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Can we go back to XAVC S for archiving? For example
Hi all,
My Sony RX10 generates XAVC S files in mp4 (was mxf) that can have 4k and maybe 10 bit. I convert to ProRes for editing, which makes much bigger files. Is it possible to transcode a show back to something like XAVC S for archiving only not editing?Or another camera format that would keep as much quality as the ProRes with smaller files?
I realize most camera files are probably proprietary.
Is this a dumb question?
Thanks,
RobertRobert Withers
Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City
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2 Replies
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Not if you want a high-resolution master for duplication, further editing, etc. Don’t confuse camera original “acquisition” codecs with editing codecs, they are, in most cases, simply very different beasts.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist & Workflow Consultant
David Weiss Productions
Los AngelesDavid is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.
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Thanks, David. I don’t “think” I’m confused about the beasts. Though I don’t know much about camera codecs except Long GOP. But my question is could one archive in a smaller camera format which seems to have contained all the quality we wanted to use in the editing format–ie, “back-converting” to a codec with a smaller file size. Your suggestion seems to be that converting to a camera format would then require another re-transcoding back to editing format for further any duplication and additional editing. I suppose, except maybe for those apps like Premiere that claim to work directly with camera formats. I imagine something could be lost in those double transcodings.
Robert Withers
Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City
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