PXW-X70; XAVC sufficient for greenscreen?

[Mike Buckhout]

Hi guys, lots of great info here on the new X70 and I am considering one for general use as well as for doing greenscreen work.

I would imagine the large sensor will provide for a good low noise image which is always helpful when pulling a key, but has anyone tried it with the internal 50Mbps XAVC codec?

If the results are good enough I could save a ton on an external recorder; I was thinking I would need the Atomos Samurai which I have used before, but this adds another $1K just to get started on top of the camera itself...

I'll be editing with Adobe Premiere and After Effects CC 2014 on a Mac so no issues with the XAVC codec as I understand.

[David Dixon]

All I can say is that the 50mps 8-bit 4:2:2 mpeg2 in my Canon XF100 makes green screen pretty much one click unless I really screw up the lighting. I can't believe that the X70 won't be even better with 10-bit XAVC. In fact, I'm considering seriously upgrading to the X70. But, I have not yet seen any green screen clips posted.

Yes, I've been following the camera closely, and have read that currently Premiere is the only NLE that will import the clips (not even Sony Vegas!) as yet, but that Sony will have plugins for everything else very soon.

For any FCPX users reading this, the free Sony Catalyst Browse application will convert these clips to any flavor of ProRes, although it's a very tedious one-clip-a-time workflow (which is also supposedly being worked on).

[Ron Evans]

I downloaded the few clips from the X70 and they edit fine in Edius Pro 7 so Premiere isn't the only NLE to edit the X70 files. But can confirm that Vegas 12 which I have will not recognize the files.

Ron Evans

[Mike Buckhout]

Certainly 10-bit 4:2:2 will not be a problem, I just wonder if 220Mbps ProRes HQ would be noticeably better than the 50.

I did see a link to some test footage from several days ago, but the file was no longer available to download; can someone repost it?

[Mike Buckhout]

Just wanted to give an update on this topic-

I finally got my X70 and did a greenscreen shoot earlier this week. Given the results I am seeing with the in-camera 50Mbps XAVC codec I will not be looking into an external recorder for future projects.

Edit: I should add that my needs are fairly simple, so it might not be enough depending on the situation. I've got a well lit actor with tame hair reading prompter in a controlled environment, without much motion, so the results are good for me. Also, since I am only delivering to 1024x768, I am scaling down the source to about 75% which may also be helping. I shot at 1080/30p, 125/sec shutter with 9db gain. Unrelated, but I do also like the 24-bit audio in camera with this codec.