Thanks for all the response to my last question on external recording.
You have been great in helping me understand if it is viable to record 25p externally.

My research has since uncovered other methods, and subsequently other questions.

I've been thinking about HDMI output from the GH2, and conventional wisdom has it that the camera's output is good enough only for monitoring purposes. But there are some who argue that GH2's HDMI output is clean enough for recording, despite lingering red channel issues. Whichever way you compare it with MTS recording on SD cards, the images are invariably sharper and richer in detail.

Considering this, which method then produces better footage: hacked 25p MTS then transcoded via 5DtoRGB to ProRes 422, or external recording via HDMI to ProRes 422?

I am working in a 25p environment. Cheers

Despite all my objections a client has insisted on shooting the GH2 in 30p, so I'm doing as told and want to make sure I have it down pat since I've only shot 1080p24 or 720p60 before. I set the mode to HBR NTSC and shot some test footage, but when I bring it into FCP (which is where the client will be editing the final project) and convert it to ProRes, it's 29.97 with Upper Fields. The footage I am to shoot is to be mixed with other footage all shot at 30p. Is the fix in FCP as simple as setting the fields of the individual converted prores files to none? Or should I do something with Cinema Tools to make the GH2 footage true 30p? I have tried to find this answer but to no avail.

I was wondering what is the optimal hack/settings for GH-2 if I have a slower pc? I just finished editing for a DepicT film festival and the Full HD playback was slow when i started to tweak the videos.

My pc specs: (general stuff) Amd phenom II 920 - 2.8 GHz 4 core 4870 radeon 8 GB ram DDR2

What should I do? Should I shoot in 720p from now on? Should I use a diffrent workflow (now I just threw .H264 video in adobe premiere)? Is there a way I could encode videos to a diffrent codec before I edit (I know I will be loosing quality...). Are there any other tricks and tips in post, if so let me know please :)

This custom preset encodes just fine in Premiere as a .mov file, as expected. However, when I try to export it via Adobe Media Encoder, it defaults to a .f4v file. The only other options I have in Media Encoder are .flv and h.264. No options for Quicktime formats, much less ProRes.

This is obviously not satisfactory. Any ideas how to get Premiere sequences to output as ProRes 422 through Media Encoder? I've tried updating both software, and reinstalling FCPX in case AME wasn't seeing my ProRes codec installation.

Thanks!

Can you tell me your sony vegas rendering settings for vimeo I don't get to get my footage come out nice. It drives me crazy!

This is what I do: sony vegas pro 10 and render as sony AVC picture Video format: AVC profile: high 1920x1080 Entropy coding: CABAC Framerate: 23,976 Field order: None (Progressive) Pixel aspect ratio: 1.000 Bit rate(bsp) 20.000.000

Hope you can help me out!

As far I'm aware there are two possible pixel aspect ratios for PAL, depending on whether or not the full frame is being used.

The 702x576 ITU uses a PAR of 128/117 =~1.094, giving an equivalent square pixel resolution of 768 x 576

If the full 720x576 is used then the PAR is 16/15 =~ 1.067 (again giving a equivalent resolution of 768 x 576).

The DVX100 captures at 720 x 576, so the PAR should be 1.067. After Effects is defaulting to 1.094 for this footage, which is wrong. Right?

EDIT Should had added AE doesn't have 1.067 PAR setting under interpret footage.

I've been self-educating myself on all things workflow over this summer. I quickly began to realize that technically great content can quickly become mediocre in one small workflow misstep. One of these issues is Final Cut Pro's gamma shift bug. As far as I know, the bug persists and is unavoidable when exporting from FCP. I have FCP as my main editing program, and I am trying to work out a way that I can roundtrip to Resolve for grading . . . but I am wondering . . .

What do other FCP users do to avoid the gamma shift issue? Do you do export your final file somehow with a program other than FCP?

Also, does anyone know if FCX has the gamma shift issue? I'm still on the fence concerning X. It DOES offer some very enticing media management features, and as far as editing is concerned, it does just fine. It can easily roundtrip to Resolve, so the color correction base is covered. Really the only serious issue I find with it is that it cannot roundtrip to any pro audio programs. (And maybe it has the gamma shift issue. Does it?)

