Hi!
I'm a new user of X5r and would appreciate a little help.
First i wonder if i could use the non raw files on the SD card or is it better avoiding it as they are just proxies. Is it necessary to use the cinema dng files and convert them or do you think there's a faster way, when you don't have time?

Many thanks in advance!

rvduflot,

Your incredible X5R supports lossless 4K RAW video that can be shot and recorded to your SSD in:

            4K (SSD RAW):       4096 × 2160  24p, (3840 × 2160) 24/30p
         2.7K (SSD RAW):       2704 × 1520  24/30p
      1080P (SSD RAW):       1920 × 1080 24/30/48/60p

These are recorded to the X5R SSD in CinemaDNG (Codec: Lossless JPEG).
Because they are recording individual frames and moving  large amounts of data at up to 2.4Gbps, they need computing power to be synced from the SSD to your computer with DJI CineLight for post-processing these RAW files.

The video file recorded to the Micro SD Card are compressed  using the H.264 codec and stored in MP4 or MOV format containers. Their primary purpose with the X5R is to allow you to ensure that you achieved your shot without having to process the RAW files. Can you use these? Sure, if the compressed video meets your or your customers needs, then use it...

Using the SD card will get you great video, i would only use the SSD if your job requires it as it's incredibly tedious to process/edit.
If your job does not require RAW video, then you can leave the SSD drive out when flying and just record to the SD card.

IMHO it would depend on your project - what's the goal? What are you delivering to? The simple answer IMHO would be always use the RAW. If you're a Mac user, you can always transfer the files in Cinelight, do a little pre-grade and export to ProRes 444 if you want to work with simpler files. For PC (like me), I'm using a combination of DaVinci Resolve 12 which natively supports the X5R RAW DNG files - then export, or SlimRAW to convert to Premiere compatible versions.

If time is of the essence and it's a personal project not for professional delivery, then using the SD card files (whilst not as impressive), are very easy and friendly to work with.

GaijinGeoff Posted at 2016-5-11 00:00
IMHO it would depend on your project - what's the goal? What are you delivering to? The simple answe ...

Since you did some color grading on the SSD footage, did you do the same on the SD or is it straight from the camera.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-10 19:03
Since you did some color grading on the SSD footage, did you do the same on the SD or is it straig ...

For the SD files, I dragged them straight into Premiere, applied the Arri Alexa SL profile as an Input LUT, then tweaked highlights, shadows etc in Lumetri.

For the RAW, I opened each RAW sequence in Adobe Camera RAW via Bridge. Applied HLS tweaks, save n sync. Then opened those DNG sequences into After Effects (as I'm on Windows), exported them to Avid DNxHR 444 using the frame references from my original SD edit. Reconstructed and exported from Premiere. So to backup your previous post YES, the workflow is a lot more friendly when dealing with the SD files. I have SlimRAW, but playback performance is not as smooth as it is in Resolve 12.

GaijinGeoff Posted at 2016-5-11 04:29
For the SD files, I dragged them straight into Premiere, applied the Arri Alexa SL profile as an I ...

Nice, that's great you are enjoying the X5R. It's a incredible piece of machinery.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-10 21:40
Nice, that's great you are enjoying the X5R. It's a incredible piece of machinery.

Thank you, and yes, yes it is!
The hype is real.

GaijinGeoff Posted at 2016-5-11 04:43
Thank you, and yes, yes it is!
The hype is real.

Awesome, thanks for the positive remarks

One of the limitations on the x5 was its slow recording bitrate, about 60Mbps.

The x5r is said to record to the ssd at up to 1.7Gbps. Part of the reason the quality is so much better.

Does anyone know the bitrate the proxy files are recorded to the SD card at?