Downloadable HM700 35Mbps clips for testing in your NLE

[Tim Dashwood]

I've received loads of emails requesting source sample clips so I figured I might as well just shoot a bunch of clips in different formats and let everyone download them.

For Mac Users: If you have Final Cut Pro 6 installed then you probably won't require anything to watch the .MOV clips. However to import and rewrap the MP4 clips you may need to download Sony's XDZP1 XDCAM EX Clip Browser. You can also import MP4 with FCP's "Log & Transfer."
If you DO NOT have Final Cut Pro 6 then you can download the free Open Source XDCAM Quicktime component and drag it into your Macintosh HD/Library/Quicktime folder. This will allow you to work with the quicktimes in Premiere Pro, Media 100 and possibly iMovie 09.

For Windows Users: The MP4 import process will be the same as with Sony's EX1 or EX3. Please see your NLE's documentation for the process. You can also download Sony's XDZP1 XDCAM EX Clip Browser for Windows.
If you would like to view or edit with the Quicktime MOV files then you will need the XDCAM component for Quicktime for Windows. Unfortunately I can't find a free one, but I can vouch for Calibrated{Q}'s XD Decode component.

NOTE: Please don't use these clips to evaluate the picture quality of the HM700. I don't have access yet to either the Canon 14x or Fujinon 17x bundle lens so I shot these with the Fujinon 13x3.5mm. Also, I was playing with the image processing and had the detail turned down to -7, the knee set to 70% (the new lower level), the toe point and stretch were adjusted, cine vivid matrix, cine gamma on -1, ND2 filter employed, 5600K preset white balance. The footage was all shot at magic hour so there wasn't a lot of ambient fill in the shadow areas and the sunlight was very orange. I also wasn't pulling focus to infinity when zooming out to the wide shots. I was really just trying to evaluate the compression quality of the encoder with "complicated" imagery with trees.

So have fun watching my mutt take his first dip of the season in slow-motion and go after some very un-afraid Canadian Geese.

Variable Frame Rate Quicktime MOV:
DASH0080_01_720p60overcrank-MOV.zip (appx. 40.5MB)
DASH0083_01_720p10undercrank-MOV.zip (appx. 25.3MB)
DASH0093_01_720p60overcrank-MOV.zip (appx. 98.5MB)
DASH0094_01_720p60overcrank-MOV.zip (appx. 50.5MB)

Quicktime MOV:
DASH0095_01_720p24-MOV.zip (appx. 47.7MB)
DASH0096_01_720p60-MOV.zip (appx. 56.8MB)
DASH0098_01_720p50-MOV.zip (appx. 54.5MB)

DASH0101_01_1080p24-MOV.zip (appx. 79.1MB)
DASH0102_01_1080i60-MOV.zip (appx. 72.4MB)

XDCAM EX MP4 Format (includes full folder structure):
DASH0105_01_1080p24-MP4.zip (appx. 81.0MB)
DASH0107_01-1080i60-MP4.zip (appx. 76.7MB)

DASH0108_01_720p60-MP4.zip (appx. 65.9MB)
DASH0110_01_720p24-MP4.zip (appx. 87.0MB)
DASH0111_01_720p25-MP4.zip (appx. 121.3MB)
DASH0112_01_720p50-MP4.zip (appx. 142.8MB)

[Steven Lyons]

thanks for posting tim,

i was able to download and play the .mov on mac laptop in qt with final cut pro 6.02
and on pc with adobe cs3 with matrox axio le preset using calibrated softwares codec..
but the .mp4 files come up with error "the movie contains some invalid data."when trying to play in qt. On the pc it just crashes premier/axio le.

I wonder if it has something to do with zipping the extra files with the .mp4?
..but maybe I am alone on this though.

Some of the footage I have seen appears noisy to me though, I refer to yours sons jacket and beany on the 720p60p footage, before he falls over...aaaaah maybe I am just seeing things.

[Tim Dashwood]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyons

but the .mp4 files come up with error "the movie contains some invalid data."when trying to play in qt. On the pc it just crashes premier/axio le.

The MP4 wrapped files will not open in Quicktime player on Mac or PC. They need to be ingested into an NLE, re-wrapped, or opened with Sony's clip viewer.

Originally Posted by Steven Lyons

Some of the footage I have seen appears noisy to me though, I refer to yours sons jacket and beany on the 720p60p footage, before he falls over...aaaaah maybe I am just seeing things.

Like I said please don't assess image quality based on these clips. I haven't even done so myself. I was "playing" with different options when I shot this stuff so I prefer to do empirical testing on the image before I comment further.

[Doug Harvey]

Thanks for the footage, Tim.
I got the mp4's to open in the vlc player, seemed to work fine for me.

[Chris Hurd]

For the eight people in the world that don't already know this, VLC Media
Player may be downloaded for free from VLC media player - Overview

[Carlos Corral]

Awesome, thanks so much Tim! The clips play great in Final Cut Pro!

[David Parks]

Thanks Tim. I've got 5 NASA Engineering Directorate video guys looking at your footage if you don't mind. They've been using tape-based DVCProHD cameras in that particular division and I work with the Engineering and Science Contract Group. They're really looking at going tapeless but have concerns. Not so much the camera but the overall process. We'll see.

If they like what they see, then we will put in a proposal for a least 2 HM 700's or more.

I know that I'm impressed with the clarity and that filmic look. I've also mentioned to them that the Canon 14.4x lense should be even sharper.

Interestingly, Avid on MAC using the Perian decoder works pretty good with the QT clips although we think it is doing a transcode to DNXHD 145TR on import.

