How Can I find out Mpbs and codec of a recorded video

Z

zipzip

New member
Hi,

The last year I directed a short movie ,unfortunately the footage turned out really bad. It looks too much compressed,soft and can't get it color corrected ,because the video immediately start banding.

the shots were taken with HVX200 ,720p (1280 x 720 ,i guess) mode. We used different frame rate for different shots. What I like to know is if my DP recorded the image at best quality or not. So what I have are mxf files ,and I wanna know how I can find out at which Mbps the footage was recorded and which codec was used.

thanks.
 
Last edited:
Zip Zip, welcome to DVXUSER.

720 is DVCPRO HD which is 100 Mbps. However, if it was recorded in 720 24pN rather than 24p or 60p, the bit rate would be dramatically less (not due to a loss in quality, but due to recording fewer discrete frames).


1080 is slightly higher resolution on the HVX, but the increased bit rate does not increase the quality. If your DP recorded in 720p, it is DVCPROHD. DVCPROHD is the best quality codec that the HVX records.

There are multiple ways to figure out what data rate was used, but the bottom line is that if it was recorded in HD on the HVX, the quality is not going to vary based on the shooting mode (except for a small increase in resolution in 1080 mode). The easiest thing to check is how many minutes of footage is in each GB. 1080 and 720 60p gives you 1 GB per minute. 720 24pN gives you 1GB per 2.5 minutes.

Banding with extreme color correction is due to the 8bit sampling inherent with prosumer and many professional cameras (and possibly the cc software you are using).


Jason
 
Don't go and curse your DP too quickly...atleast not over CC problems as it pertains to file formats, data rates, and the like.

If filming was done at 720 with some varied frame rates, and all filming was done in 72024PN, then the data rates are a non-issue...

If you have the original MXF files, there should be no reason why you can't work with this material....I would perhaps look at your own methods of CC and the equipment you are using....this isn't a job that can be done on a $50 monitor, in your corner office with the great view, and with any ol' piece of editing software.

Of course this is just my first gut reaction, and for all I know perhaps it is the result of a crappy DP who lit horribly, turned up the gain to 12 and hoped you'd deal with it.....or perhaps it's this same situation, but the DP wasn't provided lighting.....or perhaps it was a bunk camera, in which case test shots should have been made to reveal these problems.....or maybe the film gods hate you :violent5:
 
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