Need answers with 5d mark lll and fcpx

[Dominic Deacon]

1080 is high def and DVD is strictly standard def. And DVD doesn’t do AVCHD either. It’ll need to be converted once you’ve finished editing. 165 minutes is a lot to squeeze onto a DVD but it can be done if you don’t mind you’re image getting pretty compressed. Compressor or a similar program will have settings for best exporting whatever your file size is to DVD.

[Jonathan Lance]

how can I get HD to the end user? Blu ray?

[Craig Seeman]

Do they just want files for editing or compression?
You can burn the to a Blu-Ray data discs which holds 25GB each. You may need a few discs 25GB discs or maybe 50GB disc.
FCPX should be able to “share” to a Blu-ray disc as a simple screener.

[Paul Jay]

Bluray or Filebased

[Mike Smith]

Can you shoot video for that long on a 5D these days …?

[Michael Gissing]

The mk III with file spanning can shoot for 30 mins max. Not the right camera for shooting a play. Short shots, shallow depth of field, awkward viewfinder angle.

[Rick Lang]

John:
“I have searched for hours and cannot seem to get an answer.”

Can you do a test where you shoot some moving subjects and verify if you can be successful? If the play has no intermissions or scene breaks, your camera may be the wrong choice for the job as it will stop continuous recording at 29′ 59″. And if DVD is the only delivery medium, it’s really best for durations between one and two hours for good quality. Hopefully you can rent a camera that can record SD rather than HD and record continuously for three hours.

When I have recorded long events on tape, there’s always been an opportunity to swap in a new tape every hour but you may not have that opportunity unless you know there is time between acts to do it. If you use tapeless recording, you are going to have a problem with the file size limits you can record continuously. Your camera manual will describe those recording limits (29′ 59″).

Rick Lang

iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB

[Jonathan Lance]

Thank you all for your help. I own one 5d mark iii and have access to another one, so I plan on having a two camera shoot. That way I can cover the camera that needs to be restarted. I have done some trial runs and it works rather well. There is no problem with over heating. There is also an intermission that will allow us to change cards etc.

My main problem is what to shoot the video in. With the video about 165 min. my choices are limited. Here are my 5d mark lll choices of format
1) 1920 x 1080 24 and 30 frames
2) 1280 x 720 60 frames
3) 640 x 480 30 frames

I need to deliver the product on a dvd/bluray disk.

I do not want to us 640 x 480.

Can I shoot in 1920 x 1080 and deliver that or is it better to convert to 720?
Should I shoot in 720 (1280 x 720) 60 frames and how would that work at normal speed.

Sorry I am very confused and would take any suggestions you all may have.
Thanks
John

[Rick Lang]

Having two identical cameras available with an adequate number of recording cards makes a difference to the feasibility of using the 5D Mark III. It may not be the best camera for the job as others have noted but if you’re determined to go with the 5D, then you can at least manage the recording time limitations. I would run both cameras but delay the start of the second camera about 15 minutes so you’ll be assured that you have time to load a new card into camera A while camera B is still rolling. And so on… May take a few cards but you can run a test to calculate how many cards you need depending upon the size of the card. You may find that information on the Internet as well if no one here tells you.

Of course the size of the recording space also depends upon the rate you record. I’d go with the highest quality recording and certainly use 1920×1080 24 fps and possibly the ciné mode to do some grading in-camera if you like. Or you can grade it in FCPX or with BlackMagic Design’s Resolve Lite if you like.

Do you have a Blu-Ray drive on your Mac and drivers? Do you have Blu-Ray authoring software so your Blu-Ray movie will have all the movie professional-looking bells and whistles? You should be fine as long as you know your client!s requirements and they are met by Blu-Ray. DVDs are not the way to go if the client will accept Blu-Ray.

Rick Lang

iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB

[Jonathan Lance]

Thank you Rick for all your help.
I don’t have any bluray equipment or software at this point. What do you think of converting 1080 24 into 720 24? or is it just better to shoot it in 720 60 frames? will it fit onto a dual layer dvd?
thanks
John