Strange 10.2 ingest/export times at DVinfo.net

Paul Anderegg · April 25th, 2015, 07:55 PM

I ran a test of all the codecs my Sony PXW-X180 camera shoots in 720p60, XAVC-I, XAVC-L, XDCAM EX, XDCAM HD422, and AVCHD. I wanted to find out which codec imports fastest, and which exports fastest, and also if optimizing on import had an effect. The results surprised and confused me.

I know not the best way to do this, but I simply ran off 10 minutes of bars and tone for each codec, then imported, added a color correction, a saturation boost, and a broadcast safe filter, to emulate what I do normally. I was more interested in the import times, and export results were secondary. I spend way too much time staring at each clip importing, they seem to take forever! Imported off SxS card using USB 3.0. Below are the results.

*note 112Mbps XAVC-I import time roughly the same as 50Mbps XDCAM HD422!

CLIP 1 0:18 TO INGEST 3:46 TO SHARE AVCHD 174MB

CLIP 2 0:41 TO INGEST 4:09 TO SHARE XAVC L 481MB

CLIP 3 1:53 TO INGEST 3:55 TO SHARE XAVC L 481MB (Optimize)

CLIP 4 3:22 TO INGEST 4:13 TO SHARE XAVC I 9.32GB

CLIP 5 1:58 TO INGEST 4:02 TO SHARE XAVC I 9.32GB (Optimize)

CLIP 6 0:37 TO INGEST 3:56 TO SHARE XDCAM 420 646MB

CLIP 7 3:12 TO INGEST 4:03 TO SHARE XDCAM 422 4.51GB

As an additional test, since XDCAM doesn't allow Optimize, I produced 2 identical moving video footage 10 minute clips, then reimported from the same SxS card used for the above tests. Just wanted to see ho big a difference movement instead of color bars would make.

CLIP 8 0:35 TO INGEST 7:55 TO TRANSCODE XDCAM 420 2.17GB

CLIP 9 0:58 TO INGEST 8:03 TO TRANSCODE XDCAM 422 4GB

The first surprise was the file sizes of the camera clips on the card. They don't make any sense. Checked them in file properties, and they are all listed correctly for codec, frame rate, bitrate, etc. I understand Long GOP would save a lot of MB on color bars alone, but that didn't explain the XDCAM files. More basic color information being saved?

The second surprise was that TRANSCODING to ProRes 422 (Optimize) in XAVC-I was faster than a straight file import. More confusingly, when checking the files in finder, the file size for both XAVC-I and XAVC-L files was identical, regardless of the optimize/transcode selection and import time. Can anyone explain how importing works, rewrapping, optimizing etc, because I don't fully understand anything more than the file size stays the same and the files on the mac show as MOV. I assume the XDCAM plug-in is doing something, but the video footage test clips not straight from camera did not show as "plug-in" files.

Just looking for the quickest way to shoot, ingest, and bang out b-roll to the station via FTP. My exports are HDV 720p60 18Mbps, but that is mostly irrelevant.

Paul

April 25th, 2015, 07:55 PM	#1
Paul Anderegg Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: San Diego, Califonia Posts: 1,559	Strange 10.2 ingest/export times I ran a test of all the codecs my Sony PXW-X180 camera shoots in 720p60, XAVC-I, XAVC-L, XDCAM EX, XDCAM HD422, and AVCHD. I wanted to find out which codec imports fastest, and which exports fastest, and also if optimizing on import had an effect. The results surprised and confused me. I know not the best way to do this, but I simply ran off 10 minutes of bars and tone for each codec, then imported, added a color correction, a saturation boost, and a broadcast safe filter, to emulate what I do normally. I was more interested in the import times, and export results were secondary. I spend way too much time staring at each clip importing, they seem to take forever! Imported off SxS card using USB 3.0. Below are the results. *note 112Mbps XAVC-I import time roughly the same as 50Mbps XDCAM HD422! CLIP 1 0:18 TO INGEST 3:46 TO SHARE AVCHD 174MB CLIP 2 0:41 TO INGEST 4:09 TO SHARE XAVC L 481MB CLIP 3 1:53 TO INGEST 3:55 TO SHARE XAVC L 481MB (Optimize) CLIP 4 3:22 TO INGEST 4:13 TO SHARE XAVC I 9.32GB CLIP 5 1:58 TO INGEST 4:02 TO SHARE XAVC I 9.32GB (Optimize) CLIP 6 0:37 TO INGEST 3:56 TO SHARE XDCAM 420 646MB CLIP 7 3:12 TO INGEST 4:03 TO SHARE XDCAM 422 4.51GB As an additional test, since XDCAM doesn't allow Optimize, I produced 2 identical moving video footage 10 minute clips, then reimported from the same SxS card used for the above tests. Just wanted to see ho big a difference movement instead of color bars would make. CLIP 8 0:35 TO INGEST 7:55 TO TRANSCODE XDCAM 420 2.17GB CLIP 9 0:58 TO INGEST 8:03 TO TRANSCODE XDCAM 422 4GB The first surprise was the file sizes of the camera clips on the card. They don't make any sense. Checked them in file properties, and they are all listed correctly for codec, frame rate, bitrate, etc. I understand Long GOP would save a lot of MB on color bars alone, but that didn't explain the XDCAM files. More basic color information being saved? The second surprise was that TRANSCODING to ProRes 422 (Optimize) in XAVC-I was faster than a straight file import. More confusingly, when checking the files in finder, the file size for both XAVC-I and XAVC-L files was identical, regardless of the optimize/transcode selection and import time. Can anyone explain how importing works, rewrapping, optimizing etc, because I don't fully understand anything more than the file size stays the same and the files on the mac show as MOV. I assume the XDCAM plug-in is doing something, but the video footage test clips not straight from camera did not show as "plug-in" files. Just looking for the quickest way to shoot, ingest, and bang out b-roll to the station via FTP. My exports are HDV 720p60 18Mbps, but that is mostly irrelevant. Paul