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5D Workflow – Captured footage with Grinder and Canon Plugin
Hi,
I shot on a 5D 1080 24p.
I transcoded the footage to 422 Pro Res with both Grinder and the Canon Plugin and saved the media on its own drive. I still have the original .H264 files saved on a separate drive.
If for some terrible reason the transcoded footage gets lost, can I recapture (retranscode?) the footage into my final cut project and reconnect the media without a hitch?
Basically, I’m wondering if I should back up my transcoded footage to another drive (costs money) or am I in an OK position having the original .H264 files saved on another drive for recapturing (transcoding).
Thanks!
Vanessa -
8 Replies
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You can if you used the Canon plug-in, and you still have an archive of the original files, it creates a timecode from the TOD data on the original files.
I ditch the transcoded footage after I’m completely sure the version of the project is complete. I’ve had to do some updates to completed projects later and re-importing from originals later was not a problem.
Be careful with sound if done double system though.I tested a trial version of Grinder, it created a field dominance making it look like interlaced footage, couldn’t figure out a way of changing it so I ignored it, especially as you have to pay for it.
Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://philming.com.au
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
How would Grinder create interlaced footage from progressive footage? There’s no data, unless you were converting 60p to 30fps, in which case 30i would be the obvious choice. Is that what happened?
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I don’t know how Grinder did this but the specs said it was Upper Field dominant after importing. I couldn’t find anyway to set this to none on import and 45º fine diagonals had bad pixel aliasing.
When I enquired at Magic Bullet I got no reply, hence I couldn’t see the point in paying for it or pursuing it any further.
Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://philming.com.au
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
Unfortunately I would have to recapture about 450GB of footage using the Canon plug-in, and that would take forever. I’ve also synced and logged all the footage already. At the time of transcoding my laptop wasn’t strong enough and I had to borrow another computer to do the transcode. Now I have a bigger and better computer (iMac 2.93 GHz Intel Core i7 8GB RAM) and wish I transcoded through the plug-in.
Here are the specs from a Grinder file:
Name: MVI_0098-ProRes-Standard
Size: 583.4 MB
Vid Rate: 23.98 fps
Frame Size: 1920 x 1080
Compressor: Apple ProRes 422
Data Rate: 13.5 MB/sec
Pixel Aspect: Square
Field Dominance: None
Alpha: None/Ignore
Composite: Normal
Audio: 1 stereo
Aud Rate: 48.0 kHz
Aud Format: 16-bit IntegerHere are the specs from one of the Canon Plugin files:
Name: MVI_0799 <—–Naming convention
Size: 961.9 MB
Vid Rate: 23.98 fps
Frame Size: 1920 x 1080
Compressor: Apple ProRes 422
Data Rate: 17.3 MB/sec
Pixel Aspect: Square
Field Dominance: None
Alpha: None/Ignore
Composite: Normal
Audio: 2 Mono <——Different
Aud Rate: 48.0 kHz
Aud Format: 16-bit IntegerDoes this info help with an analysis?
Thank you!
Vanessa -
Well at least you got None for Field dominance.
The rest I don’t understand ProRes SQ is ProRes SQ the same footage transcoded with any system should be the same file size.
Your data rate from Grinder is lower and your file size is only about 60%. Something doesn’t add up to me.
Cinematographer, Steadicam Operator, Final Cut Pro Post Production.
https://philming.com.au
https://www.steadi-onfilms.com.au/ -
They’re actually different files, so that’s why the size and data rate differ.
Upon closer inspection of the data rates, it turns out that I wrote the wrong frame rate for the Grinder footage. It’s actually 29.97 fps. Would that make up the difference?
Referring to my original question, I’ll just do some tests and see if it works or not.
Thanks again,
Vanessa -
notice the timecode on grinder converted footage as well
does it not convert all the transcode footage to start at a preference setting in grinder?
to retranscode and re connect FCP wants reel # and TC and name to match. compare the cost of retranscoding to a couple bare drives and a reader, I think the backup of the transcodes win.
this is something I’ve been using lately. works quite well no need to re-sled a drive and quite affortable.
https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_DockDoug Beal
Editor / Engineer
Rock Creative Images
Nashville TN -
Thanks for the input and the link!
The dock looks like something I’m looking for. I’ve only been looking at external hard drives.
I really need to back up these files.
Thanks again!
Vanessa
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