Impressions of AVC Cam codec?

M

Mark Smith

Veteran
I might take a beating for this but after shooting some material, importing into FCP as pro res and doing some grading, I feel like I'm back in the DV world circa 2005 codec wise with AVC Cam. I'm finding very limited flexibility in grading typical of 8 bit material.
Perhaps I am spoiled by AVC I 100,but while AVC Cam is ok FWIW. It still leaves very much to be desired.

I'm going to record some material both AVC Cam and AVC I ( have HPG 20 here) and see what gives at least on the grading side of things.
 
The HD-SDI is 8-bit on the AF100, so the AVCI might be "hobbled" a bit. Or do you feel you're limited in grading by something else? Like noise ?
 
I have been very pleased with grading ProRes 422 converted AVC Cam footage. I've graded it in Colorista II and Apple Color and been pleasantly surpised how much it can be pushed around.

Comparing it to an I-Frame based 10 bit native codec is a but much, however.
 
Comparing it to an I-Frame based 10 bit native codec is a but much, however.[/QUOTE]

I'm not comparing it to AVC I 100 , I 'm saying I'm spoiled by AVC I 100. My first take is I feel like I've been put back in the DV corner of 6 years ago when it comes to how much, (or little )can be done color wise before the image falls apart.
 
Ah, gotcha.

Yeah, AVC-100 is ridiculously good. I shot some with a Varicam 2700 and it was beautiful.

IMO, however, I am not seeing the image of the AF-100 fall apart at all in post.
 
yeah this has been my thoughts too mark. i am coming from HDV and didnt want to get a camera that would deal like that. and here i am, is what i feel like. before this came out i was after the XF300 and redrock setup, but opted for the af100 after it started to get some good reviews. it is only my third day filming around the house so my footage keeps getting better with setting tweaks. i have found BPRESS with NORM 2 to produce good clean footage. i also have found that its the underexposed midtones that crumble bad when i am in CC with proresHQ files, which is too bad. id like to rent a nanoflash one day and see how the footage and colour space/grading will compare and see if it pleases my hard to please eyes. so far im on the fence with how everyone boasted about the image. but ill keep tweaking, from the first day the footage is much better for me. one things for sure, i need to stop thinking of the sony F3=].
 
And the F3 has native on board recording of 35 mbs ex cam . not so very fab either. I shot quite a lot of AVC I 100 material on HPX 370, 3000, 3700 and that stuff grades like BUTTAH.

THe AF can make some very good images, but they are 8 bit which is a step back, maybe 2 steps.

I saw the stills that Stephen Mick posted and while I can see the effect of the grade, what the full rez images look like might yet be another thing. I can''t really tell. I do know that I sat with some footage I had shot recently with the AF and felt more than a little boxed in in terms of the corrections I wanted to make.
Granted, some scenes were pretty tough given the stage lighting at webster hall in NYC, but I know that if I had shot the same scene with any of the HPX's mentioned above, the correction would have been easy and I would have had more latitude in my choices for grading.

I'm not going to whinge too much, I know that the AF is a toe in the water and that Panasonic will no doubt produce a grown up version of the AF with 10 bit AVC I or U and we'll al move on, or buy Sony gear and their promise to release upgrades and updates to give us what we want.
 
yeah totally agree mark. just the past couple days i have noticed that trying to get the best possible exposure for the shot will really help the image for the af100. magic bullet looks does a nice job aswell for the exposed shots. i too feel that when panasonic releases the af100 in the better codec/more features, it will be tons better. this is the first go at a new concept and as the first one, it is really good. ill be out testing all day, if something good comes out of it ill post it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top