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Transcode on capture HDV
I have over 100 hours of footage I use for several projects for an organism. Almost everything was shot on a HDV camcorder (XH-A1s). I wanted to transcode on capture (and transcode the actual footage) to an editing codec.
I have some what limited drive space about 4TB (I’m upgrading often) but the budget is fairly low.
I was wondering wich codec would be best. Actually I use ProRes422 for renders. I cant afford using the ProRes422 for my captured footage (too big). Can I mix ProRes422LT with ProRes422 without rendering problems or slowdown. I just thought I could use AIC witch is an editing 4:2:0 codec, it may just do the job?My drives are in a raid 5 configuration outside my Mac Pro 8 cores.
Can you please help me choose a proper codec?
Xtreme Productions
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5 Replies
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AIC is a legacy intermediate codec that was designed over five years ago when ProRes did not exist or when it was still in development. It’s not a great codec (lossy), and not realtime in FCP, requiring the rendering of even simple transitions, etc. So, ProRes is most certainly the codec of choice. Just buy an extra SATA drive or two and throw them your tower in the extra bays.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
EPK Colorist – UP IN THE AIR – nominated for six academy awards
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Hi Martin,
All of the ProRes codecs work well with each other. You’ll need to render for your final output, but it will all playback in realtime as your editing. To be honest from an HDV source ProRes LT will probably look as good as ProRes 422 anyway.
By the way, 100 hours of ProRes LT is just over 5TB so you will definitely need more storage if you go for that option. AIC isn’t much less so I’d definitely stick to ProRes.
All the best,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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[Martin Vincent] ” I wanted to transcode on capture (and transcode the actual footage) to an editing codec. “
Native HDV is an editing codec. What’s wrong with using that? Might be a bit more processor intensive than ProRes or AIC, but it works fine. ANd has the data rate of DV, 13GB/hour.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
I may have to stick with it for the time being. Tank you all for your insights. That was useful and fast!
Xtreme Productions
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I’m with Shane. I mostly do docos that are captured native HDV, edited without any grief and then sent to me to grade. The final grade is done in ProRes (I use Color) but you can also set the FCP sequence to render in ProRes.
This is the workflow with the least storage and the least transcoding. The only negative is that big projects with HDV might bog down on an older slower machine. AIC is to be avoided.
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