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Best way to work with H265 4K video on Mac (Premiere or other)?
Thank you in advance.
We just got the kickass Fuji XT3, and I’d like to use it on projects. But it records internally to H265 at 4K. And without transcoding the files on my Macs, they play back choppily in Premiere and every other editor (Resolve, FCPX) we have.
The Macs in question:
– Circa Dec 2013 Mac Pro Trashcan
– Circa 2016 MacBook Pro 15″ with the latest at the time graphicsIs it our Macs? Do we need to upgrade them to newer models with better graphics cards to really work with H265 natively in post?
Or is it that we just need to continue transcoding files if we’re filming internally on the XT3? Because I’m seeing things online where someone complained about their new iMac Pro not being able to edit H265 at 4K, too.
Los Angeles and New York video production for businesses and brands:
https://patrickortman.com -
9 Replies
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The specs on the Fuji XT3 show that it records in all-intra/long-gop. Long-gop is a CPU intensive format and that’s why you’ll see sluggish performance in edit.
Your options are to transcode to an edit friendly codec like pro res or DNxHD or use proxies.
Windows 10 Pro | i7-5820k CPU | 64 gigs RAM | NvidiaGeForceGTX970 | Blackmagic Decklink 4k Mini Monitor |
Adobe CC 2019 13.0 | Renders/cache: Samsung SSD 950 Pro x2 in Raid 0 | Media: Samsung SSD 960 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 x 2 | Media: OWC Thunderbay 4 x 2 Raid 0 mirrored with Resilio -
I’m using All-Intra, not Long-GOP.
Los Angeles and New York video production for businesses and brands:
https://patrickortman.com -
Both H265 and H264 are great recording formats but horrible edit formats and should be transcoded.
Windows 10 Pro | i7-5820k CPU | 64 gigs RAM | NvidiaGeForceGTX970 | Blackmagic Decklink 4k Mini Monitor |
Adobe CC 2019 13.0 | Renders/cache: Samsung SSD 950 Pro x2 in Raid 0 | Media: Samsung SSD 960 PRO PCIe NVMe M.2 2280 x 2 | Media: OWC Thunderbay 4 x 2 Raid 0 mirrored with Resilio -
They truly are. My editor friend who works in Hollywood confirms your suggestion that H265 just needs to be transcoded no matter what. Even on the newest boxes.
Los Angeles and New York video production for businesses and brands:
https://patrickortman.com -
Best way is to record to a editable format like ProRes using Atmos or Blackmagic Design recorders. File size will be much bigger but you have a much higher quality source and less choppy editing experience. They are also easier to color grade and add effects.
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Do Atomos and BMD recorders perform conversions to existing media files? Maybe Melvin is referring to using one of those as an actual recorder, rather than recording internally. Doing so would save transcode time, but add some bulk to your shooting rig.
Otherwise, you just transcode from camera originals to ProRes or DNx. As mentioned, the files will be very large, but will scrub and edit smooth like buttah.
The other option, of course, is to create proxies of all your h265 originals and edit with those low-overhead files I like ProRes Proxy, but LT is also good. When you’re ready for grading, you turn off proxies, plus all your exports (as long as your high-res media are still online) will reference the original media.
John Heiser
Senior Editor
o2 ideas
Birmingham -
Makes more sense to record straight from the camera output to the video recorder in ProRes and start with a high quality source. I personally don’t see the rationale converting a low quality codec like h.264 to a high quality one like ProRes. No one converts MP3s to lossless for ProTools sweetening so why do the same for video ?
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Absolutely. But for the material already in the can, editing will be smoother with ProRes proxies or full transcodes.
John Heiser
Senior Editor
o2 ideas
Birmingham -
Yes, we have a Shogun recorder and use it a lot. That’s certainly the “best” way, as it gets 10 bit 4:2:2 ProRes HQ files. It does indeed bulk the rig up a lot, too. So for stealthy stuff, no go. Transcode only.
Los Angeles and New York video production for businesses and brands:
https://patrickortman.com
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