Blackmagic Forum

I am preparing for a new project ..a 3 hours long documentary. The fottage is mainly interviews with some B-rolls.

The interviews were shot with 2 cameras; primary camera A (wide shot) was Sony F3, and camera B (close-up) was Sony EX3.

All fottage are FullHD 25P in XDCAM format. Here is a link for the MideaInfo:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DR5vvb ... sp=sharing

Should I edit using the raw fottage or transcode them to better format with Sony Prepare software? If trascoding is the correct way, then which format as Sony Prepare has many options? Which one is the easiest to edit in Resolve?

Oops, the previous screenshot was from Catalyst Browse, not Prepare. Prepare offers other transcoding options including DNxHD and DNxHR. I belive DNxHD is the best option and I have 4 flavors to choose from:
1- DNxHD 36 MXF
2- DNxHD 145 MXF
3- DNxHD 220 MXF
4- DNxHD 220x MXF

Catalyst Prepare automaticaly selected DNxHD 36 MXF as best match:


But if I select higher bit rates like DNxHD 220x MXF, what is the effect of that in Resolve in term of performance?

I am not concerned about taking more storage, only care about highest performance in Resolve.

I tend to favor using the original media, myself. Even on my meager system, it plays well enough.

Jim Simon wrote:I tend to favor using the original media, myself. Even on my meager system, it plays well enough.

I see .. but my understanding is that XDCAM format is highly compressed and not ideal for realtime editing!

To be honest I did not event atempt testing it in Resolve. But since you have no problem, I will test the original media along a trascoded version and see if it makes a diffrence.

Thanks, Jim

It's not ideal, but that doesn't mean it won't work.

Try it. If it plays fine, go for it.

Jim Simon wrote:It's not ideal, but that doesn't mean it won't work.

Try it. If it plays fine, go for it.

Will do, thank Jim.

Will Sony Catalyst allow you to export ProRes 422HQ or DNxHR HQX? Both would be easier to deal with than XDCam.

Having said that: I've done entire reality show and documentary projects with XDCam, and it "can" work if you have lots of storage and lots of computing horsepower. The Sony FX3 cameras are OK, provided the image is well-lit and they're very careful to avoid clipping.

Marc Wielage wrote:Will Sony Catalyst allow you to export ProRes 422HQ or DNxHR HQX? Both would be easier to deal with than XDCam.

Having said that: I've done entire reality show and documentary projects with XDCam, and it "can" work if you have lots of storage and lots of computing horsepower. The Sony FX3 cameras are OK, provided the image is well-lit and they're very careful to avoid clipping.

Thanks for your feedback, Marc. No, Catalyst Prepare in Windows do not support ProRes, only:
1- DNxHD 36 MXF
2- DNxHD 145 MXF
3- DNxHD 220 MXF
4- DNxHD 220x MXF (10 Bit)

I will do some testing today and share the results.

However, I shot all interviews with almost perfect lighing so that no grading will be requird. Only a slight color correction will be needed to match the 2 camers togather as you can see here:

Sony F3:


Sony EX3:



BTW, the fottage were shot 14 years ago using a $25K Sony F3:


Its spec:



And the EX3 is even older than the F3:


I still own both cameras and planing to sell them in the near future.

Resolve supports ProRes exports now on Windows.

ShaheedMalik wrote:Resolve supports ProRes exports now on Windows.

Marc was referring to Catalyst Prepare, not Resolve.