-
4:4:4 1080 from 4K workflow in FCPX
Hi all,
I’ve been googling and searching quite a bit, but can’t find much on point with actual workflow descriptions.
There are many folks talking generally about the possibility of taking 4:2:0 4K footage out of some of the newer cameras – Panasonic GH4 and DVX200 specifically, and compressing it down into 4:4:4 1080. The only actual workflow I could find involved using Adobe CC and a GoPro codec.
Has anyone done this within FCPX or Compressor? If so, is there a well described guide? I’ve not been able to find much more than “yeah dude, that’s possible” in my searching.
thanks!
-
4 Replies
-
For what purpose? You wouldn’t be increasing quality- just placing less data into a larger pipe on the color side.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
FCP Exchange – FCPX Workshops -
[AJ Epstein] “There are many folks talking generally about the possibility of taking 4:2:0 4K footage out of some of the newer cameras – Panasonic GH4 and DVX200 specifically, and compressing it down into 4:4:4 1080. The only actual workflow I could find involved using Adobe CC and a GoPro codec.
Has anyone done this within FCPX or Compressor? If so, is there a well described guide?”
This is a good question and I don’t have a specific answer. It is supposedly possible to convert 4K 8-bit 4:2:0 to 1080 10-bit 4:4:4, trading spatial resolution for bit depth and color resolution. This was widely discussed when the GH4 came out:
https://www.eoshd.com/2014/02/discovery-4k-8bit-420-panasonic-gh4-converts-1080p-10bit-444/This article says it only works if you don’t crop or stabilize the 4K material (else you don’t have 4K before the conversion begins):
https://www.provideocoalition.com/can-4k-4-2-0-8-bit-become-1080p-4-4-4-10-bit-does-it-matter/There is a long complex thread discussing various workflows (mostly using ffmpeg) but no single agreed-upon solution: https://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/10637/4k-downscaling-progress-topic/p1
This thread discussed a custom OS X command-line tool (no longer available) which supposedly did the conversion: https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/5426-mac-app-to-resample-gh4-8-bit-420-to-10-bit-444/?page=1
There is commentary about whether just doing the conversion in Resolve might be good enough, but no clear cut tests and answers.
-
Essentially it boils down to mining the color information from the three extra UHD to HD pixels for the color information.
The initial tests I’ve seen look promising but I don’t have definitive evidence that it’s a true 4:4:4:4.
-
I’ve seen the math but I’m not convinced it’s more than a theoretical advantage.
(For some reason I can\’t edit my own posts so apologies in advance for the stupid mistakes and bad English that I can\’t go back and fix)
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer & Cinematographer
Melbourne, Australia | Twitter: @jeffkirkland
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up