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Converting my DSLR footage for Premiere
Hello,
Now that Premiere can use the native DSLR footage, is there still any reason to convert using something like Streamclip?
I read somewhere that color correction is better using a different format than the H.264 coming out of my DSLR. Is that still correct? -
3 Replies
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Do you want to use an intermediate/mezzanine codec like ProRes, Cineform or DNxHD? The answer is maybe. Generally, these files will be larger but on borderline systems you’ll get better editing performance and on most systems you’ll get better performance with fast playback/scrubbing as they are intraframe codecs.
Does converting dSLR files to, say, a 10-bit version of these codecs do anything? No, not on its own. Read this https://prolost.com/blog/2010/1/26/color-correcting-canon-7d-footage.html
“–Do denoise. It doesn’t really matter what denoising software you use, but use it. When you carefully and subtly denoise your footage, you rebuild your pixels anew, which is especially nice when you follow the next tip:
–Work at high bit-depths. If you start with an 8-bit image and do a gentle de-noise, you’re blending pixels values together to create new colors. Although there’s no such thing as something for nothing, doing this at a higher bit-depth means those new colors have massivly more gradations than the original image. Your subsequent color work will hold up much better.
–Sharpen last. Your flat Picture Style removed the camera’s built-in sharpening. Add your own at the very last step. The amount you use will vary depending on the output medium, so test test test.”If you denoise in Premiere or After Effects and export a 10-bit intermediate for color, then you’re preserving some of the slight gains you’ll get.
Premiere processes 32-bits internally and AE is selectable between 8/16/32.
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Oh, that’s awesome Angelo.
I just shot my first short film, and now that I’ve gotten to the edit stage, I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know. I come from a photography background, so I thought I had an idea, but now I know.
Everything you just shared is really appreciated!
I just upgraded to a new computer too, so it should handle everything pretty good, so in short, if it’s still worth converting, I will then for sure. What codec do you suggest? I’m running Win7 w/Premiere CS6. From the little I’ve researched so far, the Avid DNxHD seems good.
Another question if you have time. I shoot using a 60D, and I didn’t know to change the picture style to neutral instead of standard, so as best as I can, I’d like to correct it a little. I’m well aware I basically committed the worst mistake almost, but it’s not terrible when i review it, but there must be some common tricks to try and adjust it some?
Thanks for replying to the post originally, that was great info! I’m still trying to find a basic post-processing list of to do’s.
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