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Question

Conversion issues and Codec support issues for GH5 Anamorphic footage

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
August 27, 2018
9 replies
1647 views

Hi all,

For the last week i've been trying to create Proxies using the Cineform codec for windows or just straight convert the footage

I took 6K and 10K Anamorphic footage from the GH5 recently (3K and 5K times with 2X anamorphic lens).

H.264 ALL-I 4:2:2 10-bit @ 400Mbps

&&

H.265 LongGOP 10bit 4:2:0 @ 200Mbps

Trying to

Convert to Cineform Filmscan 1

or

DNxHR HQX 10-bit

in order to bring into the system to edit with and create proxies of the footage at smaller resolutions.

Unfortunately I've been having trouble on my 6 year old editing machine trying to get these files converted for use due to a few issues below:

I must point out that some of these files have internal frame rate corruption to some of the files due to the filming at the time.. unknown to me until today.. however the ones that did film successfully also still have issues. Both the cards have performed okay in the past so this was a shock that there were framerate issues on some of the files.

Reshoots are not an option and files are still readable so trying to make the best of it. The problems of conversion appear on every file however..

Problems:

1) Cineform doesn't seem to ever finish or it takes forever for converting.

2) DNxHR is putting on an arbitrary 16:9 aspect flag on the output when its not supposed to. It finishes fast within minutes and things look good but the aspect bug renders those files useless. Anamorphic footage all gets sent to 16:9 framing which is wrong (its suppose to be 8:3 - 6698x2496 res).

Since i'm on PC I can't try Prores.. Is there any other codec i could try using that won't degrade the quality and produce the correct aspect ratio in the file?

Has anyone else had experience with the GH5's anamorphic footage in Premiere Pro 2018 (v12)

Thanks

This topic has been closed for replies.

Kevin J. Monahan Jr.

Legend

Hi Kevin Karr,

Since i'm on PC I can't try Prores.. Is there any other codec i could try using that won't degrade the quality and produce the correct aspect ratio in the file?

ProRes export on PC is now available with the 13.0.2 release. Enjoy.

Thanks,

Kevin

Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

No. Is he a nice person like me ?

Kevin KarrAuthor

Known Participant

Rodney.. your not the same Rodney B Hunt from Youtube are you?

Kevin KarrAuthor

Known Participant

Okay i'm making some headway (albeit slowly).

I managed to get my hands on a mac and loaded adobe cc and premiere etc on it..

Prores seems to work better than the other two codecs for converting (speed) and handling writing partial files for the corrupted portions.

I've now been going clip by clip rendering out to 4:3 as i expected.

I noticed on PC and Mac that Cineform doesn't tolerate files with issues well and causes a memory leak on both platforms.

DNxHR HQX seems to better at converting but always ends up writing them in 16:9 aspect even after selecting 4:3 output.

(you want 4:3 output for mastering to keep all the detail so you can interpret and scale in the timeline later when outputing to 16:9 in 4K UHD with bars - or at least thats the theory - i am trying to create as if i recorded these files directly to prores from the camera so i can make proxies from them later. This is a valid practice)

So so far Prores on Mac seems to be the winner and is working to get my stuff converted (and speedy too).

Can't wait to see what happens with the H.265 10K (5K squeezed) footage..

It seems that my options on PC were quite limited for intermediary codecs for files that are a little not quite standard...

Hope that helps anyone else who is going through this painful process. (weeks of trying to get cineform to work on PC)

Lesson learned, when you camera screws up onsite.. take a few test shots and bring extra memory cards (and buy V90 ones!). nothing is perfect..

its a good thing this wasn't a paid project..

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

I've been learning a lot via this thread, thank you ! I just asked someone who's shooting episodic anamorphic with alexa and he said they are using 2K pro res log c. I asked if it's 4:3 ( I think in past it was some crop of the full chip to do anamorphic and don't recall it being 4:3, but things are advancing quickly ). Plus, since I don't shoot that sort of stuff or edit it, I am sorta dumb, as you know. But learning.

He'll get back to me about that but it probably doesn't matter much except how the chip scans.

I can't wait to hear how your 5k and 10k stuff works out, cause I keep learning stuff here in the forums !

Thanks !

you can mark this answered in the meantime, like you answered it yourself using pro res ...and then come back later and let people know what happened, how you exported stuff to deliver and so on...how cool is that ??

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

I have a hard time trying to convert 2 perf film anamorphic into chip dimensions etc... and I also don't know why 2k can get stuck into a laptop to review footage immediately on set when 5k can't. But this thread is helping me !

Kevin KarrAuthor

Known Participant

Rodney.. no offense but your not grasping it. The footage is too large to work with natively...

Shooting on an Anamorphic lens in 4:3 and then interpreting to 2.66:1 and cutting to a 2.39:1 or 16:9 with bars is NOT an unusual workflow... and this footage format has been tested before on these cards so wasnt a concern to me that it would be an issue. Also Adobe supposedly updated the software to support the GH5 Anamorphic footage and higher bitrates in the last software update.

Im not interested in debating the errors just the solutions i have available now.

My thoughts are at this moment is that something has corrupted the footage on the day and that's what is causing the issues on conversion for some codecs.. but doesnt explain why DNxHR can convert successfully.. just keeps flagging and framing as 16:9..it would nice if intermediary codecs just fit whatever aspect the user wanted (or a list of common ones) instead of forcing aspects..

