c300mkII XAVCHD vs. Atomos Shogun ProRes 422

[Shane Ross]

[Matt Campbell] “c300mkII 160mbps XAVCHD vs. ProRes 422 147mbps off Atomos Shogun.”

XAVCHD is 8-bit, long-GOP. ProRes is 10-bit intraframe. ProRes is superior…but also has a larger file size. But it is superior.

[Matt Campbell] “Is it even worth it to use an external recorder like the Atomos Shogun to record ProRes 422 or 422HQ from a camera like this?”

Yes. This would make the files easier to deal with on edit systems…would cut out any transcoding that those systems would do if they couldn’t handle the XAVCHD format (long form this tends to be an issue).

[Matt Campbell] ”
So, is there a benefit to using ProRes with an external recorder or just keep use the native codec?”

Less compression, superior color space.

Shane
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[Matt Campbell]

Appreciate the response Shane and always good hear from you. Been a few years.
Anywho, Canon’s site says, under Video Format XF-AVC (oops, not XAVC as I previously mentioned) is 10-bit YUV at various bit rates, or 12-bit in RGB444, Intraframe codec, all recording to C-Fast cards.

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/cameras/cinema-eos/eos-c300-mark-ii

Intraframe recording
Resolution : 4096×2160 / 3840×2160 / 2048×1080 / 1920×1080
Color Sampling: YCC422 10bit/(*)RG8444 (12bit/10bit)
(*) Only with 2048×1080 or 1920×1080; 29.97P, 23.98P, 25.00P and 24.00P

So based on this, is it still worth it to go to ProRes? I would think not. But wasn’t sure if the camera was recording this with some sort of compression. Like RED can, 3:1 or 10:1 compression schemes for various frame sizes.

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[Shane Ross]

Ah, the new Canon codec, pardon me.

Well, can your machine handle the camera native GOP files? That’s what you need to consider. ProRes is easier to deal with that GOP formats…less (well, no) decoding on the fly to do. If you have a beefy system that can do that, sure, stick with the camera native. But if you need to convert to ProRes, I’m pretty sure you’ll see next to zero (meaning, not visible) quality loss.

Shane
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