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michaelcwelch
michaelcwelch
Known Participant
October 10, 2023
Question

MP4 workflow

  • October 10, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 506 views

Hello all,

I am noticing more and more experts are editing with mp4 files that always have the yellow render line above them. 

 

My workflow has always been to use Media Encoder to encode UHD prores files and HD proxies (from inside of Premiere). I put those mp4 files away as raw shooting files. This has consistently proven to be a bullet proof workflow, especially when you have clients who always wants to change stuff. Has something changed and am I just being the old dude stuck in his ways? Would love to get feedback from other people's workflows here. 

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    3 replies

    neil wilkes
    neil wilkes
    Legend
    October 11, 2023

    I would absolutely agree with you with one caveat -  I would maintain the source resolution, regardless of what it is. So if the source is 1920x1080, then my interim ProResHQ would be the same. If it were in SD then I would make an SD ProResHQ from that. If uprezzing is mandated by the client, I would use a dedicated tool for doing that - from an interim ProResHQ at the supplied resolution.

    Why anybody work with an MP4 makes no sense to me at all.

    MyerPj
    Community Expert
    MyerPjCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 11, 2023

    I think your way is still the best way to go.

      michaelcwelch
      michaelcwelchAuthor
      Known Participant
      October 11, 2023

      I understand what Neil is saying, when you are dealing with a lot of long footage and need to work fast, it would be understandable. My machine can handle the transcode, storage is cheap, and I do roundtrip everything through Resolve. 

       

      Thank you MyerPJ for the confirmation. I just don't want to be the old guy that's stuck in his ways. 

       

       

      R Neil Haugen
      R Neil Haugen
      Legend
      October 11, 2023

      mp4 ... typically, the long-GOP files ... are heavily dependent on the hardware bits on each computer. Some Intel CPUs have the "quicksync" function, and they can process H.264/long-GOP significantly better than the Intel CPUs without it. Newer quicksync capable Intel CPUs can do more versions of that format.

       

      And most AMD CPUs, to my knowledge, are not great with H.264/5-long-GOP files. Although some GPUs apparently can offer some assistance.

       

      So ... it's complicated, and it all depends.

       

      Most colorists I know, who have machines vastly more massive than most of us editor types, still t-code or proxy nearly all H.264/5 media when working in Resolve. So ... pick your poison. Check your machine's ability with long-GOP files. And test.

      Everyone's mileage always varies ...
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