-
Sony EX3 Cam – What should I transcode the raw footage to? (which codec)
I have raw footage from a Sony EX3 Camera. It obviously shows up as BPAV->CLPR-> and within that are 5 file types: MP4, SMI, PPN, XML, and BIM.
My client doesn’t have Premiere, so if I gave them the above files, they wouldn’t be able to open that. I tried opening the MP4 in Quicktime 7 and QT7 couldn’t open it. The latest quicktime opened it, but all I see is a black picture. So that means I have to take the raw footage and transcode it to a file that the client can see. I figured I should encode it natively, right??? Because if it’s native, we can always go back and edit it and convert to anything.
So I took the raw files into Premiere, put it on my timeline, and Premiere asked if I wanted to change the sequence settings to match the clip settings. I said yes because I wanted to find out the native codec. Once that clip was on the timeline, I exported a small chunk of it, and chose “match source settings” and it gave me an MPG2. Does that mean this file is natively mpeg 2?
When you add the raw footage into your project, and have the MetaData display “Video Compressor” (aka codec) it says “MPEG2HD35_1920_1080_MP@HL”… What is HD35 mean?
Is Sony EX3 footage really “mpg 2” natively? (as opposed to having an .mov file extension)? (Ps if you’re interested, the camera is Sony PMW-EX3)
-
9 Replies
-
It is MPEG-2 with an .mp4 wrapper. “Mov.” just refers to a QuickTime movie file which itself could be anything. For example, you could transcode to a QT in the ProRes or Avid DNX codec or you could use our tools to put a QuickTime ‘wrapper’ around the file while leaving the video format unchanged. This is what we do for FCP, which supports our codecs natively but does not like .mxf or .mp4 files.
-
[Rachel Kodner] “What is HD35 mean?”
I guess that’s Premiere speak for the video file bit rate, which is 35, in this case the highest quality that the EX3 can record. Normally that particular EX codec is referred to as XDCAM EX 35VBR (variable bit rate).
If your client simply needs to view the clips only then you can use VLC app. for this, which is platform agnostic anyway. This way you won’t need to transcode the EX files but simply make copies of the native .mp4 files and send them to him or her.
https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
– Don
Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com -
We are eventually going to take ALL of this footage and put it on Box.com (with an “executive account”). So if I just took the MP4s and put them on Box.com, and then we needed to re-edit it one day,…if I pull those MP4s down from BOX, will I be able to edit them in Premiere without the accompanying files (SMI, PPN, XML, and BIM) ?
-
Just FYI, never alter or delete the contents of a BPAV folder in any way, otherwise in the future, programs that are able to read and import the clips will not be able to do so. If you need to retrieve the .mp4 EX files, make duplicate copies of the BPAV folders first, then use the duplicates to get the .mp4 clips separated from the parent folders. By keeping the unaltered BPAV folders somewhere you’re essentially future-proofing them.
– Don
Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com -
I know that you shouldn’t separate files in a p2 hierarchy. But you didn’t exactly answer my question. If I duplicate the mp4 and only the MP4 and put it in a new location, will I be able to edit it in Premiere without it’s accompanying files? I’m assuming the answer is no?
-
Are you saying that I did the right thing by transcoding it to MPG? Is this a good native format? since all my research and evidence in premiere is pointing towards the fact that the original codec was mpg2, so did I do the right thing by encoding it to .mpg (with a mpeg 2 codec / match same as source properties)? or should I have made it an mp4? I just got confused by your message and this wrapper analogy. and then brining mov into the picture… Was mpg the right way to go? or should it have been mp4 or mov?
-
I’m not a Premiere user so I can’t say for certain. All I can suggest is that you do a test. Duplicate one of the .mp4 files and try importing that into your NLE. If I had to guess I’d say you probably can import and edit the native .mp4 files.
– Don
Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com -
you’ll be able to import a loose .mp4 but you should import via the media browser when possible. this will preserve any spanned clips (clips made up of multiple files).
-
Put it in a timeline and export it to them in a format they would like.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up