Fileformat: Workflow for timelapse

Report · Jul 29, 2018

Hi

I have a question regarding the file formats of a time-lapse:

I usually import raw files (CR2 from a Canon Camera) into Lightroom and process them, before exporting them as JPG's in full resolution.
I then use After Effects and import the files as a sequence, choose things like FPS or resolution and then add it to the Adobe Media Encoder.

Here is where I have questions: What are good file formats to render the video? All I have used so far is H.264 and as preset YouTube 2160p 4k
I usually render my videos in 4k and I would like to have two options: One that is easy to just share online (so ideally not a huge file format, but still with good quality) and one that is of a very high quality that is ideally ready to be sold commercially or to be further processed in Premiere Pro as part of more movies.

I found some advice online, but it seems that depending on having a mac or a PC as well as which version gives you different options in terms of formats. I do use the newest versions of all CC software’s on Windows for that matter.

Thanks for any help or advice!

Report · Jul 29, 2018

In the end it doesn't matter. the only truth here is that you need to have multiple formats handy. You can't approach this with "I'll do it once and then be done for the rest of eternity". That's the whole point. Some will request a DNxHD file, others a ProRes and yet another a Cineon sequence with a LUT. Therefore all you can do is keep them handy or a "master" format from which the target output can be encoded on demand as needed. The rest is nonsesne. They're all "good" file formats in their own right, but can be totalyl wrong depending on the use case. You need to understand this part about "intermediate" workflows, not look for universal solutions. those don't exist.

Mylenium

Report · Jul 30, 2018

If you are preparing images for video it is very important to properly size and adjust them. Still images should be at an effective 100% scale at some point in your video. Let's say the camera original is 26 MP: 6240 x 4160 and your final comp is 1920 X 1080. You do not plan to push in on part of the image so your exported image size should be 1920 wide. Any larger and you will have to scale the image down to fit it in the frame and it will get softer, you may need to add some processing to reduce moray patterns in fine detail, and it will take longer to render the final product. If you want to start with the full original image but then push in so you see only the center 1/2 of the original image then the proper size is double the frame size so you can start with your image sequence at an effective 50% scale and then animate to 100%.

When you resize using Lightroom or batch process in Photoshop the images should be filtered to improve the images for video. Most folks don't bother with this, but you can seriously improve the quality of the video by properly preparing images for video.

I hope this helps. I almost never save image sequences as JPEG's because they are only 8bit files and I want more control than that. They are either Tifff, DNG or PSD at 16bit or better because you have more options in post.

Report · Jul 30, 2018

Thank you all for your replies!

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Rick+Gerard schrieb
If you want to start with the full original image but then push in so you see only the center 1/2 of the original image then the proper size is double the frame size so you can start with your image sequence at an effective 50% scale and then animate to 100%.
When you resize using Lightroom or batch process in Photoshop the images should be filtered to improve the images for video. Most folks don't bother with this, but you can seriously improve the quality of the video by properly preparing images for video.
I hope this helps. I almost never save image sequences as JPEG's because they are only 8bit files and I want more control than that. They are either Tifff, DNG or PSD at 16bit or better because you have more options in post.

I have some questions regarding this:

- Will keep the scaling advice in mind, thanks!

- How exactly do I filter my images for video? I'm not really sure what you mean by that or how I would do this.

- That is a good point with 8bit! I was always hesitating with TIFF because the file size would just be so enourmous. Do you know how the impact on rendering time would look like? Linear with imported total file size? So let's say I import 200 pics of 5MB as jpgs, that would take me 15min to render, would 200 pics of 50 MB take about 150min?

Hmm, I guess h264 as a sharable format will do just fine. "Unfortunately" I do not have a Mac, and I guess ProRes422HQ is not really an option...? I've read that Cineform is equally good, but that ProRes422HQ is still the "requested or required" format.

Report · Jul 30, 2018

This is a hugely subjective question and will depend primarily on what you need the files for. As is it sounds like you're good to go with h264 as your sharable format. You could play with webm or ogg but most folks are still on h264 for the time being.

For high quality there's lots of ways to go. At my day job we still do ProRes 422HQ masters. If you want maximum data retention and storage space is no object you could do lossless exr frames, a lossless audio mixdown and an xml file to rebuild in an editor as needed.

You'll get lots of answers on this so pick the one that's easiest to integrate into your workflow

Report · Jul 30, 2018

For your "..to share online.." version the first question is where you're uploading to.

Social media tends to compress your content so much it's utterly pointless to upload anything more than an H.264 file. Assume most people will watch on a phone anyway, so your carefully-crafted masterpiece will look like a badly tuned TV from the 1950s.
YouTube can accept 'better' content such as ProRes or DNXHR, but again it will stuff everything back into an H.264/H.265 format for playback. Google's own advise is not to bother with anything more than H.264.
Vimeo tends to deliver better quality playback for high-bandwidth sessions, but only accepts H.264/H.265 or ProRes.

If you're selling footage direct to an end user who actually knows what they're doing, then they will demand a particular format, usually ProRes 422HQ for live action or things that look like live action (VFX stuff is entirely different and is always handled as frame sequences). You may be able to sell them DNx files, but Adobe's fetish for Cineform gets blank stares from anyone other than Adobe. Clients who have no clue what they're buying will take H.264 files and assume they're ok, until a downstream editor working in Final Cut starts throwing rocks.

If you're selling through a stock agency (Pond5, etc) then you simply have to follow their rules.

Making official ProRes files either requires a Mac (a real one, or a VM Hackintosh) or a scary-expensive third party encoder that's been licensed by Apple. Making ProRes files on Windows that work just the same is simply a case of downloading ffmpeg/Handbrake and feeding it something near-perfect you've exported from After Effects, such as a DNx or Cineform Quicktime master. The only difference is a vendor tag in the file header, but there are still a few studios whose automated file-checking procedures crash and burn if that tag is missing.

Report · Jul 30, 2018

As Dave mentioned there are streaming services that accept something other than h.264 but they recompress, and you have no control or no quality check. The only way to have any control over the quality of your delivered product is to follow the streaming service recommendations to the letter. For best results use Multi Pass compression. The AME (Adobe Media Encoder) does that really well, and match the frame size, data rate, and audio settings. Streaming services will recompress lower data rate versions of your footage to supply to folks with slow connections, but at least you've minimized the risk of getting things all fouled up by automatic compressioin.