[Mike Smith]

OK, so I’m going to re-install to sort out the presets problem – like Jeff pointed out, there are issues with presets in the export options, which isn’t the end of the world (I could do it manually), but its a pain.

When it comes to copying the card WITH folder structure – I put the card in my reader, on the card the folcer structure is “DCIM>100D5200>*video files*”. So on my drive where I have “Ibiza Video>Source Media”, when you say to keep the folder structure, does this mean I can’t have “Ibiza Video>Source Media>*video files*”, I HAVE to have it as “Ibiza Video>Source Media>DCIM>100D5200>*video files*”? Why is this?

There’s also a file on each SD card (just on the card, not in any folder) called “Nikon001.dsc”, is this important at all?

As for transcoding, even in Premiere, it won’t tell me what codec is used. I used media info and the files are in the attached text file (too long to post here, can’t work out how to do “spoiler” tags on here either). In short though , they’re .mov AVC files. I’ve read they’re h.264 but that shows up no where.

Given that, would it be worth transcoding to Prores/DNxHD/AIC/etc, or to put it another way, would I lose anything by doing so? I’d rather have as much room to play with as possible.

If I do convert, how best to go about it? Bridge?

Text file with all the info on one of the files from MediaInfo – 7122_videocodecinfo.txt.zip

[Mike Smith]

I now have the EP-5A, so guess it’s just a case of stripping the wire and soldering the DC jack plug onto it.

Only it has 4 pins, not 2. Which are hot and cold? What are the other two?

Anyone?

[Mike Smith]

Thanks for the responses, especially John, it means a lot that someone takes the time to invest such advice.

To answer your first question, it is largely the former.

To give a brief synopsis –

This is a documentary on the clubbing scene in Ibiza. I’m sure most of you have heard how it’s the nightclub/EDM capital of the world. But there’s no good documentary on it. There’s a great docu now on Youtube (but it pre-dates Youtube by about 3 years) called “Ibiza’s Children” which is very basic, but has the basic feel of what I’m after. I don’t want to criticise it, but there’s too much focus on just a few people talking to camera, nevermind the terrible quality after a decade of re-encoding across the internet.

So my documentary will be similar – loads of DJs (I’ve already got a VERY busy week lined up!) who will simply be asked to give their thoughts on Ibiza and what it means to them. I’ll also be asking people out and about in the clubs, on the beaches, on boat parties, etc. For this, I just need a good lens for a “talking head” style shot. The daytime shots on beaches and boats aside, I also need a fast lens, because clubs are largely dark, and while I’ve got interviews lined up, some will likely be in some back room in a club, some could be very rushed depending on people’s schedules. People in clubs themselves will be asked for their opinion in similar dark situations.

So aside from “talking heads”, it’ll be a few shots of a sunset, some of a beach, some of the clubs themselves.

And to kind of put the brakes on this – Today I bought the Samyang 35mm T/1.5 lens, and it is stunning.

I’ve been watching some random footage taken in my house and garden, and it has answered everything I need to know. Low-light performance is astounding, the focus is spectacular, and it’s so sharp and crisp that my eyes started bleeding.

This is exactly what I needed, a fast prime. And I can’t recommend it enough.

BTW – The Sigma Zoom looks amazing, and it may prove I’ve wasted my money (at f/1.8 across the range, that is a real possibility) but it’s still on pre-order and I won’t be able to get one in time.

[Mike Smith]

In what way?

CS4 isn’t importing the original files and I can’t convert them using streamclip.

Also, a clue – I installed Streamclip (and the required version of Quicktime Alternative) on my laptop too. When I double-click one of the video files, it opens with “Media Player Classic” but just shows a transparent screen (I can see the window “behind” where the video should be). In short, this “required codec” for Streamclip won’t even play the sodding videos!

When I right click and select “Media Player Classic – Home Cinema” – the same media player but the one I installed with the K-Lite Codec pack – it plays perfectly.

So the codecs for the files my camera makes are on both my laptop and my PC, but MPEG Streamclip can’t find them to convert the files.

I feel I’m getting close, but it’s just getting more and more mental.

[Mike Smith]

OK, this is all very helpful and is starting to lead me in the right direction.

However, I think I’ve confused things by not being clear enough.

The white screen is when I load the files in MPEG Streamclip. It will not load these files. My computer will play them however.

In short, forget Premiere for the time being. It won’t import the original files anyway. So I’m looking just to convert some files into another format.

What I should have asked from the start is this –

“Is there a good program to transcode the video files recorded on a Nikon D5200. They are .mov MPEG2 H.264 files. I want a piece of software which gives plenty of options for how I want to convert them.”

The answer to this, I would expect, would be “yes, there’s a great piece of software called MPEG Streamclip, even Nikon themselves recommend it!”. (Here – Nikon officially promoting Streamclip

So I did as Nikon said, did as various Youtube tutorials said. About 10 sources all gave exactly the same steps and instructions. But it won’t work. MPEG Streamclip, the software Nikon themselves and the rest of the internet recommends I use, won’t do what it is meant to do. I have video evidence (posted above) of it doing exactly as I want it to do, but it won’t.

Thanks for the advice about my computer. I was about ready to unload a shotgun into my PC until I learned about transcoding. If I can get this to work, hopefully I won’t need to upgrade.

I will put this down to me having one or two extra chromosomes when it comes to video work. I’m clearly missing something blindingly obvious here. This makes NO sense, so it has to be just a really obvious and simple thing I’ve missed.

Will post this on other forums (the guy who recommended the Nikon forum, thanks for that link) and hopefully someone can answer.

Lastly, an apology, for being so retarded. I frequent various music production forums, and when you see endless posts from people asking “err, how do I import a WAV file into Cubase?”, it’s tricky to stay calm!

[Mike Smith]

To summerise (was rushing a bit when I wrote that post) –

I have an old-ish PC. Core2 Quad, overclocked and 2GB of RAM. Not amazing, but I can’t afford to upgrade for a few months. To be fair, if I can get it working fine with CS4, that’s great. If not, I’ll upgrade my hardware and move to Windows 7 and a 64 bit system in order to use CS6. So that’s why I’m stuck on CS4.

Using MPEG Streamclip seems to be the suggested solution. Why won’t it work for me? I’ve tried various methods. The only reason I downloaded the Avid DNxHD codecs is because this guy did and it worked for him – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nBEK1AKiL8

I’ve done EVERYTHING in that video and it doesn’t work. Imported files just come out with blank video. I’ve worked professionally with audio for years and have never encountered an issue like this before. I knew video was more complicated but I didn’t realise it could drive a person insane.

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[Mike Smith]

Thanks to this great advice, I looked into the D5200. After a lot of research, I bought one and must say it is amazing.

Various issues with transcoding the files (for another thread) but that’s down to my computer, not the camera.

Got it with a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens and the footage is astounding. Nevermind a rival for the 5D (which it is), this is a rival for cameras which cost tens of thousands.

Thank you to those who responded here for helping me make what, for me, is a big investment. Got a slightly damaged kit lens with it, but that’s in another thread.

[Mike Smith]

Thanks for the advice, it all makes sense. The t4i seems to be going more into the consumer range, but good points raised. I’ve seen footage which makes me more than confident the D7000 will work in low-light.

Good point on the lens too. I am looking to invest in things like filters and something like a Zoom H4N and a decent mic for audio.