Canon 5d h.264 > ProRes FREAKOUT!!

[Fischer Spooner]

I'm freaking out.

I'm trying to work with editors to edit a 150GB project from a 5d--I have garnered that decompression to ProRes is in order. This link 5D II,H264 and Apple Prores - Luminous Landscape Forum claims that the file size in this decompression balloons the clips 30x...all though someone later sez only 5x.

What is the definitive word on file size increase?

(Purchasing 5 terabytes of storage (or more) would be a big problem at this point..)

Also, looking through the dialog boxes with a semi-experienced editor, I was confused about the resolution options...what are the resolutions of the input and export files, and are any special considerations required navigating the software in this process?

Finally, can anyone speak to the larger 5d workflow issues?

Prior to organizing the clips, my understanding is that the workflow steps are twofold:

1) decompress to ProRes
2) sync audio with pluraleyes

Is there any psycho weird stuff/hoops to jump through to effectively tangle with the 29.97/30p issue I've heard mentioned about?

[William Hohauser]

I have never transcoded 5d files but with other compressed HD files (h.264, MPEG2) I've found that 3 to 4 times the size is typical for ProRes. ProResHQ or ProRes444 is more. Apple has some charts that will give you approximate size to time.

A decent 1tb RAID drive should work for you. The ProRes files should be the same resolution and frame rate as the original camera files.

[Robert Lane]

Fischer,

If you read the specific forum about the 5D you'll get all the answers you need there; not everyone on the FCP forum has experience with DSLR workflows but on that forum you'll find all the resident experts.

Also, the footage all DLSR's shoot comes in the AVCHD codec; what you're doing is "transcoding" them into ProRes, not decompressing. ProRes is still a compressed format however you're changing from a long-GOP format to what's called an "i-frame" one, which is far more efficient for editing purposes.

[Dave Partington]

You could also transcode to a variety of compression levels from ProRes 422 HQ, all the way down to ProRes 422 Proxy. The Proxy version is tiny compared to HD, and even LT is pretty small. So, choose what you need as the minimum quality for editing. You can always go back and re-capture at highest quality once you have a final edit done.

[Nate Haustein]

Just did a quick test:

(7D) 1080p24 H.264 ---> ProRes 422 is 9.9MB to 28.9MB
ProRes 422 HQ is 9.9MB to 40.8MB

3x and 4x including Linear PCM sound

[Evan Donn]

Originally Posted by Fischer Spooner

Is there any psycho weird stuff/hoops to jump through to effectively tangle with the 29.97/30p issue I've heard mentioned about?

Was the footage shot before or after the 24p firmware update? If before, you have to configure FCP properly before you create a project and import anything - details here: 25 Hour Day: DSLR Dual-System Audio: The 99.9% Solution

If it was shot with the latest firmware you shouldn't have any problems with the default timebase.

[Martin Smith]

I have put together scripting that uses ffmpeg that allows one to easily trans-code a variety of file formats into Apple Prores 422 here EZEncoder An awesome ffmpeg based encoder that does it all

A sample how to video below.

http://youtu.be/jUgkANdvnbw