I've never shot with this thing before, but a friend has asked me to do so tommorrow, and to edit it after. I work with Final Cut and generally .MOV's have one particular codec, i.e. H.264 OR MPEG-4. However according to the manual, the Nikon D7000 shoots .MOV files in "H.264/MPEG-4" format. I'm a bit confused by this description as I've only encountered one or the other at a time, not both. Or am I totally missing the boat here and it's possible to switch between the two? Thanks for any clarification or assistance on this matter you guys can offer.
Nikon D7000 Video H.264/Mpeg-4
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LoganMackay
Well-known member
This isn't really a cinematography question. You will have better luck in the Nikon forum.
John Caballero
Veteran
Say what? Very legitimate question here.
I googled and got this. I hope it helps.
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/d-movie/en/faq/index.htm
Always remember, Google is your friend.
LoganMackay
Well-known member
Yes, a legitimate question that was previously in the wrong forum =)
Why not edit in native? By saying "up-convert" are you implying that it enhances the footage?
It doesn't enhance the appearance of the footage, but prores is a higher quality, lossless format. As mentioned already, editing in native is generally considered a bad idea because H.264 is an incredibly processor heavy format. (The price you pay for relatively small file sizes.) By up-converting, you preserve the quality, and make the footage more edit friendly. So in that sense, yes, it enhances the usability of the footage.
Sorry. Premiere user, never used FCP and didn't realize there were issues.
I believe you can, I've only used it sparingly, but it doesn't seem to have an easy way to batch process, which is the problem when converting lots of files at once. (If I'm wrong on this please correct me.) Compressor is probably the best option for converting to ProRes.
Compressing the footage after you've edited, that's a different story.
Edit:
Okay, completely wrong about the lack of batch processing in MPEG Streamclip. Thanks JonathanS. Must google things first....
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The D7000 outputs QT. I just drop it on the timeline and go. See no reason to convert to Prores. Don't see substantial slowdown because of it. My suggestion, try dragging them to the timeline and try converting to Prores and see what the difference will be. Experiment and learn.
@jc01108 You can use the "native files" out of the camera. Yes, there shouldn't be "too" much a difference in quality between ProResHD and Nikon's native format.
With that said, there are many conversion tools which "eek" out every bit of detail from the camera files.... sort of like working with RAW files. So maybe conversion could improve the camera's files.
3rd point, which I and a few others pointed out, was that working with ProRes... the computer isn't spending huge amounts of processing power to render the video, and can spend that power to rendering your filters and effects instead...
Yes, the files play smoothly, but once you start applying effects and filters. The native camera files will be MUCH slower to work with, then with ProRes.
If you want a faster workflow, smoother workflow, you SHOULD process the camer's video to ProRes.
JonathanS is right, MPEG Streamclip is a great and easy way to process your files. It can even do multiple conversions at once...depending on your comp's speed. Also there a preset function, so you can convert with the same settings always.
With that said, there are many conversion tools which "eek" out every bit of detail from the camera files.... sort of like working with RAW files. So maybe conversion could improve the camera's files.
3rd point, which I and a few others pointed out, was that working with ProRes... the computer isn't spending huge amounts of processing power to render the video, and can spend that power to rendering your filters and effects instead...
Yes, the files play smoothly, but once you start applying effects and filters. The native camera files will be MUCH slower to work with, then with ProRes.
If you want a faster workflow, smoother workflow, you SHOULD process the camer's video to ProRes.
JonathanS is right, MPEG Streamclip is a great and easy way to process your files. It can even do multiple conversions at once...depending on your comp's speed. Also there a preset function, so you can convert with the same settings always.
I have used both Mpeg Streamclip and Compressor to convert, but when I shoot in 720P I do not convert... my workflow. The point I was making was that one should try out the different ways of doing things to see what works for you. I mix both AVCCAM from the Af100 and files from the D7000 with great regularity. Seems to work quite well. When I shoot in 1920x1080 24P I do have to convert to keep things from getting too sluggish.