FS7: Proxy files or similar for client?

V

Vintegreo

Well-known member
Tomorrow I have a shoot that involves recording several interviews in one location in one day. I'll be shooting XAVC-I 4K footage. Client will review footage and let me know what they want to use. Back when I was shooting on XDCAM optical several years ago, I would have happily given the client the proxy files of the footage with timecode and the viewing software, because the file was much smaller.

It seems like overkill to give them 4K files and I don't really want to do that.

Does anyone have a favorite streamlined way to give the client footage for simple review purposes? My laptop will be setup to do file copies nearby while we're doing this, too, so I don't know if that helps.

Thanks in advance!

Tim
 
If you have an external recorder, send a 1080 output to it and record on it at a lower bit rate. I often use an older NanoFlash recorder that I've kept use almost exclusively for this purpose. (Having an external recorder that's basically dedicated to the clients also means being able to keep it near the client monitor so they can look at playback from previous takes while I'm setting up the next shot - sometimes in the next room - and not tying up the camera to be used as a playback deck.)
You could also do something similar with a Black Magic Mini Recorder box connected to your laptop - using it to record takes. Depending on your system, a variety of record codec options may be available. When I record to a laptop I use an external SSD 'hard drive' to capture the footage.
Of course you could also make lower res proxy files with Catalyst, but in my experience that's been a painfully slow process if you have a lot of interview footage.
 
Was just about to recommend basically the two options On Set just answered while I started to type. I've done something similar using my FS7. Shoot 4k to internal while outputting proxy 1080 h.264 files to my PIX E5 recorder. Goes to an SD card which you can then simply hand over to client. Won't have on screen burned in TC - but you can send same TC to the recorder.

I know Cat Browse is able to convert files to mp4's etc. - but I've never tried it using my laptop "on set" - so that could be another option if you don't have access to ext recorder. And one more - if you have Final Cut on laptop, you could check "create proxy files" on ingest & then transfer those over to ext drive for client.
 
If you don't have a recorder to create proxies as others have suggested, you can also install the free Sony catalyst browse and create your proxies with it in a variety of output formats and resolutions. Or, you can also just give it to your client and let them use it to watch the original files, up to you.
 
You could always hire a Sony CBK-WA100 that can record proxies to an SD card. You can also review the pre recorded files via an iPad, laptop or even a smartphone. The FS7 must be running the latest 4.2 firmware though to utilize the WA100. It also requires a 12v input which if you have the XDCA back shouldn't be an issue as long as the rental house supplies the correct power cable with the unit. Otherwise you would need a regulated 12v input for it.

Chris Young
 
Doug Jensen said:
Hey Tim, perhaps you are not aware that the FS7 can record proxy files internally on the same memory card as your 4K files? You can choose from a couple of different resolutions and the files are stored in a special folder for easy sharing.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/fs7
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Oh crud, Doug! I've rented this very piece in the past and missed the memo on that part!! Looks like I'll be renting it again as I have no idea how to do that.
 
Doug - gotta say - this is news to me ^. I am aware of the simultaneous recording function on my fs7 - using two xqd cards - which I don't think is quite the same as proxy. But do not recall any mention of proxy files in the Sony manual - other than with that wireless module you can purchase. Any insight into how to access this feature would be appreciated.
 
Vintegreo said:
Oh crud, Doug! I've rented this very piece in the past and missed the memo on that part!! Looks like I'll be renting it again as I have no idea how to do that.
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Doug (or anyone who can answer),

I'm officially confused. The manual seems to indicate that you have to have the CBK-WA100 to do this, and that it records it on the SD card. Am I missing something here?

Thanks!

Tim
 
Yeah - I'm a bit confused too... as I've been digging through the manual the last 10 minutes myself. Maybe Doug misspoke ?? I believe the F55 can do this ... but to my knowledge, the FS7 cannot. Would certainly love to be wrong.
Tim - if you can rent a recorder for your shoot t'row - I highly recommend the Video Devices series. As I mentioned in my post above - I've used my E5 to record HD proxies (with burned in custom LUT as well) for this very purpose to an SD card while shooting UHD slog3cine to an internal card.
 
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markfpv said:
Yeah - I'm a bit confused too... as I've been digging through the manual the last 10 minutes myself. Maybe Doug misspoke ?? I believe the F55 can do this ... but to my knowledge, the FS7 cannot. Would certainly love to be wrong.
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I just spent $85 to try and find out, and am feeling rather impatient with myself as my call time is 7:30AM and I'm going to have to drive through a bunch of snow to get to my shoot in the morning. Having this work would make my day much easier and I now feel like the carrot of making my life easier tomorrow has been dangled in front of my face! LOL! Must go to bed soon!! :laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
SORRY. Yes, I am wrong. I knew you were asking about the FS7 but for some reason I had the FS5 in my head. The FS5 can do proxies internally, but not the FS7. My mistake. I apologize for the inconvenience and promise to be more careful next time. Too many similar cameras to keep track of for my tiny brain!