Our main concern was if somebody mistakenly shoots QT vs. MP4 we won't be completely hosed at all with Avid.

Thanks again for taking the time.

BTW, is that a Canadian Bear swimming in the water??? We don't see too many thick furred animals here in Texas. Just kidding.

David

[Joachim Claus]

Tim, just a question for my understanding. I thought the two models would code the video in MPEG-2 Long GOP files. Am I therefore right, that your files are not the original ones stored on the SD-cards or SxS cards, as your files are in MPEG-4?
Joachim

[David Knaggs]

Thanks, Tim. I downloaded both of the 1080p24 files (.mov and .mp4). Those trees were certainly a good test of the encoder, plus a chance to scrutinize the "spatial offset" effectiveness with 1080p footage. I appreciate it. It's an impressive camera.

[Steven Lyons]

hey thanks for mentioning the vlc player, forgot about this (although I think there are more than eight people in the world that don't know about this option Chris). Can see them now.

I did naively think that with final cut 6.02 installed I could play in QT, thanks for setting me straight on this Tim.

I am still, the only one I guess having trouble ingesting into final cut 6.02
I use cs3/axio le generally and am no power user with final cut.

I just opened final cut, set Audio/video settings sequence preference to xdcamex 720p 24 vbr and went ahead and tried to load Tim's DASH0110 01 720P24.mp4.
just comes up with file unknown.
I must be doing something wrong, in light of everyone else's success.

steve lyons

[Tim Dashwood]

I'm glad everyone is asking good questions about the post workflow. That's exactly what I hoped for this thread. It is easiest to understand a new workflow if you go through it yourself.

Originally Posted by Joachim Claus

Tim, just a question for my understanding. I thought the two models would code the video in MPEG-2 Long GOP files. Am I therefore right, that your files are not the original ones stored on the SD-cards or SxS cards, as your files are in MPEG-4?

Good question. This is probably the most confusing aspect of XDCAM EX. The use of the MP4 container doesn't necessarily mean that it's encoded as MPEG-4.

The HM700 & HM100 (and EX1/EX3) do encode the video with Mpeg-2 Long-Gop using the XDCAM EX codec and that's exactly what these mov and mp4 contained files are. I did not re-encode anything. What you get here (after unzipping) are the exact files and folder structures produced by the camera.

There is always going to be some confusion over Mpeg-2 being contained in a MP4 wrapper, but I assure you that these are Mpeg-2 and not a MPEG-4 format like AVCHD/H264. These MP4 files are the same as the ones produced by the Sony EX1 or EX3, and the codec used in both cases is XDCAM EX.

Originally Posted by Steven Lyons

I did naively think that with final cut 6.02 installed I could play in QT, thanks for setting me straight on this Tim....I just opened final cut, set Audio/video settings sequence preference to xdcamex 720p 24 vbr and went ahead and tried to load Tim's DASH0110 01 720P24.mp4. just comes up with file unknown. I must be doing something wrong, in light of everyone else's success.

You can play the .MOV files in any Quicktime application or drag and drop them into FCP if you already have FCP 6 installed.
The .MP4 files are another story. They must either be ingested (copied and wrapped in Quicktime) via "Log & Transfer" or wrapped in Quicktime with Sony's software (or JVC's software to be bundled with the camera).

This is why the fastest option for FCP users is to shoot in .MOV and just copy the files. You can even directly drop the .MOV files into FCP from the SDHC card and play immediately from the card via USB2.0.

Originally Posted by David Parks

BTW, is that a Canadian Bear swimming in the water??? We don't see too many thick furred animals here in Texas. Just kidding.

HA! I just realized how cliché it was for me to photograph Canadian Geese as well!

That's our "Golden Doodle" (Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle cross) taking his first swim of the season, but he's only 1 year old so he still hasn't figured out to keep his paws under the water. He's a hairy Chewbacca-like beast right now. He would normally look like this but he is in desperate need of a haircut.

[Steven Lyons]

The .MP4 files are another story. They must either be ingested (copied and wrapped in Quicktime) via "Log & Transfer" or wrapped in Quicktime with Sony's software (or JVC's software to be bundled with the camera).

This is why the fastest option for FCP users is to shoot in .MOV and just copy the files. You can even directly drop the .MOV files into FCP from the SDHC card and play immediately from the card via USB2.0.

thanks Tim, now I understand... then why would you use .mp4 over .mov?

[Tim Dashwood]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyons

thanks Tim, now I understand... then why would you use .mp4 over .mov?

If you were working on just Macs there would be no reason to shoot MP4 other than the potential for broader compatibility with other systems.

[Michael Dontigney]

The .mp4 files work perfectly in Edius 5.
Thx Tim.

btw.. the properties in Edius read as follows:

(copy/pasted)
[Stream type]
XDCAM EX Stream

[Video info]
Profile :
Bit rate : VBR 35000000 bps
Size : 1280 x 720

[XDCAM EX Clip Information]
Title1 :
Title2 :
Description :
Creator :
Recording Mode : normal
Device : JVC GY-HM700
Status :

[Robert Rogoz]

Tim, quick question about the workflow. For FCS2 this would be?:
Step 1: make a folder, copy/ paste from the card into the folder .mov files.
Step 2 open FCP6, go to import ->Folder(or File)? Don't think there is a need for Log and Transfer with .mov, right?
Also would the best settings be XDCAM EX (720 or 1080) for timeline and render in ProRes HQ?
Thanks
BTW, I was able to edit these samples with G5 without any problems.