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A
animationlife
Legend
February 20, 2018
Question

Exporting, Archiving The Master File

  • February 20, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 8148 views

Hello Everyone.

I have a Sony PXW-Z150. Please look at the Attachment files. When Import the 4k Files, I Drag My files Into New Item, and after editing, I go to the Export

Media, and I use the Format: DNxHR/DNxHD MXF OP1a. 

I heard different stories. Some people say, Its better to use H264, and some say, use the HEVC (H.265)  and I also heard, only Check the Match Sequence Settings Box.

Would you please look at my Screen-Shots, and let me know what you recommend for Mastering and Archiving.

Also, Is there any Codec, that  I can Download for this  camera, or whatever is Inside the Premiere Pro, I should use.

Thank You Very Much.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    E
    excited_Genie16B8
    Legend
    February 20, 2018

    For Masters, I'm a fan of the Cineform and UT codecs.  The first is built-in to Adobe software, the latter can be added to your system below.

    https://www.videohelp.com/software/Ut-Video-Codec-Suite

    Cineform is visually lossless at a Quality level of 4.  It's comparable to ProRes HQ and DNxHR, but often with a better quality/file size ratio.  UT is mathematically lossless.  You just can't get any better than that.

      S
      SAFEHARBOR11
      Participating Frequently
      February 20, 2018

      Good advice from Jim. I will add that H.264 and H.265 are VERY highly-compressed formats really meant for delivery, not mastering. You want a larger, less-compressed file for that, which will be pretty much "lossless quality" from what you edited. Then from that high-quality master, you can later export to various other compressed delivery formats as needed.

      I saw a post yesterday from a person that got their indie movie accepted for distribution, but the only copy they had was an .mp4, ouch!!

      There really are no export formats that "match" exactly what the camera recorded in, nor is that something you should strive for because again, camera recording formats generally have high compression applied and you want subsequent copies to not be compressed like that again.

      I'd never rely on "Match Source" since you don't know what you will get - choose a good intermediate codec like the ones Jim mentioned or DNxHD (or ProRes on Mac) - and just make sure the settings match yourself, meaning frame rate, frame size, pixel aspect, and fields.

      Thanks

      Jeff Pulera

      Safe Harbor Computers

        A
        animationlifeAuthor
        Legend
        February 23, 2018

        As with ANY settings in Export, leave the defaults unless you have a specific reason to change them. That includes checking Max Bit Depth and Max Render Quality. Uncheck them.

        I would choose a 422 codec rather than 444. Your source is going to be 420 or 422, not going to gain anything (except larger files) by going 444 (which refers to the amount of color info being saved).

        #4 - not sure what that means, saving the project. It is already saved. Just export the finished master file as something good like Cineform, DNxHD, or UT. Then from that master, you can later export anything else you might need for delivery such as DVD, Blu-ray, H.264, etc.

        I typically do NOT save all the original raw footage and project files, unless I have reason to believe I will need to revisit the project again in the future for changes (for instance, corporate video where changes and updates may occur later). If I shoot a wedding, school play, dance recital, etc. then after video is finished and delivered and clients are happy, everything gets deleted except a "master" file of the finished video. I don't need the project or raw clips from camera - it's done and delivered and no looking back, will never be revisited. Depending on the project, I may not even have a master video clip, maybe just a DVD from which I could later make more copies if the need arose. Depends on the project.

        Thanks


        Jeff


        Thank you very much

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