Anyone with more workflow experience, feel free to chime in. I'm here to learn, discuss and explore options. I just want to organize my footage, etid in peace, roundtrip to Resolve Lite for coloring, and have an audio roundtrip option open to me as well. And when its all said and done, I don't want the gamma to shift on me at final export. Is that too much to figure out?

I'm trying to figure a way to go from my (admittedly old) 5.1.4 version of FCP to the new Resolve 9 Lite. FCP 5.1.4 only exports XML in versions 1-3, and Davinci Resolve 9 Lite only imports XML versions 5-7. Are there any programs (free or fairly inexpensive) that can up-bridge the gap between the lower and higher tiers of XML versions?

EDIT 2: If anyone has a FCP 7 exported XML 5 file or a DaVinci Resolve 8.2 XML file they could post so I could try to look at syntax differences vs. the current XML, it would be much appreciated. If you are interested in seeing the features below implemented so that you can buy the software,

Michael at http://www.aatranslator.com.au/ has been kind enough to spend a lot of time recently working on getting better FCP XML conversion capabilities into AATranslater (his relatively inexpensive conversion program for audio that is expanding to include video). If the conversion process worked properly, it would allow a lot very helpful things to happen.

• The ability to take Sony Vegas Pro sessions in and out of Resolve the way the FCP 7 users can currently do (via FCP XML).
• Improved export from Sony Vegas Pro to FCP 7 or Adobe Premiere Pro CS6.
• He has talked about possible FCP X support.

And there are of course many others. I am not affiliated with Michael's company but if the conversion starts working, I will of course buy myself a copy of the software (because the process to get Vegas files into DaVinci Resolve is insanely difficult at the moment, even with the intermediate use of programs like Adobe Premiere to try and convert the AAF files to be more readable, etc.) When I say the workflow without this tool is insanely difficult, I mean over 30 man-hours this week alone on the problem and still have not solved in a satisfactory fashion after 2 weeks.

Here are some of the reasons why a converter like this would help. - Sony Vegas Pro 11 AAF files will not open in DaVinci Resolve 8.2. - Sony Vegas Pro 11 EDL files will not open in DaVinci Resolve 8.2. - Sony Vegas Pro 11 EDL files will not open in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6. - Sony Vegas Pro 11 AAF files that can open close to perfectly back into Sony Vegas, may have major issues in Adobe Premiere CS6. - The AAT Sony Vegas Pro XML import and export scripts (potentially) allow more information to come out of Vegas than an AAF file (current issues seem limited to BIN support and sub-clip support).

But at the moment we are hitting several challenges and so I would like to ask for help, both in providing additional files and in looking at the ones below.

The attached "AAT XMLfiles for PV - v1" ZIP file contains two files.

The "VP11 AAT XML v1" file is the XML output from Vegas using a custom AAT script.

The "AAT XML to AAT to FCP XML - v1" file was created by parsing that script through the converter at the moment (note that the program has not been designed for this sort of conversion and will have to be re-written to work properly).

If you have FCP 7 XML 5 exported files or similar DaVinci Resolve 8.2 files that you can upload for analysis, it would be appreciated. Or if you can look at the AAT FCP XML file below to find out things like why it will open in Premiere Pro CS 4.0.1 but not CS 6.0, it would also be appreciated.

Here's hoping Michael can create a conversion tool that would make life a lot easier, and thanks in advance for your help!

'Update 2012-07-30 01:02AM' - The resolution mismatch has now been fixed. - The CS6 "hanging" issue from a direct import (vs CS4 importing mostly correctly) is being looked at.

I shot some footage in Sanity HBR that imports fine into Windows Premier Pro 5.5, but failed when trying to transfer the files to a Mac. I copy and pasted the MTS files from the card to an external HD formatted with FAT 32, as this has been successful way to transfer files between Mac and PC.

I read that you need the entire file structure off the card. So what are some ways to go about this? Is log and capture off the camera the only way? What about the entire file structure from an SD card reader to and external harddrive, then log and capture?

