GH5 Shooting mov Lumix GH5 and Transcoding FCPX 10.4

tokun1

tokun1

Well-known member
Hello Group,

I'm shooting with the Lumix GH5 in mov mode, and I was curious if I actually needed to trans code the media (optimized media) when importing into FCP 10.4? this may be an odd question to ask, but I was curious if I could do this to save disk space, or does it need to be trans coded to apple pro res? The 4k files are huge and fill up drive space so fast after trans coding. Maybe you may have a suggestion for saving space after importing the footage?

Thanks for the help!
 
You don't *need* to transcode. You can do anything with the native files that you can do with transcoded files...just SLOWER.

The question you need to ask is, "Can I do everything I need to do FAST ENOUGH without transcoding?"

For example, on my MacBook Pro, I can playback the h264 and h265 files just fine. I can even add a color corrector and still playback at full speed. Anything beyond that, and I start dropping frames.

If you want to edit fast, but save drive space, choose to make proxies upon import. It's almost the best of both worlds.
 
Adding another voice to using proxies in FCPX. On my 2012 iMac I tested a 9 angle Multicam edit with UHD material from the GH4 using proxy material and it played back perfectly. I could even add grades and a few other effects to some of the angles and it still played back without a hiccup. I eventually stopped testing how much I could push it out a sheer boredom and the fact that I never plan on editing a 9 camera shoot.

Proxy is invincible in FCPX on my now 5 year (almost 6 year) old machine. If the slightly reduced quality is an issue for grading a single flip of a switch moves your project instantly back to the native media.

Using proxies gives you the best quality (Native files can't get any better then they were shot) and the best performance. Nothing edits faster than proxy. Only downside is some extra time to process the proxies in the background. If you are not editing the instant you walk in the door after a shoot this shouldn't be a big deal. For me an overnight conversion usually does the trick and after a long shoot I'm too tired to worry about starting the edit anyway.

Just remember before you export to switch back to native (original). If you are on the new FCPX it now alerts you if you forget to switch back before the export.

Like Joe said however if your system edits native perfectly fine then you really don't gain anything. You only convert if the performance is an issue.

Oh one last negative. A final export may take longer with native files vs an intermediate format. While an NLE may playback a format perfectly fine it is doing so at normal speed. Rendering will go as fast as it can based on the system so if your system can feed frames to the encoder faster than normal playback rendering could be better with a format like ProRes. Plus playback of native material uses system resources which means less resources for rendering. Not a huge deal but if you need to rush an export out the door for a fast turn around then ProRes through the entire chain is the beast solution as long as you have the drive space and speed.
 
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Great tips guys I appreciate it. I've never tried the proxy way of editing, I just learned FCPX in 2017, (been on FCP since 2003). I think that is the way to go with proxy...I purchased a new LumixGH5 this past summer and like shooting in 4k but as I mentioned the files are enormous and then even bigger once FCP optimizes the media. I produced a corporate video recently and the final files are over 1TB!
 
One more question I do have is what is the work flow for Proxy?...do you import proxy only?...and then when you're done with your edit how do you export so that it is high quality and, do you need to make sure you save the original media on the SD card or saved to your computer?.... I've watched a few YouTube videos on this and I'm not getting the information about importing and exporting, they already have the footage imported and then change to proxy to edit, which is confusing, I thought you need to import as proxy. Thanks!!
 
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tokun1 said:
One more question I do have is what is the work flow for Proxy?...do you import proxy only?...and then when you're done with your edit how do you export?...thanks for the help. I've watched a few YouTube videos on this and I'm not getting the information about importing and exporting. Thanks!!
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You import your native media, optimize to proxy and then in the Viewer View menu you switch between original or proxy media and the sequence instantly swaps the media. Swap back and forth as needed. When ready to export (share) your project you switch back to optimized/origional in the view menu.
 
