[Ryan Holmes]

If the camera was meant for video people – yes, it would be DOA. But the camera is meant for photographers. Specifically for sport and event photography – 65 point AF, built in intrevalometer, 10fps (31 RAW and over 1,000 JPEG as long as your card is fast enough to write the data), automatic lens distortion correction in-camera, GPS, weather-sealed aluminum body, and a completely revamped and upgraded metering system. These are features video guys/gals don’t care about. Action photographers do. This camera makes a legitimate run at the Canon 1D X and Nikon D4S for a third of the price (yet, there are still reasons why a photographer might want a 1D X or D4S over a 7DII).

As far as video it gets 1080p60, LiveView Mode, and Dual-Pixel AF. Yep…not much.

Additionally, they released this camera at Photokina which is a distinctly photo-centric show. If they meant for this to compete with Sony’s A7s or Panasonic’s GH4 they would’ve released it at NAB in April or IBC last weekend (and they would’ve needed to add way more video features to it). But this is a stills cameras, meant for shooters doing sports, action, or event photography. I believe it’ll find a decent little niche in there.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

[Yair Bartal] “https://noamkroll.com/there-is-massive-quality-difference-between-fcp-x-prem…”

This circulated about a month ago, but Noam has been pretty quiet on specific details of the 2 encode settings. Without specifics it’s pretty hard to adequately compare.

I also don’t believe the difference he posts is “massive” as his blog title states. The pictures don’t support that. If he encoded at a VBR then each software will be making estimations based on its implementation of the h.264 codec, so differences on some level are a given. But again, further information is needed to adequately judge this.

Earlier post regarding this same topic:
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/335/72500#72500

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

[Ignace Aleya] “I keep suggesting to use a dolly but they keep requesting me to look for a different camera that can digitally zoom (my GH4 can zoom in but the focus dissapears so there is no use in changing the zoom while filming) so my question is, what are you thoughts? “

A dolly would be good, but you’ll still need to pull focus on your DSLR while moving. Your GH4’s Micro 4/3 sensor means that you’ll need to maintain sharp focus throughout your move, and that could mean additional onset monitoring so you (or the focus puller) can nail critical focus.

[Ignace Aleya] “And if you also recommend for me to use a different camera, which one would I choose?”

This completely depends on your budget. You can spend $400-$40,000. We’d need more info to offer any type of camera suggestions.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

It depends on the “Level” you’re using. Level 5, 5.1, and 5.2 are capable of h.264 mp4’s with data rates of 135Mbps (5, 5.1) or 240Mbps (5.2).

You’ll just need to up the “Level.” It’s a drop down menu in Adobe Media Encoder (CS5.5 and later I believe).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Levels

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

You need to know what type of TV they have and what the TV is capable of playing back. Without that information you’re just guessing.

Any recent TV though should be able to playback a h.264 mp4 file (data rate/frame rate and audio rate is dependent on TV model/brand). Find out what they’re using then Google that TV’s specs to find out what it’s capable of playing back.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

[Brandon Eastman] “ut which Pro Res preset do I use? I have multiple options in Media Encoder (ie PR 422 HQ, LT, 444, etc)”

With the cameras you’ve shot at transcoding to anything over ProRes(LT) is just using up hard drive space on your system. You’ll see no visual benefits to the higher flavors of ProRes. If you plan on creating graphics or titles, then as Ivan suggests you could export those as ProRes or ProRes(HQ). But your source material is fine at ProRes(LT).

[Brandon Eastman] “Then, after I have exported my final edit, which program do I take the file into for the DVD burn? I have access to iDVD at home, and at school I can do Compressor, Media Encoder, or Adobe Encore….”

iDVD/DVD Studio Pro/Adobe Encore = DVD authoring program
Compressor/Media Encoder = encoding/transcoding programs

Generally speaking, you take your final sequence from FCE and export out a master ProRes file in Quicktime format. Then you take that file and stick it into the transcoding programs to create your DVD assets (there are presets in either program to get you moving). Take those assets and put them into the appropriate DVD authoring program, build your menus, and burn your disc. This approach provides for more control but will take you longer and have to go through multiple apps.

Or you can take your final sequence from FCE and export out a master ProRes file and then take that file and put it directly into the DVD authoring program. All the DVD authoring programs listed above can automatically transcode your file into the appropriate DVD format. It’s your choice. This provides for a faster workflow with less control.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

Pixel Aspect Ratio is the first thing that comes to mind to check. Moving from non-square pixels to square pixels (or anamorphic non-square pixels, not sure if you’re moving from SD to HD) can cause problems.

Also when you’re in the export settings window take a look just above the render preview window and you should notice a small drop down menu called “Source Scaling:” That gives you options like Scale to Fit, Scale to Fill, and Stretch to Fill. Often times I’ve seen people move between pixel aspect ratios and not take into consideration how they want the encoder to deal with the scaling that results.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

[Camille Kleinman] “Does my mac need more memory or a better external graphics card? (btw CAN i even use an external graphics card like the nvidia quadro k5000? how would i use that card with my imac?)”

Glad you got your playback problem sorted out. Using the CUDA engine (or OpenCL if you had an AMD card) is essential when working in Premiere. It’s literally a night/day difference.

To your above quoted question though – no, you can’t yet use external GPU via Thunderbolt. I hope that in the near future a method is worked out to use an expansion chassis and additional GPU’s over Thunderbolt. but as of Fall 2014….not so much.

And if you can afford more memory I always recommend that. Adobe gobbles up and utilizes as much RAM as you allow it….and the more the better. So if in the near future you can spring for 32GB I would recommend it.

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

[Alexandre Brandt] “What is wrong with Adobe Media Encoder ?”

That does look abnormally soft in the sky, edges, and trees. Well there’s a lot to the encoding process (not letting Adobe off the hook here). But things we don’t know about your settings – CBR, 1 Pass, 2 Pass? Keyframe interval? Is there motion in the clip (camera pan or the a breeze blowing the trees)?

All of the above, combined with the data rate will impact the video quality on the way out the door. Now I’m not familiar with your encoding background or what goals you’re trying to reach with this final product, but 6,000kbps is not terribly high for a 1080p video. The scene could very easily fall apart on you in multiple software packages. Commonly accepted data rates for 1080p video range from 8,000kbps-50,000kbps (see compression guides for Vimeo and YouTube).

So one solution – up your data rate. Another solution lower your keyframe rate. Another solution move to CBR encoding away from 1/2 pass encoding. And yet one more solution do all the above! 🙂

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost

[Ryan Holmes]

[Marcus Samuel-Gaskin] “Sapphire has to be the most overrated, overpriced , difficult to use set of plugins in history, especially on the Avid platform. The ridiculous amount of protection money productions have to pay Genarts to licence a bunch of glows and and transitions is amazing. I’d choose FX Factory over them any day.”

Marcus – can you tell us how you really feel? I think you’re holding back here…!! 😀

Ryan Holmes
http://www.ryanholmes.me
@CutColorPost