What if we need to go back and forth between different computers? A a workflow between PrPro 5.5 on Windows and FCP 7 even possible via XML?

I did some research but couldn't find what the deal is with cross platform and the GH2 footage? In fact I'm hoping there is no problem with Sanity HBR and FCP 7

Can anyone walk me through their workflow for FCP 7?

Just read some article today and wondered if my workflow is a problem and what I can do about it.

I simply film on my GH2 running Flow Motion v2.02, then do a log and transfer in FCP7 into a ProRes422 file. I have thought many times the brightness/color seems a bit off but I'm not sure. So reading the above article made me wonder. FCP 7 doesn't seem to have the same input/output levels adjustment or at least I don't know where to find them.

Is there a gamma or colorspace mismatch happening?

You can just increase your gamma to 1.22 to fix this problem with the 5dmiii...

Thanks for any help.

~Tim

I've googled this and not had any success.

Don

It should be a good free option to DNxHD, Cineform etc. as a near-lossless intraframe codec.

Limitations: Windows 7 is required and also registration on the GV site.

Here the download page:

http://www.grassvalley.com/support/downloads/products?product=&download=625

Here some discussion on the topic:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=818496

Free codec release came with the new Edius 6.5 release:

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Producer/Articles/News/Featured-News/Grass-Valley-EDIUS-6.5-Now-Shipping-83580.aspx

EDIUS Pro 6.5 include:

Color correction tool supports 10-bit color depth
Export sequence with alpha channel
Native RED (.R3D) support*
Improved XDCAM/ P2 data transfer
3D (stereoscopic) editing
AVCHD 2.0 support
EOS movie support (ALL-I (I-only), IPB)
Camera RAW format support*
Filmstrip view in Timeline
Enhanced video layouter (drop shadow, resize quality)
Built-in loudness meter
Built-in shake stabilizer
720p Blu-ray authoring support
Flash F4V export
QuickTime HQ/HQX codec (Windows/Mac)

as every time I use Wondershare the file converted will not play in QuickTime

Thanks

Sony HDR Cx-100 60i & DV NSTC 29.95 fps

Is there a way someone can explain how I can sync them. I am only outputting 720x480 (web video) and it doesn't have to look totally pristine, but the cleaner the better. I am using Premiere Pro CS5.5 on a Mac Pro.

Thanks for any good advice.

I had some workflow troubles because the .MTS files often have identical names and there is no timecode in the Quicktimes when I generate them with 5DtoRGB.

I wrote a short Automator app, which adds the creation time to the .MTS filename and generates a .THM file with the creation date and time as EXIF data.

For it to work you need ExifTool: http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/

And the file template.THM has to be in /Applications/THM creator/

When you convert these files with 5DtoRGB (Batch) it will add timecode to the Quicktimes.

Feel free to use it or change and improve it if you have more ideas. For example I wanted to create the .THM file as a real thumbnail from the .MTS. But didn't manage. Will be very useful for me as I'll not run into the annoying situation anymore when there are files with identical names and timecodes. Hopefully it is useful for some of you, too.

Cheers

iv seen some nice quality exports on here... anyone have any advice? thanks

If someone could tell me what i'm doing wrong, that would be great! Vimeo states that the datarate is 133625kbps. Sony Vegas Pro 11 can't even deal with these mts files, i.e. cannot load them on the timeline. Both Kdenlive and Openshot act normally, but nothing renders smoothly.

I am looking for same player (preferable multi platform) that allows to display TC without burning it in. I did some research on VLC and did not get any further than abusing a subtitle track. Any idea? It does not need to be frame accurate, its just that in one second many things can happen.

I'm trying to get MJPEGs from the GH2 to play at 25 (or 24) fps for a slight slow-motion effect. However when I conform the clips with Cinema Tools, the resulting files cannot be imported in FCP, as I get the error "File Error: Unknown File".

Does anyone know what the problem is or could help me out with an alternative workflow to get FCP to playback the MJPEGs at 24 or 25fps?

What are recommended re-wrappers for PC? Any good ones for free or at least a 30 day trial?

Thanks! R.