Vintengro, request a refund through Vimeo and I'll approve it if/when they ask me.
 
Vintegreo said:
I just spent $85 to try and find out, and am feeling rather impatient with myself as my call time is 7:30AM and I'm going to have to drive through a bunch of snow to get to my shoot in the morning. Having this work would make my day much easier and I now feel like the carrot of making my life easier tomorrow has been dangled in front of my face! LOL! Must go to bed soon!! :laugh::laugh::laugh:
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Well - it probably won't help at this late hour - but I know the Video Devices PIX series of recorders can do this (I just edited my earlier post to that effect). My PixE5 allows me to record HD proxies (with burned in LUT) to SD card while simulatanouesly recording ProRes file to the speed drive & XAVC-I to the internal XQD card in camera as well. Maybe your drive will pass a dealer that rents recorders.... good luck with your shoot either way.
 
Doug Jensen said:
SORRY. Yes, I am wrong. I knew you were asking about the FS7 but for some reason I had the FS5 in my head. The FS5 can do proxies internally, but not the FS7. My mistake. I apologize for the inconvenience and promise to be more careful next time. Too many similar cameras to keep track of for my tiny brain!

Vintengro, request a refund through Vimeo and I'll approve it if/when they ask me.
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LOL! I wish you could hear me truly laughing out loud. Do you have any idea how slow someone talks when you're trying to quickly find the spot where they say what you want to hear? Will do on the refund part, and thank you for responding quickly so I can stop looking for a solution! Be well! Your videos are awesome.

By the way, Doug, what's your favorite way to provide a client with low res footage from an FS7 if needed?

Take care,

Tim
 
Vintegreo said:
By the way, Doug, what's your favorite way to provide a client with low res footage from an FS7 if needed?
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Fortunately I have never found myself in that situation with the type of clients I work with, nor do I expect to, so I don't have any experienced advice for you. Other people on this thread have already suggested the things I would look into. Sorry again for giving you the wrong information.
 
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Client ended up providing a hard drive and gave them the footage from the day plus a link to Catalyst browse. Done! But...that said..I wish that the FS7 just had this feature as I would happily use it in some cases like this.
 
I'm not the OP, but it's not that unusual a request. Many clients lately want to do their interviews in 4k at a fixed focal length (preferably a prime lens) so they have more re-framing / options in post. I also do plenty of shoots for clients who fly in / shoot interviews all day / fly out that night - and want to review the footage on the plane. Having smaller files for them to look at can be convenient - particularly if it means they can avoid using an external drive on the plane.
 
Vintegreo said:
Does anyone have a favorite streamlined way to give the client footage for simple review purposes? My laptop will be setup to do file copies nearby while we're doing this, too, so I don't know if that helps.
Click to expand...

Obviously it's too late and it sounds like giving them a copy of the native files was a pretty painless solution in the end. Just one other possibility that might help out other people in future, would be to use a completely independent lo-fidelity camera setup of some sort that's recording the screen of your monitor during the shoot. I'm thinking of a low-end DSLR or even a smartphone (potentially even the client's!). Obviously for this to be useful you need to have the timecode displayed on the output monitor at all times. :-)

Obviously this wouldn't be ideal in many situations, depending on duration of the footage and the preferences of the client, but if convenience is their #1 concern, and they're confident with the more technical parameters of the footage, I've found once or twice that this saved me quite a bit of time and effort. ;-)

Glad you found a solution that worked for you anyway. Cheers,

jason
 
jasonbrooks said:
Obviously it's too late and it sounds like giving them a copy of the native files was a pretty painless solution in the end. Just one other possibility that might help out other people in future, would be to use a completely independent lo-fidelity camera setup of some sort that's recording the screen of your monitor during the shoot. I'm thinking of a low-end DSLR or even a smartphone (potentially even the client's!). Obviously for this to be useful you need to have the timecode displayed on the output monitor at all times. :-)

Obviously this wouldn't be ideal in many situations, depending on duration of the footage and the preferences of the client, but if convenience is their #1 concern, and they're confident with the more technical parameters of the footage, I've found once or twice that this saved me quite a bit of time and effort. ;-)

Glad you found a solution that worked for you anyway. Cheers,

jason
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Interesting idea, Jason. Honestly, I wish they'd just make it possible to turn on proxy capability. Copy the special folder full of proxies over to the client's thumb drive and it's done. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has had a producer or client making the soundbite choices and then perhaps passing it back for the edit, and it would be nice to have a lightweight thing you could give them without a ton of effort. Back in the day the proxy files from the XDCAM disc camera that I was using worked swimmingly for this. And, for some reason, Sony thinks this is a useful feature on the FS5, so I must not be completely off base in my thinking.

Anyway, it's all good and I appreciate all the input received here.

Thanks,

Tim
 
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