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DSLR workflow questions?

Columbus

Columbus

Codecs/compression/intermediary file formats/lossless file formats/export settings etc are very confusing. Individually I understand them but it appears that I (and many others apparently on this board) are unsure where they fit in the whole scheme of things. I'd like for this thread to show examples of what the work flow is for various formats.

For example lets pretend I just finished shooting amazing footage on a Canon T2i and have uploaded it to the computer. I edit in Adobe premiere CS5 and composite in After Effects. What do I do with it now to maintain the best quality?

Step 1 Upload footage from SD card (No problem here)

Step 2 File conversion(do I convert all the footage to a lossless format before I do anything else?) For the example I provided how would I do this? What format would i use?

Step 3 The editing/compositing (Now that the footage has been converted to a lossless codec is it recommended that I do all my spfx/compositing/color correction first or do I edit the footage first or does it even matter?) (What about intermediary files for compositing? Andrew Kramer talks about using intermediary files to speed up rendering etc. This confuses me about switching back and forth between the files.

Step 4. Exporting and compression ( all spfx/compositing/color correction/editing has been finished how do I determine what the settings are I am going to be exporting as and how does compression fit into the picture. For example lets say I have a video and I want to post it up on youtube. I also want to put it on the Dvd. What would the differences in settings be and why are each of the settings what they are?

If anyone else has any further questions to add in addition to my questions that would also be appreciated. A lot of websites/posts go into the individual details of each step but few explain where they fit into the entire workflow process and this is what I think leads to a lot of confusion that I have as well as seeing other have.

For anyone that is willing to help I greatly appreciate it!
 
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I suggest you first transcode you footage to Cineform, which is not quite lossless but a great format for post. Edit and composite all you want from that point. Then when you're finished, export in whatever format suits the project -- for example you would make two separate files for youtube and dvd, if you were to email it, you'd render to something else. There is no one size fits all for finished products, it all depends on how the vid will be displayed.
 
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OK I was going to go to bed tonight at around 12am. It is now 320 am so that obviously did not end up as planned as I have been going over every compression scheme I can find . On the plus side I think I have figured out my dilemma. I've know that h.264 sucks for editing and that my T2i files are natively h.264 which is why a lot of footage I shoot looks like crap after editing. I can not afford Cineform at the moment so I downloaded MPEG Streamclip.
From my research I have found that everyone keeps saying that Avid DNxHD is a really good codec for editing. So I filmed a short 5 second clip with my camera and began monkeying around with it. The problem I ran into is my 50MB file ballooned to a 150 MB file after converting it and I didn't know why. Then I discovered I didn't know anything about bitrates :lol: I was using the 200 and 115 Mbps bitrates instead of the 35Mbps. This only caused the file to go from 50Mb to 52Mb and I actually saw more details than in the original footage even though it looked a little bit more washed out. I believe I can fix that in post.

So back in March I did an interview with Kevin Smith using my t2i. However I haven't done much editing with it because the end product looked like crap (because I was editing in h.264) or the files became TOO INSANELY HUGE to post online. Tomorrow though I think I am going to revisit that footage finally. I am converting the files right now and am looking forward to it.
 
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Columbus said:
OK I was going to go to bed tonight at around 12am. It is now 320 am so that obviously did not end up as planned as I have been going over every compression scheme I can find . On the plus side I think I have figured out my dilemma. I've know that h.264 sucks for editing and that my T2i files are natively h.264 which is why a lot of footage I shoot looks like crap after editing. I can not afford Cineform at the moment so I downloaded MPEG Streamclip.
From my research I have found that everyone keeps saying that Avid DNxHD is a really good codec for editing. So I filmed a short 5 second clip with my camera and began monkeying around with it. The problem I ran into is my 50MB file ballooned to a 150 MB file after converting it and I didn't know why. Then I discovered I didn't know anything about bitrates :lol: I was using the 200 and 115 Mbps bitrates instead of the 35Mbps. This only caused the file to go from 50Mb to 52Mb and I actually saw more details than in the original footage even though it looked a little bit more washed out. I believe I can fix that in post.

So back in March I did an interview with Kevin Smith using my t2i. However I haven't done much editing with it because the end product looked like crap (because I was editing in h.264) or the files became TOO INSANELY HUGE to post online. Tomorrow though I think I am going to revisit that footage finally. I am converting the files right now and am looking forward to it.
Click to expand...

You're under some fiscal restraints as we all have been or are. It's one of those walls to break through eventually and finding some way to get it done. I also have a T2i and you plainly need tons of storage (which is cheaper than ever) and a memory pig editing codec to make the footage presentable, at least that is my experience. Cineform, or something like it, and new/large hard drives (in multiples) is sadly the expensive workaround. That's just the nature of the beast. Encoding it back to h.264 in HD for upload is time consuming, but hey! This was a pipe dream 5 or 6 years ago.

There is a minimum investment for what you are trying to do and I feel your pain. I really do.

John
 
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CamVader said:
You're under some fiscal restraints as we all have been or are. It's one of those walls to break through eventually and finding some way to get it done. I also have a T2i and you plainly need tons of storage (which is cheaper than ever) and a memory pig editing codec to make the footage presentable, at least that is my experience. Cineform, or something like it, and new/large hard drives (in multiples) is sadly the expensive workaround. That's just the nature of the beast. Encoding it back to h.264 in HD for upload is time consuming, but hey! This was a pipe dream 5 or 6 years ago.

There is a minimum investment for what you are trying to do and I feel your pain. I really do.

John
Click to expand...

Lets put it this way. I have had my camera since December. Got my computer/editing programs in March. Very soon I will have a tripod lol. For me its a case of baby steps. At least this way though I feel like I am learning the small details better than if I just went out and bought everything at once.
 
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Isn't Cineform Neo $99?
Avid Dnx is a great codec, but do the files play smoothly on your NLE? I don't think 35mb/sec is what you want for DnX, you were on the right track with the 190+ rates.

Matrox also has a freebie codec out there.

Some people even use mpeg2.
 
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