GOPRO Work Flows

The GoPro HD records in MPEG-4 and outputs its files as .MP4 files (the container). Files are MPEG compressed using the h.264 codec which is a delivery codec and NOT and editing codec.

MPEG Steam Clip is used to convert to Apple Proress

Select LIST / BATCH LIST in the menu toolbar. This opens a BATCH LIST window. Select all your MP4 files in your folder, drag & drop them into this BATCH LIST window.

1. EXPORT TO QUICKTIME
2. SELECT THE DESTINATION FOLDER
3. MOVIE EXPORTER
4. APPLE PRORES 422 (LT).
• QUALITY: Increase to 100%
• FRAME SIZE: This will depend on what settings you used to film your original footage so you need to select the one that says UNSCALED. In my case this is 1280×720 (UNSCALED).
5. Set the FRAME RATE options as follows:

• FRAME BLENDING: OFF
• BETTER DOWNSCALING: OFF
• INTERLACED SCALING: ON
• DEINTERLACE VIDEO: OFF
• Finally, FIELD DOMINANCE is set to UPPER FIELD FIRST.

 

Conforming   60FPS TO 24P

For that great SLOWMOTION.  FIlm in 60fps and then conform in cinema tools which allows you to conform 60fps gopro footage into 29.97fps or even 24 fps which will give you smooth slow motion. To utilize the full slow-motion capabilities of the GoPro camera, you must conform each clip prior to importing to Final Cut using Apple’s Cinema Tools. This is part of the Final Cut suite but is a stand-alone program. Clips can be batch conformed and the transformation is instantaneous. Once you’ve opened a clip in Cinema Tools click on the ‘Conform…’ button on the bottom right. It should have the clip’s current frame rate. To slow down the 60FPS clips, conform it to either 30 or 24 (whatever your Final Cut sequence settings are). The conformed file will be in place of the old file and named the same. To get your clips back to full speed, you can use the Change Speed function in Final Cut. For clips converted from 60FPS to 30FPS, 200% rate change will get it back to original speed. For clips converted from 60FPS to 24FPS, 250% rate change will get it back to original speed. http://vimeo.com/10852680

As far as the right choice in a gopro specifically 720 vs. 1080, the native size of the Hero HD sensor is 1280x960p, which is 4:3. it’s an odd ratio and resolution, . This gives you the widest angle and it also allows you to move the image up and down in FCP to select the best framing for your shot. when you select the 1080 setting, it’s cropping the sensor (ironically) and up ressing in camera. since the 960p setting gives you more sensor info, i would go with that, and upres later.

You won’t see a difference in quality between the 720p and 1080 out of the camera since the sensor isn’t 1080. if you want the 170 degree view that the camera is capable off, then you need to select 720p anyway.  Due to the bend in the image from the fisheye, we usually take the 1280x960p image and stretch it to 16:9 and blow it up to 1080 (instead of changing the framing as i mentioned above) and get good looking results.

GH2 Workflows

I personally like to convert the AVCHD to ProRes422HQ with VoltaicHD.  Voltaic HD unlike some converters allow you the option of  converting MTS directly to ProRes422HQ. Also it remove 3:2 pulldown.  Using Voltaic HD, you simply take the .mts files from the SD card and convert them to ProRes on the desktop.

You can alternatively use Final Cut Prox to import and transcode them for you.

FInal Cut proX will log and capture from the SD card to  ProRes. FCPX recognizes the entire AVCHD file batch as it is on your memory card when you put an SD card into the computer.   It does not recognize individual .mts files. It needs all the information within the AVCHD bin on the memory card. Then you have the option of transcoding it to prores or editing it natively.

I like to shoot the GH2 at 1080/24p with a 180 degree shutter setting of 1/50th of a second.  So I lock in at f/8 and 1080/24p and 1/50th second.   Using a variable ND Filter and a  custom “My Film” setting.   I set the custom setting to a “Smooth Gamma” curve, that I further refine by changing the saturation to -2, the contrast to -2, sharpening to -2, and noise reduction to completely off.  I  save this one of the C1, C2, or C3 presets.

When Shooting video at 1080/24p video with the 42Mbps AVCHD codec.  You get the best quality shooting in 24p mode with shutter priority at 1/50 with the ISO set to 100. in order to push the F stop as low as possible, use a Variable ND Filter set on  minimum and then slowly twist it towards max watching the histogram, stopping once it started to shift left (Turns white).  I figured this would put me at the lowest F stop.

To Recap

1. Put the FaderND on your lens.

2. Choose Creative Movie mode.

3. Stop your lens down to the aperture you want — the kit lens is pretty slow so try setting it for wide open, i.e. the lowest value. With the 20mm pancake I usually stay between f/1.7-4, 8 if I’m shooting a child running around.

4. Set ISO for 100.

5. By looking at the LCD, you can dial the FaderND in to nail the exposure you want. The histogram is especially helpful here, as it turns white when you’ve nailed good exposure.

6. For outdoor shoots I also like using the sky as a gauge — dial the ND till the sky looks as deep blue as it does in real life. Then look at your subject and see if the exposure is still good. Play with it to get a good balance of well-exposed subject and blue sky.

Nikon D7000 Workflows

Convert Nikon D7000 .mov files to Apple ProRes codec without quality loss before loading the footage to FCP. The Nikon D7000 cam encodes footage with H.264 codec and save the files in MOV container format. The MOV format is FCP friendly but H.264 codec is not natively supported by Final Cut Pro because H.264 encoded contents are highly compressed and are for delivery only. By transcoding/converting Nikon D7000 H.264 .mov to Apple ProRes 422 encoded .mov file, the possible best quality will be retained in post-production workflow and you can then edit the resulting media files just as you would edit in QuickTime Movie format without rendering.

I use VoltaicHD for this.

Sanyo Xacti Workflows

I like using ultra portable HD Videocameras like the Xacti HD110 .   These  camera shoots a flavor of HD AVCHD called qPixel.   The XACTI shoots to an SD card in 720p 60 frames and 1080i 30 frames and is spectacular. Both MPEG Streamclip and Voltaic do a good job of converting these files to more editable codecs like ProRes for Final Cut X.

MPEG Streamclip or VoltaicHD

The Xacti .mp4 files do contain H.264 video, so they are similar to AVCHD. Since the .mp4 files contain compressed H.264 video, they are not suitable for editing directly in Final Cut.  There are less problems now with Sanyos wierd flavor of AVCHD