BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

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Richy Carey

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BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostSat Oct 22, 2016 2:45 pm

Hi there.

I just bought a second-hand BMPCC and am having real trouble recording in anything other than RAW.

I'm using a SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC UHS-U3 Memory Card that I bought from Amazon. I am able to record in RAW no problem but when I try to record in any of the Pro-Res settings it either comes up saying Ready (then when I press record it doesn't work) or on other ProRes settings the card doesn't show at all.

I've formatted it several times to ExFAT in disk utilities.

Can anyone recommend what I can try next short of buying another card to check that it's not just a faulty disk?
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rick.lang

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostMon Oct 24, 2016 11:05 pm

Richy, the correct card would specify SDXC UHS-I U3

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=htt ... 49.jpg&f=1

Is this what you have? If so, it may be defective.


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Rick Lang
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Oct 25, 2016 5:00 am

If the card can record Raw, it should record ProRes. Check yiurmcsmera settings to be sure what you have set is correct. It could also be a bad card, as a Rick pointed out.
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Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Richy Carey

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Oct 25, 2016 9:05 am

Hi Denny and Rick, thanks for replying.

Yeah I have that card, like i say I'm recording RAW no problem. The camera just won't recognise the card when I set it to record in ProRes.

Denny - when you say "check to see what I have is correct", what do you mean? Beyond it being set to ProRes HQ/422 etc?

Thanks for your time, I've ordered a new card anyway so will hopefully know soon.

R
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rick.lang

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Oct 25, 2016 5:52 pm

Richy, has to be frustrating given raw is fine and the camera is designed to record ProRes 422 HQ on that media. But the way ProRes is written is different that the way raw is written and if the camera is upset with the card, certainly putting a fresh card in there should narrow down where the problem lies: the card, the camera.


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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Oct 25, 2016 6:21 pm

I second Rick, try another card. I had not issues recording ProRes to this card.
Also, what firmware version are you using? If you loaded one of the newer camera firmware versions, not intended for,the Pocket camera, that might be causing issues?
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Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Richy Carey

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Oct 25, 2016 6:29 pm

Hey Denny, yeah the firmware update could indeed could be an issue! You don't happen to know off the top of your head which was the last one that affected the BMPCC do you? Is it possible to load an older version of the firmware back on?

Thanks for your time guys.

R
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Oct 25, 2016 9:33 pm

Yes, FW 2.1, you can download it here: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/suppor ... al-cameras

Be sure to run "Uninstall" to remove the newer FW update currently on your computer.
FW 2.1 was the last major update for the Pocket camera. Then download the FW update you want (2.1/3.0), and install it on the camera. The previous FW you have on the camera will be over written by this update (backdate actually)

Tony also mentioned installing FW 3.0, will roll back the camera to 2.1 feature set also, and correct any camera issues from trying to install a newer FW.
Both should do the trick.
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Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Kristian Lam

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Oct 25, 2016 11:29 pm

Have you tried formatting in camera?
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Richy Carey

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostWed Oct 26, 2016 7:06 am

Hi Kristian.

Yeah tried formatting in camera, it just comes up with "unable to format your card" when I try it, which makes me think it's a card issue.
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostWed Oct 26, 2016 6:46 pm

It sounds like it just might be!
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Denny Smith
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Richy Carey

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostThu Oct 27, 2016 3:22 pm

So new card in, formatted fine straight away and shoots in both ProRes and RAW now no problem. Didn't need to go back to FW 3.0, it's fine in FW 4.0 just in case that ever comes up again.

Must've been a wonky card.

Thanks for all you help folks.

R
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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostThu Oct 27, 2016 3:59 pm

Richy, great, you got it sorted. The Pocket camera is not really running FW 4.0, probably the last version FW for the Pocket, as the FW updates include all the previous updates, and applies them accordingly, per BM. That is why 3.0 works. Now we know 4.0 (which is really new OS for the Ursa Mini, which is who I would not bother running the FW 4.0 on anything but a UM), as it will not add anything to the other cameras. Some have reported having issues with non UM cameras when trying to install it.
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Denny Smith
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RobStowell

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostTue Jun 27, 2017 11:05 pm

I'm having the same issue with a sandisk extreme pro 64GB card. Writes fine to raw, but not to prores. This just seems odd - because prores is a lower bit-rate - but maybe explained by what has been said about prores being 'written differently'.
Interested in any insights - I think I will mostly shoot prores, because despite not being raw, it does grade rather magnificently. I could save this card just for raw - but I wonder if there's some other (mac related?) issue (I'm on all windows.) The 'spotlight' folder may be an issue? Prores writes better to HFS?
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Uli Plank

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostWed Jun 28, 2017 2:56 pm

RAW is a numbered sequence of single files, while ProRes is one large file. maybe that's the difference?
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

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Denny Smith

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostWed Jun 28, 2017 4:09 pm

Rob, most likely the SD card, try a new one from a reliable source like B&H or Adorama.
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Denny Smith
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RobStowell

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostThu Jun 29, 2017 5:17 am

Thanks - yeah, I presume it is the card. It's just an odd thing, as the bitrate is obviously much higher for raw. But a different process, as you say - and maybe buffered differently from the camera. It just seems odd that none of the prores formats will write - not even proxy.
I do have another (supposedly identical) card which records both without problems (they are sandisk extreme pro 95Mbs cards, but neither is new.) I'm tempted to keep the 'dud' card just for raw. I just have a sneaking suspicion it might be dropping frames (because each frame is a separate file, that might be how it copes?)
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Thomas Thiele

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Re: BMPCC Only recording RAW, not ProRes

PostThu Jun 29, 2017 2:09 pm

Uli Plank wrote:RAW is a numbered sequence of single files, while ProRes is one large file. maybe that's the difference?


Are there dropped frames?
BMPCC, Lumix G3, GF3
pana 7-14, SLRM 12/T1.6, sigma 19, pana 20/1.7, pana 14-42, pana 45-150,
pentacon auto 29/2.8, 50/1.8, 135/2.8.

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