plugged directly into the TV or PC?
Click to expand...
BluRay and DVD sales ain't what they used to be, but they're still a part of the equation for most commercial releases. DVD is still a reliable medium since just about everyone still has a DVD player and TV. ...except for the college kids on the bleeding edge. Streaming for commercial releases is becoming a larger part of the pie, and everything else that isn't for sale is going to wind up on YouTube/Vimeo.
andvx said:
Lastly, for HD exporting at 23.976fps, which h.264 preset do you use? There are several of them and they all have different file name extensions (.m4v, .mp4, .m2v, etc.) and file sizes.
Click to expand...
If you don't know what the codecs are and what the settings do, then you're best off just using the "YouTube" preset on your encoder.
 
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