Gopro video & Cineform Studio.Why need to conversion MP4 to avi before edit

[wstt]

Can someone explain why in order to edit the Gopro MP4 video, Cineform wants to convert it to AVI from MP4? In the conversion process it gives you the chance to downsize the resolution in the process. Why would someone want to reduce the resolution and quality before editing? I would think it should all be part of the editing process. Am I missing something here?

Also if anyone has any Gopro video editing advice, not in terms of trimming video, but adjusting levels, and saturation, like in photoshop, it would be greatly appreciated.

[_Al_]

Also if anyone has any Gopro video editing advice, not in terms of trimming video, but adjusting levels, and saturation, like in photoshop, it would be greatly appreciated.

That is the point of using Cineform. Cineform decodes your mp4 to uncompressed and then compresses it to lossless 4:2:2 so you can easily do color corrections, look. You can throw effects one after another and you work 4:2:2, you can even move it through aplications. Also Cineform can play smoother on older computers, as oppose to that mp4 original.

If you just edit the footage, meaning just cut it and you PC is strong enough you do not need Cineform.
Down-corvesion is optional I'd say, not sure why it is important.

[smrpix]

What editing software are you using?

Conversion to cineform makes for more responsive editing. In mp4 the editing system may have to look 10 seconds or more before your edit point to reconstruct the frame you are cutting on. With more than a few edits this gets very processor intensive, very laggy and very frustrating.

If you know photoshop, there are level and curve adjustments in all of the basic NLEs. Nothing special about GoPro in that regard.

Most of the good ones Vegas, Premiere et al, will also allow you to use the cineform files as proxies and replace them with the original files before final output.

[jagabo]

In mp4 the editing system may have to look 10 seconds or more before your edit point to reconstruct the frame you are cutting on.

And even then it may not be exactly the right frame. Long GOP video is meant for final delivery, not editing. Though, from what I've seen the GoPro cameras use fairly short GOPs. I have one 1080p sample from a GoPro HD Hero with 8 frame GOPs and no B frames, AVC. And a 480p sample with 15 frame GOPs.

[wstt]

Thanks for the replies. I haven't started editing yet. I used Pinacle Studio years ago, but am looking for something that would allow me to crop in (zoom in) and adjust the levels and saturation. Someone mentioned Sony Vegas, but I'm not sure which versions allow this. If I can use the free Cineform Studio, I will try that first. It just didn't make sense to me why you would have to convert it to AVI from MP4 before editing, but you guys cleared that up for me above. Thanks again.

[smrpix]

pinnacle, vegas movie studio, premiere elements all have free trials. (As do their big brothers -- what's your budget?) Cineform studio is free and you need the codecs it comes with, but it's controls are fairly elemental.

Enjoy yourself.