Why transcode dslr footage

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We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. There are few things to note here. First and foremost, I would not recommend using the Premiere Pro proxy workflow outlined towards the end of this video unless your editing system is really old and decrepit.

Most modern NLEs and Avid too, finally have a feature which lets you playback your sequences at lower resolutions, which is essentially a built-in way to boost perceived performance while still working with native high-resolution media. In other words, lowering playback resolution eliminates the need for proxies on most systems. There is one major exception to that rule, however, and it's when your capture format is RAW.

Although it is possible to edit natively with certain types of RAW files , you lose much of the flexibility that comes from shooting RAW when you use that workflow. Otherwise, creating proxies and relinking to the original media when you're ready to color correct and master is the best solution.

Ultimately, transcoding your original media to intermediate codecs like ProRes or DNxHD can still save you loads of time in the long run if you're shooting to codecs like high-bitrate h.

These and a few other codecs can be notoriously difficult to work with regardless of resolution, and they'll slow down your editing machines considerably. If that's the case with any particular codec that you regularly use, transcoding to an intermediate might just be the best option in the long run. What are your thoughts on transcoding, and what role does it play in your post production workflows? I recently realized that In fcpx, when importing 4k footage and choosing to use prores proxy, it down converts the footage to 2k.

Proxies can be very important when editorial is far away and dailies are being sent via broadband. Agreed wholeheartedly. On some high-end commercial shoots, we've actually transcoded to low-res h. Sounds stupid, but when your turnaround is fast, it actually saves tons of time. And really, most people who work on the high-end of the industry don't care about quality until the end anyway.

So for me to be able to edit quickly and scrub without delay I use prores, usually prores proxy. I have a 4 year old computer but the real problem is that dslr stuff h and c and the like mxf are terrible edit codecs in that they are not intra frame. You really need intra frame codec to edit with adequate speed on older machines. I'm still going to use proxies as long as I can tell a difference when I scrub footage. I really disagree unless you have a pretty low end processor for that era.

This is exactly why I pushed for a switch back to Avid in our production company, after years of suffering through Final Cut Pro workflows. Avid may be clunky at times, but it respects metadata.

I have yet to experience a problem unrelated to some kind of user-error conforming a show to hi-res in Media Composer 7 and 8. And no need for 3rd party solutions to make it work. Round-tripping from MC to Resolve has been a breeze, too. A world of difference from FCP to Resolve. That wasn't for the faint-of-heart! I bought my D in when it came out. I was shooting a feature that summer and opted for the offline workflow. I made proxies that were only pixels high and did my offline edit with those.

Graded with Colorista Free, and exported a. At the time, this was the only way my computer would handle the T2i footage. I tried to edit a music video shot on a 7D that had over 30 angles in the multi cam clips and it would playback with a horrid stutter in premiere so I had to edit the video in FCPX instead and via proxy and guess what - the same project cut like butter. So no, proxies are more efficient than debayering which FCPX actually does both. MXF file format, which honestly gives me a lot of trouble.

So I tend to transcode those as well. So some people will shoot in what is called Apple ProRes instead of Raw. ProRes has multiple versions, with ProRes being at the top. ProRes does not have as much information as ProRes , so you have to be careful of what you are shooting with and how you plan on coloring later. Blackmagic also has their own format for their cameras called Black Magic Raw. Blackmagic files work well with DaVinci because the same company owns them.

But this sometimes gives you issues if you are editing with software other than DaVinci. That is another reason you may want to transcode. If your editing software can handle it, then you do not have to worry about it. H is a file format that a lot of people upload to YouTube and Vimeo. As a rule of thumb, you generally want to finish your video in as high of quality as possible and convert down when necessary. So how do we transcode? I found that Davinci Resolve is usually my go-to for transcoding footage.

Because it is a great coloring software, it handles a lot of different formats exceptionally well. I enter all clips into a folder, create a timeline of those clips, then export all the clips. Remember, when transcoding, you have to relink all of your clips back to the hi-res version for color later. So make sure you change the file size but keep the clips as the same name. This step is super important. That way, when you relink, it knows exactly what clip to relink to.

Essentially, after your edit, you are going to tell the software to point to the folder with the hi-res instead of lo-res. If these names are different or if the length of the clips is different, your software is going to be extremely confused, and things will not line up! Adobe Media Encoder is another handy software to use when transcoding. Again, the same rule applies.

Broadcasters and postproduction facilities generally standardize on mezzanine formats to streamline their workflows, but it does mean transcoding their footage before they can start. Transcoding time is typically meaning one hour of source footage takes about one hour to transcode. This is true whether you work with the native files, or use background transcoding. Preparing ahead is the key to success. For many projects, such as shorter content with fewer different types of media, native workflows in Premiere Pro are the quickest way to work.

Some formats, such as high-resolution media or mobile phone footage, are more work for your editing system to play back. Long GOP, heavily compressed media the kind captured by most DSLRs, for example usually requires higher processing power, and this results in slower performance overall.

If you do transcode your media, the most efficient approach is to use a codec that supports Smart Rendering in Premiere Pro. Transcoding to a single unified codec and format can be helpful when working with a large group of collaborators.

It simplifies the workflow when incorporating multiple creative applications not all of which may be as flexible as Premiere Pro in native formats. When transcoding to a codec intended for post-production, performance generally improves. When working on long form projects, with teams working on different parts of post-production using shared storage, there is often more time for transcoding. In fact, some productions have a dedicated digital imaging technician on-location performing transcodes and organizing media files before they reach the editor.

The transcoded footage becomes the Master version of the media throughout the rest of the workflow. As masters, this footage is now treated as source media by Premiere Pro and used for output. As mentioned earlier, proxy workflows which are also robust use a temporary version of the media to lessen the hardware demands purely for editorial.

While exporting the final output, the system does not reference these files. The Premiere Pro Project Ingest settings can be configured to transcode all media when it is imported. Because Premiere Pro supports such a wide range of native formats, you usually are able to begin editing using the original native source media, without waiting for the transcoding process to complete.

It goes without saying this is a huge time-saver! As the transcodes are completed, the clips are automatically relinked to the new versions of the media. Adobe Media Encoder launches automatically to perform transcodes in the background. Progress can be viewed in Adobe Media Encoder. If the Ingest options are enabled, when new media is imported, Adobe Media Encoder launches in the background.

You can also view progress via the Progress panel in Premiere Pro. By default, transcoding is paused when during video playback in Premiere Pro to improve performance.