Hey folks, totally new to the realm of raw video. I'm considering getting a license for my I2. I'm very well acclimated with raw photos and have been shooting raw in photography for about 13 years. That said, I realize raw video must be a different beast, albeit way more time consuming which intimidates me (I have 4 kids and a pretty demanding job). Anyway, my question is I already have FCP and if I wanted to get my feet wet should I just get the prores apple raw license (and associated SSD and reader) or should I get both keys. I have no idea what cinemaDNG would give me and or if I would need a new program to edit the video in. Clearly I'm a newbie so any directional support and help would be ideal. Thank you in advance.
I have been doing a lot of research on this and when I ordered my I2 bundle, I settled on getting just the Apple Pro Res for the following reasons. Cinema DNG
Pro's:
*Gives you the most control over color and formats for professional film making and live stream broadcasting.
*It out performs the ARRI Alexa mini which is regarded as the best professional film mking camera on the market. It cost $36,ooo for just the body!
*Cinema DNG at 5.2k also out performs Black Magic URSA and the Sony AS7II in 4k UHD
Cons:
*File sizes are massive and require a ton of storage
* You will need a beast of a machine to handle these files and render these comps within your lifetime. Adding After Effects SFX and music to the mix will only add to your misery .
*The files also have to be color graded as they are in RAW format and transcoded into an NLE that will accept the files.
*Increases your workflow time substantially
*If you are not in Film or creating projects worthy of this amount of effort there is no need for it.
*$1000 extra
Apple Pro Res
Pros:
*Shoots in 5.2k res, 4K UHD with the 422 HQ and 4444XQ codec. This is pretty much the current pro industry standard.
*Smaller file sizes
*Easier to work with
*4444XQ Quality is very close to Cinema DNG and can match it with the right LUTS
$500 vs. the $36,000 for the ARRI Alexa mini that shoots the same exact codec
Cons:
*Not Raw - Does not have as much control when color grading
*Does not have as many frame rate options as Cinema DNG
So the point is, if you are not planning on making Hollywood grade films why spend the extra $1000? Apple Pro Res is already the current pro industry standard. No one even has a 5k TV and YouTube will downgrade your files even further. DJI has given us an amazing product that rivals and in some cases out performs the most expensive camera on the market. Most people will only be using this to create YouTube, Real Estate, site inspection videos and 3 D models. ( This is also assuming you bought the X5S)
If you have the money to burn then by all means get both. Honestly I would rather take that $1000 and buy an extra remote and an iPad mini 4 or a few more batteries. If cost reduction is part of the equation like it was for me then Apple Pro Res is the way to go if you must have one or the other.
Check out the other I2 review from Cinema 5D and look at the comparisons for yourself. Hope this helps!
NanoPixel.Studi Posted at 2017-2-5 19:58
I have been doing a lot of research on this and when I ordered my I2 bundle, I settled on getting just the Apple Pro Res for the following reasons.
Cinema DNG
Pro's:
So far the best sensible answer regarding this issue! I'm in the same boat... Where can I get some 5.2K PRORES footage to test out on my system before I buy? I shoot 4K PRORES HQ via my Sony A7S and Atomos Shogun..... I (and the system) handle this with ease. Will the workflow be the same? How much better is the end product compared to 4K H.265 rendered to MP4 H.264?
I 2 Fly Posted at 2017-2-6 04:32
So far the best sensible answer regarding this issue! I'm in the same boat... Where can I get some 5.2K PRORES footage to test out on my system before I buy? I shoot 4K PRORES HQ via my Sony A7S and Atomos Shogun..... I (and the system) handle this with ease. Will the workflow be the same? How much better is the end product compared to 4K H.265 rendered to MP4 H.264?
So a good place to go for these high res 5k log footage is at www.red.com. You can also find some here http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.p.... These are free downloads you can play with in learning how to color grade log footage from Red Dragon cameras. This is probably the closest you will get to what you should expect from the I2. It will be a great way to test your system, workflow and knowledge of color grading.
For info on how to color grade this footage check out this guy on YouTube. He has great Davinci tutorials on getting that movie look.
Not sure if you are using Premier or Davinci Resolve or After Effects and how proficient you are with these programs. This will make a difference in speed and quality of your videos. So it is hard to say what your end product will look like. From the video Sebatian shows near the end that the Cinema DNG image quality is much sharper and out performs even the best cameras on the market.
Basically DNG is raw footage that requires an extra step in your workflow but offers you more control over how your video comes out. Especially if you are trying to get that "Film Look" everyone is chasing.
Pro Res is very good and would be hard to tell the difference to the untrained eye. The image quality is remarkable even before color grading which makes your workflow faster.
So now you have to decide what kind of creator are you going to be? How are you going to use your drone? Do you really need all of this for Real Estate pictures or tower inspections? Are you a film maker or planning to be one?
I think the only problem with the I2 is that it was so great that people wanted it because of what it could do but didn't really give much thought to how they were going to use it or make a business around it. I for one am guilty of that and this played a huge part in my decision to just get the Pro Res. I would love to have Cinema DNG but until I can justify the need, I will stick with what I have which is not in any way a trade off. Like I said earlier Pro Res is the Professional Industry standard and more than enough for those just starting out.
NanoPixel.Studi Posted at 2017-2-6 09:14
So a good place to go for these high res 5k log footage is at www.red.com. You can also find some here http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.p.... These are free downloads you can play with in learning how to color grade log footage from Red Dragon cameras. This is probably the closest you will get to what you should expect from the I2. It will be a great way to test your system, workflow and knowledge of color grading.
For info on how to color grade this footage check out this guy on YouTube. He has great Davinci tutorials on getting that movie look.
Thanks a lot! I use Premiere Pro CC 2016. I'm a hobbyist but full of nonsense, so the best quality is always the target. I'll settle for ProRes. Should I switch from premiere?
I 2 Fly Posted at 2017-2-6 11:03
Thanks a lot! I use Premiere Pro CC 2016. I'm a hobbyist but full of nonsense, so the best quality is always the target. I'll settle for ProRes. Should I switch from premiere?
Nah, Premier is great and easy to use. The great thing about Adobe products is that they can be used together easily. You can start a project in Premier send it to After Effects or Speed Grade, and make changes in real time.
From what I have seen more people use Davinci to Color Grade but it cost $1000 for the full version. I know it's a lot up front but their is no monthly subscription and it plugs into Premier. Each Adobe app cost a monthly fee and adding Premier, After Effects and Speed Grade really starts to add up financially.
I heard of another NLE called Edius 8 that some use as well. I don't have any experience with it but it looks to be pretty powerful. There are tutorials on YouTube for this as well.
How would you recommend I start, just grading in FCP or Davinci some processed h.264 files? RIght now I have a Mac Pro tower, quad core, 32GB of RAM and all SSD. I hope that is enough...to be fair, it isn't enough for my canon 1dx mk2 4k files....gulp.
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