Panasonic AF-101

[Uli Plank]

Can you be a bit more specific, please?

Director of the Institute of Media Research (IMF) at Braunschweig University of Arts

[Yaron Harel]

Hello Uli,
the tests we made in the lab include color test and exposition test on Gray scale from +3 stops over to -3 stops under, ISO 320 shatter 180 degrees AVCHD 4:2:0, on the test it’s look good but it’s look less nice in the editing room.
hope this information will help, Yaron.

Yaron Harel

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Yael,
Personally I would consider the AVCHD files only as a back up and I would avoid those files for any serious test of the camera.
For a proper test, I would use only the SDI/HDMI out to a IO card, Ki-Pro or a NANO-Flash.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Uli Plank]

I second this. We ordered a KiPro mini with ours.

Director of the Institute of Media Research (IMF) at Braunschweig University of Arts

[Guy Mcloughlin]

…All of the AF-100 reviews I’ve read to date have stated that the AVCHD footage looks virtually identical to the SDI footage captured with an external recorder. ( Crews.tv footage, Philip Bloom, The `Verse Before Dying`production crew )

AF-100 slow motion over-crank is ONLY possible by recording with the built-in AVCHD recorder.

Also, many Final Cut Pro users are not used to processing AVCHD video, and thus have to learn how to properly handle AVCHD to obtain the best results. Almost every person I come across that has problems with AVCHD is working with FCP on the Mac.

[Noah Kadner]

I’d still make it ProRes at least once you get into post. This is a solid codec- but I’d prefer to not edit with it. Better performance with another more editorial friendly codec.

Noah

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[Uli Plank]

I doubt you’ll see a difference immediately. But when going into grading or keying, quite probably so.

Problems with AVCHD in FCP are only coming up if you don’t copy the full data structure. Best method is ingest straight from the card. But since I always use ProRes in FCS, a recorder doing ProRes directly will save time when going into the edit. Think Alexa.

Director of the Institute of Media Research (IMF) at Braunschweig University of Arts

[Guy Mcloughlin]

I agree that we should treat the AVCHD only as an acquisition CODEC, as it makes no sense to use a Long GOP CODEC for anything else.

After shooting on AVCHD I transcode to the Cineform CODEC which is a 10 bit 4:2:2 wavelet CODEC, designed for both compositing and archiving of footage. One nice feature of the Cineform CODEC is that it is cross-platoform between PC and Mac NLEs. So you can open, edit, and save the SAME file on either a Mac or a PC. I’ve used this to share files with Final Cut Pro editors, so they work on specific parts, then send the modified files back to me to finish with Sony Vegas Pro.

BTW, the cheapest way to purchase the Cineform CODEC is to buy their NEO SCENE product, which can be bought from the https://www.videoguys.com website for $100.

[Rafael Amador]

[Guy McLoughlin] “…All of the AF-100 reviews I’ve read to date have stated that the AVCHD footage looks virtually identical to the SDI footage captured with an external recorder. ( Crews.tv footage, Philip Bloom, The `Verse Before Dying`production crew )”
To “look virtually the same” basically means that when you have a closer look, you start to see the difference.

[Guy McLoughlin] “AF-100 slow motion over-crank is ONLY possible by recording with the built-in AVCHD recorder.”
No. You can overcranck with any of the external recorders on the market. In fact, with any of them you don’t really need overcranking.

[Guy McLoughlin] “Also, many Final Cut Pro users are not used to processing AVCHD video, and thus have to learn how to properly handle AVCHD to obtain the best results. Almost every person I come across that has problems with AVCHD is working with FCP on the Mac.”
Is nothing about AVCHD or FC.
Is about comparing an skinny 420/GOP codec with a high data rate 422/Intraframe.
And about the workflow, if you prefer to transcode or re-wrap instead of editing right from the camera, well..that’s up to you.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Guy Mcloughlin]

[Rafael Amador] “To “look virtually the same” basically means that when you have a closer look, you start to see the difference.”

…But with the three examples I listed, when they looked closer they could NOT see much difference.

For example with the “A Verse Before Dying” spaghetti-western, they decided to NOT use the external recorder for some shots because the AVCHD footage was essentially identical to the SDI footage.

Writer/Director Stephen Mick Commenting on “A Verse Before Dying” Shoot

With the Crews.TV shoot, they had the raw AVCHD and raw SDI ( Panasonic 100 Mbit AVC-Intra ) footage up on their editing suite, and nobody in the production could tell which footage was AVCHD and which was 100 Mbit AVC-Intra. If you go to the Crews.TV website, you can download full resolution TIFF screen-shots of both the AVCHD and 100 Mbit AVC-Intra footage, and see for yourself that the shots are essentially IDENTICAL.

Here’s a link to the Crews.TV article, where you can download the TIFF files yourself and see how good AVCHD produced by the AF-100 is: Crews.TV Blog : AF100 Images Pushed to the Limit

[Rafael Amador] “No. You can overcranck with any of the external recorders on the market.”

Sorry, but your are 100 percent WRONG on this one. The Panasonic AF-100 will ONLY record slow-motion overcrank footage with the built-in AVCHD SDHC memory card recorder.

[Rafael Amador] “Is nothing about AVCHD or FC.”

…Actually it’s everything about AVCHD footage and how Final Cut Pro does a lousy job handling this type of footage. Many people are switching to Premiere CS5 for the Mac because it has no problem working with AVCHD footage.