Video Editing??

[Brannon Hagenson]

If you really want to Edit in 4K, you need a proper rig. Not only do you need a powerful computer, with a fast hard drive (ideally a RAID with 6 platters), but you also need a monitor with at least 4K resolution. Even with a big fast RAID, you still need to make sure you connect it to your computer with a high speed connection (on a Mac, Thunderbolt 2), or you won't really see the benefit.

You can get by with lower end solutions, but its a hassle. Personally I am a fan of the iMac5K along with an external 6 platter 12GB RAID dedicated to video only. Its still not ideal, but its cheaper than their Power Mac's which haven't been updated in awhile.

I would google "editing in 4K" because there are a lot of options out there.

Great, I will do some more research here, thanks again for the info.

 

[erikgraham]

Great, I will do some more research here, thanks again for the info.

You are likely to find cheaper solutions on the PC side. I like the Mac though.

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

You are likely to find cheaper solutions on the PC side. I like the Mac though.

Ok, yea, I just dont know whats best, Im hearing that filming in 4k is best cause you can do so much with it in post, although if my current pc cant handle it, for now filming in 1080 at 30fps is probably my best bet, right? Or can I still film in 4k and come down to 1080 in post?

 

[erikgraham]

Ok, yea, I just dont know whats best, Im hearing that filming in 4k is best cause you can do so much with it in post, although if my current pc cant handle it, for now filming in 1080 at 30fps is probably my best bet, right? Or can I still film in 4k and come down to 1080 in post?

You could film in 2.7K and then bring that down to 1080 in post. Maybe your computer can handle 2.7K more easily than 4K.

So I have a MacBook thats a couple years old. I can import 4K video into it. I can play that video back without too much stuttering. I can trim the clips and export out a full 4K video, or downscaled to 1080p. So in that sense, it all works fine.

The problem is with things like color correction. Since the MacBook isn't high enough resolution, I either have to zoom in on areas of the image while I color correct, or just blindly trust the scopes. Its pretty much fine i guess, but the render times to actually see the color corrected video are painfully slow. If I start adding any other effects, I will bring it to its knees.

Then there is the problem of disk space. 4K takes up a ton of space. Even with 1 TB, I can fill that up in a day of shooting. The way the video is recorded on the GoPro doesn't take up that much space, but when you convert everything to ProRes (an editing codec), the file sizes get massively massive. So on the MacBook, I tend not to convert to ProRes and instead just edit the original files... but those cause performance problems...

I explain all that so you can get a sense for the issues. Plenty of folks edit on laptops and computers that the professionals will tell you can't use. Basically, they just need to be supper patient. If you are doing simple color correction and just timing clips, and you are patient, then you don't have to go hog wild on an editing rig. If you want to do a lot of effects, careful color correction, color grading, moving titles, etc, etc. then you want to spend more.

does that help?

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

You could film in 2.7K and then bring that down to 1080 in post. Maybe your computer can handle 2.7K more easily than 4K.

So I have a MacBook thats a couple years old. I can import 4K video into it. I can play that video back without too much stuttering. I can trim the clips and export out a full 4K video, or downscaled to 1080p. So in that sense, it all works fine.

The problem is with things like color correction. Since the MacBook isn't high enough resolution, I either have to zoom in on areas of the image while I color correct, or just blindly trust the scopes. Its pretty much fine i guess, but the render times to actually see the color corrected video are painfully slow. If I start adding any other effects, I will bring it to its knees.

Then there is the problem of disk space. 4K takes up a ton of space. Even with 1 TB, I can fill that up in a day of shooting. The way the video is recorded on the GoPro doesn't take up that much space, but when you convert everything to ProRes (an editing codec), the file sizes get massively massive. So on the MacBook, I tend not to convert to ProRes and instead just edit the original files... but those cause performance problems...

I explain all that so you can get a sense for the issues. Plenty of folks edit on laptops and computers that the professionals will tell you can't use. Basically, they just need to be supper patient. If you are doing simple color correction and just timing clips, and you are patient, then you don't have to go hog wild on an editing rig. If you want to do a lot of effects, careful color correction, color grading, moving titles, etc, etc. then you want to spend more.

does that help?

Absolutely, thank you very much for taking the time to explain.
So when I filmed in 1080 at 30fps my pc handled it fine, when I filmed in 1080 at 60fps I got a whole lot of stuttering, so Im not sure if my pc could handle any more?
In GoPro studio, on the first step there is a setting to where I can change from 4k to 1080 ect.... I guess this is where I would make that change?
Should I be converting my files to something like ProRes even if Im only shooting in 1080?

