Transcoding 5D for PC

[Pete Burger]

I’m working with AVID’s DNxHD codec quite a time. A lot of people say, that it is sort of THE Prores equivalent. Since I work only on windows, I can’t confirm that. But it is definitly a very good codec. And it’s free.
Haven’t tried Cineform yet, but from what I read (especially here on CC), it is a great codec as well.

HTH

[Bob Dix]

If you want somthing really simple> Export to Movie> Save as Microsoft avi, and check “Un-compressed” This should take the H.264mov files to a more editable format HDV/mpeg-2 then reintroduce onto the timeline as a different project.Or, take the h.264 mov files ie., HD 1920 x 1080i into a simple program like Premiere Elements 4 which easliy handles h.264mov, render clips on timeline and do the same as above. Incidentally, I believe CS5 handles it very well as a 64bit i7 set up, CS3 is only 32 bit ? And you might need a bigger computer ? The H.264 mov files out of the Canon 5D mark II are difficult to edit , we have been doing it for 18 months, the images/video are remarkable.

Good luck.

Freelance Imaging & Video
AUSTRALIA

[Pete Burger]

Bob,

Is there an advantage in your method compared to transcoding the files with – say – MPEG Streamclip? The only improvement I see, is in not having to install another codec. But maybe I missed something.

I find Premiere (at least in the 32bit CS3 Version) a whole lot slower. And the batch list of MPEG Streamclip is a great tool, if you have to transcode a couple of clips.

[Bob Dix]

Not that I know of, but, it works here, just worth a try. But, we are using an XEON Workstation Quad Core i7 (64 bit), 24hgb Ram and Nvidia Quadro FX3800 with 1Tb Drives and Raid 0,it has revitalised the old software,(the blu-ray is very good) transcoding on the Pentium 4. 3.2 Ghz with hyper threading was a pain with only 2GB Ram . CS5 will come shortly when they get the bugs out it, they might have with the up-grade ?

Whatever you do Peter with your German knowhow,(AH, I can just taste the beer from here) I hope you are successful, as Canon’s H.264mov files are difficult and rendering smooths out the timeline to work on easily.

With blu-ray you will end up with H.264 or mpeg-2, you choose, or transfer to Pro tape HDV is also impressive at 1440 x 1080i to anamorphic 1920 x 1080i using the right camcorder for a 16:9 Widescreen TV presentation.

Freelance Imaging & Video
AUSTRALIA

[Pete Burger]

Thanks Bob! I was just curious! When I was “overrun” with 5D MkII footage about a year ago, I did actually curse a lot. H.264 in 30fps! in a PAL country! Not cool 😉
Had to edit a 20min. short on an old Windows PC with CS3 instead of AVID which I prefer. It was a pain! I swore to myself: NEVER EVER AGAIN DSLR!
Well… I bought a T2i myself, my working partner a 7D 🙂 and on some projects I still work with Premiere CS3 but on a faster machine.

Did so much testing and transcoding into various formats, but always avoided (I actually don’t know why) uncompressed AVI. I ended up, using DNxHD, which I find, is a very good and stable solution. So I was curious, what the benefits are with uncompressed AVI.

Thanks for your input especially concerning BluRays!

Cheers to Australia! Hope to be able to get there some day. I’ll bring beer 😉
All the best!

[Bob Dix]

That is great, the free 2.0.7 and 2.0.8 Firmware upgrades from Canon’s Web site change your speed in the 5D Mark II to 25fps as we are in Australia PAL. You have probably installed them, as all our broadcast is 25fps. It was a pain but, it now works better than a Swiss clock and no need to change speed in Premiere Pro from 30fps to 25fps. I found Microsoft avi, transcoded in would you believe Premiere Elements 4 and uncompressed gave me a very workable avi high definition at 1440 x 1080i file back into Premiere Pro for final editing and Export to Pro Tape as an anamorphic 1920 x 1080i transfer in a pixel shift technology Canon and or m2t file saved to be used for blu-ray.

Ah, I still remember the Hofbrau House in Munich , my spelling is probably not right. I was using a Canon EX1 Hi-8 in those days.

Freelance Imaging & Video
AUSTRALIA

[Pete Burger]

My “first encounter” with MkII footage was before the update, so – as you wrote – very painful!
Fortunately that issue is out of the way right now with (almost) all the DSLRs being able to shoot PAL and 24p.

You will laugh, but although I’ve been living my 30+ years in Munich, I’ve never been to the Hofbräu Haus… But, yes, I do own a lederhos’n – even though I just wear it (if at all) on Oktoberfest 😉

All the best!

[Ryan Loetscher]

Well, Bob, I appreciate the input, but I don’t know if that’s really the right solution. Regardless of rendering, I’d never edit with an h.264 native file. Really bad for color correcting and compositing. And exporting from a timeline for conversations is kind of a ridiculous workflow. I was thinking about mpeg streamclip, but I hadn’t thought about uncompressed, it might be too big of a file for our storage… and I’m not upgrading anything at this point.

Since I don’t have avid, so far it sounds like cineform might be my best option. I could always to DVCproHD… any thoughts on that?

[Pete Burger]

You can download the DNxHD codec for free from the Avid site.

[Ryan Loetscher]

Is it only useable in Avid though?