Proxy workflow is so brain dead simple in FCPX, it's a wonder it can be so hard in everything else. Just choose to make proxies when you import (or after) and then you just toggle the "media" option in the view menu as needed. You can flip it on or off to your heart's content, and never need to worry about managing the files. By default they will be stored in the project's Library, so you can easily move them between systems and archive.
 
right on, thanks for the reply, but, when you share (export) the final edit, does it export in highest quality? Why would you not use it all of the time to save disk space? Thanks.
 
tokun1 said:
right on, thanks for the reply, but, when you share (export) the final edit, does it export in highest quality? Why would you not use it all of the time to save disk space? Thanks.
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- Make sure to upgrade to 10.4, and it will nag you on export to switch back to the source/optimized files when sharing. Believe it or not, it can actually be useful to export based on proxies - for very quick sharing of dailies, for example.
- If your system is fast enough to work with the source files alone, then that actually uses the least amount of space. If you use proxies, then you need enough space for the source files + the small proxy files.

On a current generation MBPr, I make proxies when working with 4K projects that will involve medium to heavy grading and/or effects. I don't make proxies for 4K projects with very quick turn-arounds that only need simple color correction, or 1080P projects, because my system can cut the native files just fine. Your milage will vary depending on your system.
 
Proxy is small for a reason and typically you wouldn't want to use just proxy. I guess if you shot 4k and were delivery SD to DVD proxy may be ok but really the size is small and the performance great for a reason. Great for editing when you don't need a perfect 1:1 pixel accurate view but when you export you should really switch back to the original media for the best quality.

Proxy isn't really going to save any storage space anyway. GH5 material is 150mbps. Proxy UHD (4k) at 24p is 145mbps. We use proxy because it provides insane performance on even a laptop and not to save space. The only way to save space is to use 100% native original material. 150mbps is large but not that large considering how cheap storage is these days.

Proxy does save ton of space vs using optimized ProRes. 150 native + 145 proxy = 295mbps. ProRes422 HQ = 707mbps. So having both the native and proxy files offer the quality and performance but at less than half the storage size of using optimized ProRes HQ.
 
Thomas Smet said:
Proxy is small for a reason and typically you wouldn't want to use just proxy. I guess if you shot 4k and were delivery SD to DVD proxy may be ok but really the size is small and the performance great for a reason. Great for editing when you don't need a perfect 1:1 pixel accurate view but when you export you should really switch back to the original media for the best quality.

Proxy isn't really going to save any storage space anyway. GH5 material is 150mbps. Proxy UHD (4k) at 24p is 145mbps. We use proxy because it provides insane performance on even a laptop and not to save space. The only way to save space is to use 100% native original material. 150mbps is large but not that large considering how cheap storage is these days.

Proxy does save ton of space vs using optimized ProRes. 150 native + 145 proxy = 295mbps. ProRes422 HQ = 707mbps. So having both the native and proxy files offer the quality and performance but at less than half the storage size of using optimized ProRes HQ.
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Sorry that should be 707 + 150 Native = 857mbps to have both. Thats almost 3x as much space as native + proxy. If you have optimized Prores you could in theory trash the native files but I think that is a risky solution. You should always keep your native files, especially for archive purposes.
 
I'm not sure I have not tried to edit my native .h264 from the Lumix GH5, I will give it a go. I appreciate all of the response and help, and so the main take away point is, if you are adding effects, coloring transitions, you would NOT want to use proxy to edit. Just for quick turnarounds.
 
tokun1 said:
I'm not sure I have not tried to edit my native .h264 from the Lumix GH5, I will give it a go. I appreciate all of the response and help, and so the main take away point is, if you are adding effects, coloring transitions, you would NOT want to use proxy to edit. Just for quick turnarounds.
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1. h264 is the normal format from the camera. (In your case, you're wrapping it in a MOV container, but it is still h264.) if you shoot in 6K photo mode, then it is h265.
2. No, exactly the opposite. Use proxies so that your computer doesn't waste power decoding the h264 files, and instead has resources available for processor intensive effects.
 
So the final question is should I choose to work with proxy files when editing 4k video and adding titles, transitions and effects?...I've heard NOT to use proxy media if you are adding effects, titles and lots of transitions. Thanks!
 
tokun1 said:
So the final question is should I choose to work with proxy files when editing 4k video and adding titles, transitions and effects?...I've heard NOT to use proxy media if you are adding effects, titles and lots of transitions. Thanks!
Click to expand...

When you try to do just that with the native source files...add transitions, titles and effects...can your computer keep-up without dropping frames? If so, then you don't need to make proxies. (If you're working on a 4K timeline, then I doubt it can.) So, if it can't keep up, then you use proxies. It's as simple as that: if you need more performance, use proxies. If you're getting any other advice, then you need to question the source.
 
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