FCS3 and P2 tests FYI

[Gary Nattrass]

OK I am supposed to be doing a business plan for my new company HD Production - HDPS-UK and it is as tedious as ever.

But I got FCS3 this morning (note it isnt marked 3 on the box just Final Cut Studio) and decided to see how the new AVC codecs are doing and to avoid doing the plan:

I did a test load to firewire 800 raid 2 g-tech disc with a 15 sec clip of AVC intra 100 1920x1080i 25np PAL and this is what came out of log and transfer during upload via USB:

1: Native 10secs
2: DVCProHD 15secs
3: Pro Res Proxy 15secs
4: Pro Res LT 15secs
5: Pro Res 422 15secs
6: Pro Res HQ 15secs

Good to see there are plenty of options now available and they are also there for AVCHD import so the 1920x1080i 50i from my canon HF11 can go in at decent lower bit rates.

[Gary Nattrass]

Data rates:
I have been looking at the bit rates following the tests and this is what they show,
The pro res rates seem to be a lot lower than they used to be:

1:Native:

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 4
Video Codecs Used -> ai12
Audio Codecs Used -> PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 15s 240ms
Total File Size -> 212 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 117 Mbps
Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> ai12
Codec (FourCC) -> ai12
Frame Width -> 1 920 pixels
Frame Height -> 1 080 pixels
Frame Rate -> 25.000 fps
Total Frames -> 381
Display Aspect Ratio -> 16/9
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 2.193
Video Stream Length -> 15s 240ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 114 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Video Stream Size -> 206 MiB (97%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-09-02 15:23:13

2: DVCPROHD

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 4
Video Codecs Used -> dvh2
Audio Codecs Used -> PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 15s 240ms
Total File Size -> 215 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 118 Mbps
Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> dvh2
Codec (FourCC) -> dvh2
Frame Width -> 1 440 pixels
Frame Height -> 1 080 pixels
Frame Rate -> 25.000 fps
Total Frames -> 381
Display Aspect Ratio -> 4/3
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 2.963
Video Stream Length -> 15s 240ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 115 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Video Stream Size -> 209 MiB (97%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-09-02 15:24:31

3:Proxy

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 4
Video Codecs Used -> apco
Audio Codecs Used -> PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 15s 240ms
Total File Size -> 26.0 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 14.3 Mbps
Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> apco
Codec (FourCC) -> apco
Frame Width -> 1 920 pixels
Frame Height -> 1 080 pixels
Frame Rate -> 25.000 fps
Total Frames -> 381
Display Aspect Ratio -> 16/9
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 0.215
Video Stream Length -> 15s 240ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 11.2 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Video Stream Size -> 20.3 MiB (78%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-09-02 15:25:12

4:LT

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 4
Video Codecs Used -> apcs
Audio Codecs Used -> PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 15s 240ms
Total File Size -> 34.3 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 18.9 Mbps
Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> apcs
Codec (FourCC) -> apcs
Frame Width -> 1 920 pixels
Frame Height -> 1 080 pixels
Frame Rate -> 25.000 fps
Total Frames -> 381
Display Aspect Ratio -> 16/9
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 0.303
Video Stream Length -> 15s 240ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 15.7 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Video Stream Size -> 28.6 MiB (83%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-09-02 15:25:47

5: Pro Res 422

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 4
Video Codecs Used -> apcn
Audio Codecs Used -> PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 15s 240ms
Total File Size -> 38.0 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 20.9 Mbps
Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> apcn
Codec (FourCC) -> apcn
Frame Width -> 1 920 pixels
Frame Height -> 1 080 pixels
Frame Rate -> 25.000 fps
Total Frames -> 381
Display Aspect Ratio -> 16/9
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 0.344
Video Stream Length -> 15s 240ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 17.8 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Video Stream Size -> 32.4 MiB (85%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-09-02 15:26:22

6: Pro Res HQ

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 4
Video Codecs Used -> apch
Audio Codecs Used -> PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 15s 240ms
Total File Size -> 43.5 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 24.0 Mbps
Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> apch
Codec (FourCC) -> apch
Frame Width -> 1 920 pixels
Frame Height -> 1 080 pixels
Frame Rate -> 25.000 fps
Total Frames -> 381
Display Aspect Ratio -> 16/9
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 0.402
Video Stream Length -> 15s 240ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 20.8 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Video Stream Size -> 37.8 MiB (87%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-09-02 15:26:51

[Robert Lane]

You'll find Snow Leopard to be a benefit in the data-transfer department; much better memory-transfer-load allocation. Test it, you'll see for yourself.

[Gary Nattrass]

Thanks robert I have snow leopard but i am just waiting for all the drivers to be released for some of my hardware before I update to it.

[Chuck Fadely]

Just so I'm clear - your P2 card clips show up in log & transfer and you can choose pro res proxy for any and all HD formats, like fer instance, 720p30?

I love pro res proxy - step right up, no lines, no waiting for anything... rendering is a thing of the past. It downsizes to perfectly acceptable web footage in the blink of an eye.

It makes editing a joy!