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

I'm not current on the PC side so I'll defer to someone else on that. I do at least know that you can play and edit ProRes on a PC in Adobe Premier, but you would need a utility to transcode your GoPro footage into ProRes in the first place.

For what it's worth, I only brought up ProRes as an example of an editor friendly format.

Great video - especially the selfie/dronie at the end. Also when you were flying low and fast over the waves. It would be interesting to see that in slow motion.

I do have to say that I noticed a ton of horizon tilting throughout. I wonder what that's from? I got the same thing a couple times before the last software update (last weekend). My work around was to tilt the gimbal down and then maneuver the Solo left and right quickly with the right stick, then tilt the gimbal back up. That seemed to prompt the gimbal to re-level itself.

Just reading back on some of these notes, If the Gimbal is not up to date, it will prompt you to update, right?

 

[UAVenthusiast]

Thank you, I will take a look at this. I bit confused still, bigger frame, are you referring to filming in 4K opposed to 720?

Not talking lens specs, such as wide angle - - but yes, you have 4000 horizontal pixels to work with - take a look at the 4k wiki for example: 4K resolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IF needed - you can crop the frame with very little perceivable loss of image quality. .....just another tool in the craft of story telling!

 

[Maddog]

Check out www.abekislevitz.com
This guy covers all your GoPro questions and lots more.
4K is primarily for pro use. My Dell desktop won't even run 4k video.

Also check out MPEG streamclip. It allows you to decompress GoPro footage for easier editing using the Apple pro res codec. Unfortunately I can't find any way to get Pro Res onto my computer. I thought it came with MPEG Streamclip but it doesn't. Streamclip is free at www.squared5.com.
There is a YouTube video by a guy in Great Britain that shows how to use it.

Lots of good tips on GoPro.com too.

Brannon, Google is your friend with this stuff.

 

[Brannon Hagenson]

Check out www.abekislevitz.com
This guy covers all your GoPro questions and lots more.
4K is primarily for pro use. My Dell desktop won't even run 4k video.

Also checkout MPEG streamclip. It allows you to decompress GoPro footage for easier editing using the Apple pro res codec. Unfortunately I can't find any way to get Pro Res onto my computer. I thought it came with MPEG Streamclip but it doesn't. Streamclip is free at www.squared5.com.
There is a YouTube video buy a guy in Great Britain that shows how to use it.

Lots of good tips on GoPro.com too.

Brannon, Google is your friend with this stuff.

Thank you, Yea Im using google as well, its just better getting tips here, at least people here know what their talking about. I will take a look at the links you provided, thanks again for the info/tips, huge help.

 

[Maddog]

I've spent a lot of time using Google to research drones, GoPro, and video editing. There's a lot of information out there and you need to weed out the bad from the good for sure.

 

[EyeWingsuit]

Check out Sony Vegas 13. It manages native XAVC and HEVC very well, manages ProTune quite sweetly, and no...you don't need a lot of CPU power.
Contrary to many beliefs, PC is by far the more powerful solution for editing 4K in XAVC, AVC, HEVC, on a slower computer as PC systems allow for the codec to be natively decoded at the CPU level vs internal or actual transcodes.
It's not at all a "hassle" editing 4K once you understand the needs.
As an owner of two RED cameras, Sony FS7, and several other 4K tools, my firm has been shooting 4K for nearly a decade. We've tried every solution, and for years, used Vegas simply because of the decode/editing speed of 4K on a quad core, then 8 core, now 16 core systems. Ridiculously fast.

 

[DodgeP]

used Vegas simply because of the decode/editing speed of 4K on a quad core, then 8 core, now 16 core systems. Ridiculously fast.

What does this mean? Real world numbers for; let's say a 5Min 4K render on a quad core processor using Vegas would give regular users a better idea of what to expect and use that info to compare it to what they're currently getting using the solution that they have in place already.

 

[EyeWingsuit]

I just did a 3 minute slice of XAVC, 60Mbps video (faster decode than ProTune, so results are slightly shorter) on a 1.83 Ghz dual core machine (ancient, in other words). 4Kp30 to 1080p30 took 3:44 to render.
4K to 4K took 3:10 to render (mins/seconds).

I'm not flying a GoPro on my Solo ATM; I'm flying the Sony X1000V, usually in 1080p60 mode due to the stabilizer. Until I have my gimbal, I'll keep flying the Sony.