My testing will continue...

E

excited_Genie16B8

Legend

Query: You shot the project without testing the full work flow first?

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

maybe that's the trick.. start project as 16:9 and go for the black bars on top and bottom to get your wide stuff ??

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

I'm sure you'll get some help and suggestions. I looked up the GH5 on google and also googled 'anamorphic lenses for GH5' and got this you tube thing

GH5 Anamorphic Lens Demo - Extremely Sharp Schneider Cinemascope in NYC with IBIS 60p 4k - YouTube

So, it obviously works nice and looks like a great camera. I'm sorry I don't know enough about stuff to give you good advice because it baffles me why you'd have a 4;3 ratio for that stuff and I don't know your camera.

But maybe you could get in touch with the manufacturer and see if they have suggestions.

Worth a try, as it's probably something that you really want to

a) solve problem with past shot stuff

b) get newest firmware updates

c) get advice from nice people who make the camera

good luck !

R

rodneyb56060189

Legend

I'm an idiot and only use cs6 and am not a pro editor. Someone I know is currently shooting anamorphic ( like 140 ? ...or 139 but called 140?) tv show with vintage anamorphic lenses, mostly cause showrunner wants the horizontal glare etc.. the "look".

the network doesn't want to letterbox the broadcast, so they are lopping off the sides ( in post ) to make it 16:9.

That suggests to me that most proxies and conversions might be looking to give you 16:9, or ELSE you're dealing with a wider dimension and all that stuff.

Here is a typical anamorphic lens.

B&H Photo Video

But there are prime lenses too.

Aside from some frame rate problem, the aspect ratio and making decision about how you want to deliver it might help you. Like, if you go to put it in a theatre (projected) you can do the 140 thing cause nobody sees anything but what is projected. If you put it out for TV then most TV's are 16:9 and it would be letter boxed....

Don't know if this helps, but maybe you can make your project in a certain way that the letter box is INHERENT within the 16:9 ratio, and THEN use proxies ??

Kevin KarrAuthor

Known Participant

Thanks for the reply..

I think my process needs a little clarification so that everyone understands where my issue is at the moment.

Native Anamorphic files - Shot on a 2X anamorphic (squeezed):

H.264 ALL-I 400 Mbps 4:3 aspect (W) 3328 x (H) 2496 10-bit 4:2:2
and
H.265 LongGOP 200 Mbps 4:3 aspect (W) 4992 x (H) 3744 10-bit 4:2:0

Here is the processes I have tried so far:

A. Process = Play files in windows 10 with Media Player - most play fine except for the machine unable to play entire clips with errors in the middle for the wrong framerate clips. Also all files have proper headers and file sizes (they are full clips).

B. Process = Native files on timeline = too slow and errors in framerates are causing issues for some files on timeline

C. Process = Native files -> Create proxies files at 4:3 aspect using Cineform -> Edit = Failure

D. Process = Native files -> Create Proxies files at 2X Anamorphic interpreted format using Cineform = Failure

D. Process = Native files -> Convert to clips using Media Encoder to mastering codec first then try to create proxies = Failure - can't convert clips in their native aspects properly (4:3). DNxHR HQX renders out fine but creates them in 16:9 aspect only. Useless for anamorphic footage. Cineform never renders out the files properly in either .MOV or .AVI

E. Process = Native files -> Convert clips from Premiere Timeline and Export = Failure both codecs fail to produce the proper result

All i really want is to convert these Anamorphic files to an Intermediate codec to preserve the quality and allow me to edit in my timeline until the final output of 16:9 4K UHD (with bars scaling to 2.35:1 or 2:39:1) after editing. If i convert to 4K 16:9 now for editing i will lose the quality by the time i export for Youtube (and then Youtube compresses again) in H.264... The more i can save that quality the better.

A few more details:

1. Using Premiere Pro CC latest version (was 2018.1.2 then they changed the version number to 12.1.2)

2. Native files are playable on windows however they are not great to work with on the timeline so i am looking for an intermediary codec so that i don't lose resolution for when i actually do output to 16:9 format in H.264 for 4K television (and Youtube). Most "Pros" might record initially in Prores, Cineform or DNxHD/HR codecs by using a special/recorder like the ATOMOS Infernos.. I didn't have one and also the Anamorphic mode on the GH5 in 10K mode (H.265 5K native 4:3) actually turns off the HDMI out anyways. So what i have is the internal files generated from the GH5 for anamoprhic files.

3. I am trying to Convert these out of camera files to intermediate codec to edit with and save image quality until the final output (where some loss results).
4. Cineform Film Scan1 and DNxHR HQX 10-bit 4:2:2 modes are the only options on PC (no Prores to try here)5. Cineform goes through the entire conversion process but keeps failing internally wihtout my knowledge.. never completeing the file (but making me wait the entire time it says to complete the render in Media Encoder)

6. I've also upgraded The GoPro Quik Software on the system to see if its a problem with Cineform codec. no dice.

7. I am willing to consider that the files are somewhat corrupted but not all of them are and they all play in windows (albeit with some having some issues with green flickering screen). I'd like to salvage what i can from them. so far not an easy task.

Hope that helps clarify the situation.

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