Client wants raw footage

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

Hello,

A client of mine after filming a wedding wants all the raw footage. I put all my AVCHD files on a thumb drive but they won't play on their computer as they are in .mts files and are also unlabeled. I then went to export the raw footage from premiere as a different codec but the file size was so large it didn't fit on the thumbdrive.

Is there a way to label the individual clips and export to a format that's the same file size as my .mts AVCHD files?

Thanks,

Bryce

[Ann Bens]

mts files should play on any computer

What kind of thumbdrive?

How large are these mts files all together?

How long is an avarage clip?

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

I would of thought it should of played but the client told me it's giving him a codec missing error.

[Jim_Simon]

Bring all the media into Adobe Media Encoder using the Media Browser window in the upper left of the GUI.  Once imported, select all the clips and choose H.264 as the Format and Match Source - Adaptive High Bitrate as the Preset.

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

is that codec/format equal to .mts? Reason I'm asking is that in the future I'd like to use prelude to transcode my footage to label the footage etc and only use what I want to use but so far the options given to me in windows are file sizes ten times larger.

[Ann Bens]

Any system should play mts files. How is he viewing the files? On what system?

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

Windows 10 with quicktime 

Anyway my other quesrion wasn’t answered about transcoding

[Ann Bens]

He should get rid of QT and download VLC player.

Other question? Prelude? You dont need to transcode mts.

[yenaphe]

avchd is a special flavor of h264, so reencoding to h264 should produce similar file sizes.

You shouldn't have to transcode your footage, to be able to label it.

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

What id like to do is for example take a 2 min .mts file and select a portion of that clip, say 30 seconds. Rename that new 30 seconds as a new clip.

That way I only will have the clips I want on my editing drive and not the entire sdxc card structure.

[Ann Bens]

Best is to keep the card sturcture.

If space is a problem get larger disks.

You can export the trimmed clips but chances are you end up with larger files.

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

Okay. Well I could be wrong but I read that if I apply color correction to an avchd file it will look bad but if I transcoded to cineform i Will be utilizing the 10 bit color space. Does that make any sense or is this a myth?

[yenaphe]

If you transcode to cineform 10bit you will have larger files.

Color correcting with Lumitri is all done in 32bit space.

If you transcode your 8bit avchd file into a cineform 10bit file, you will end up with 8bit color information in a 10bit color file container.

You won't gain anything then by color correcting the 10 bit file.

But, if you do the color correction on your 8bit avchd file, and then export the result in Cineform 10bit, you will see an upgrade, because it won't just be 8bit info that you put in the 10 bit file, but 8bit info processed in 32bit, so resulting in more color data.

Then you also have the subsampling that is very important. Usually, avchd files are 4:2:0 meaning you loose a lot of chrominance information, whereas in cineform you can export in 4:2:2 and even in 12 bit 4:4:4, retaining much more color data.

More about subsampling here: Chroma subsampling - Wikipedia

So, transcoding prior to color correction is not useful, but exporting after color correction is a good idea.

[Ann Bens]

Your avchd is 8 bit.

Transcoding to Cineform wont give you extra information to work with.

You cannot make something out of nothing.

Garbage in garbage out so to speak.

The only advantage you will have is easier editing.

[Jim_Simon]

I only will have the clips I want on my editing drive and not the entire sdxc card structure.

I think that's a mistake.  Keep the entire card structure, unaltered, in perpetuity.  Edit with Cineform proxies.

Work offline using proxy media |

Get more/larger hard drives if needed.

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

So could I store proxy files on my ssd and my original card footage on a hdd? An ssd has been much faster for me with avchd

[Jim_Simon]

I recommend keeping both original and proxy media on the same dedicated, internal drive.  Whether it's HDD or SSD depends on your storage needs and budget.  I make this recommendation for two reasons.

1. You'll want to keep the originals available for export.

2. Organization is easier when the proxies are kept "Next to Original Media, in Proxy folder."

[SAFEHARBOR11]

Changing gears here - it sounds like perhaps the raw footage was not part of the original agreement and you are now just trying to be accommodating for the customer? If so, my best advice after decades in the business is DON'T DO IT.

You may have already delivered a finished video edit. They will now pore over the raw footage and find things that they think should have been included in the edit and it can create a nightmare scenario. Your edit decisions will be second-guessed. They might show friends and family the raw footage, warts and all, and your professionalism may be (unfairly) judged based on that footage.

Your call, but not a good practice to get into unless agreed upon up front in the contract, otherwise just tell them SORRY, NOT AVAILABLE.

If you get into a legal dispute with a client at some point because they are unhappy with the final product, like maybe you missed an important shot or something, they might use the raw footage against you to prove their case.

Sure, this is all worst-case scenario, but just consider this before exposing yourself in this manner. There are Bridezillas out there unfortunately.

Thanks

Jeff

[Jim_Simon]

Continuing Jeff's tangent somewhat, I do have the following clause in my customer agreement.

"Creative aspects such as shooting and editing style are at the sole discretion of [Company Name]."

[Offbeat Bryce Productions]

um, it was already agreed upon.

[yenaphe]

The issue is more of "what kind of computer / OS" your client is using.

Because you indeed sent him the raw files. Now it's up to him to make them work on his system.

[Jim_Simon]

the options given to me in windows are file sizes ten times larger.

That's just the way tapeless media works.  Making those file sizes smaller will compromise quality.