 

[pyrate]

One key thing to remember with Gopro. their proprietary MP4 wrapper is not very efficient.
Even if you dont like using studio, it can be used to make video more user and machine friendly
Import raw from camera into studio.
Make sure remove fish eye and high quality avi or mov is selected in options
Process your clips through to step 2 edit
Note where your project folder is located.
CLOSE STUDIO DO NOT GO TO EXPORT
Now in the project folder use the processed AVI or MOV files in your favorite editor.

This strips away the proprietary mp4 wrapper and puts the footage in a more workable format.

I do all of this in the field, using a surface pro 3 I5.
Then move the processed files to a USB hard drive.
When I get home all my gopro footage is ready for final editing and corrections

 

[EyeWingsuit]

One key thing to remember with Gopro. their proprietary MP4 wrapper is not very efficient.

GoPro does not use a proprietary wrapper. They use a standard wrapper, the same as most AVC wrappers.
They *do* have a proprietary codec, developed by Cineform, now known as ProTune. This does have a proprietary decoder and it is incredibly efficient. In fact, that's the entire value of ProTune is that you can have a 35Mbps stream vs a 16Mbps stream, and it looks fabulous.
Further, every time you export/render, you're losing quality. Going to an avi (using the Windows codec) costs a tremendous amount of data and quality. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I would never transcode the original media (not RAW, GoPro doesn't do RAW video) to any other format prior to editing. Defishing and stabilization should be done at the time of edit, never transcoded first.
Bear in mind, if quality isn't important, then ignore everything I've written here.

 

[Maddog]

GoPro does not use a proprietary wrapper. They use a standard wrapper, the same as most AVC wrappers.
They *do* have a proprietary codec, developed by Cineform, now known as ProTune. This does have a proprietary decoder and it is incredibly efficient. In fact, that's the entire value of ProTune is that you can have a 35Mbps stream vs a 16Mbps stream, and it looks fabulous.
Further, every time you export/render, you're losing quality. Going to an avi (using the Windows codec) costs a tremendous amount of data and quality. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I would never transcode the original media (not RAW, GoPro doesn't do RAW video) to any other format prior to editing. Defishing and stabilization should be done at the time of edit, never transcoded first.
Bear in mind, if quality isn't important, then ignore everything I've written here.

Thanks for the info!

I just want to take my GoPro drone footage, cut out unwanted footage, splice together. Convert some scenes to slo-mo, add a title. GoPro studio works pretty good for this, but rendering times are long on my desktop w/ dual-core CPU, 8Gb ram.

Can you recommend a better alternative?

 

[DodgeP]

I just did a 3 minute slice of XAVC, 60Mbps video (faster decode than ProTune, so results are slightly shorter) on a 1.83 Ghz dual core machine (ancient, in other words). 4Kp30 to 1080p30 took 3:44 to render.
4K to 4K took 3:10 to render (mins/seconds).

Good Info

 

[EyeWingsuit]

It's next to impossible to have a conversation about rendering times without knowing what the export format is.
For example, if you're using an AMD system that doesn't have decoding on the CPU, AND you're exporting GP footage to a variety of codecs wrapped in an avi wrapper, render times could be anywhere from 1:1 to 1:20, without having considered bitrates. Bitrate and codec are what define render time, coupled with the variable of CPU decode (or not). Similarly, toss in a conversation of CUDA or other GPU functionary, and it turns into quite a discussion.

 

[pyrate]

GoPro does not use a proprietary wrapper. They use a standard wrapper, the same as most AVC wrappers.
They *do* have a proprietary codec, developed by Cineform, now known as ProTune. This does have a proprietary decoder and it is incredibly efficient. In fact, that's the entire value of ProTune is that you can have a 35Mbps stream vs a 16Mbps stream, and it looks fabulous.
Further, every time you export/render, you're losing quality. Going to an avi (using the Windows codec) costs a tremendous amount of data and quality. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I would never transcode the original media (not RAW, GoPro doesn't do RAW video) to any other format prior to editing. Defishing and stabilization should be done at the time of edit, never transcoded first.
Bear in mind, if quality isn't important, then ignore everything I've written here.

OK so why then does processed protune video out of a project file play and edit more smoothly after you convert it. You may have some technical points, but I am a nuts and bolts guy. Tried this both ways many times. It does work sorrry

 

[pyrate]

You have no reason to trust what I am telling you, but just google preparing gopro video for editing. The process I have described above has been reported by many as a good and effective method for those editing video on something less than a professional work station
GoPro How To Prepare Video Files for Editing (Apple / Mac)