Heaps of raw footage, Program to splice & compress?

[fabes253]

So I been doing a lot of recording lately gathering footage for a project I am working on. Now I have the likes of about 200gb of footage and I want to start weeding out bits of each clip to compress and move to another folder.

Is there any programs that will do this all the while keeping a very easy workflow and when it compresses keeps the highest possible quality of the original footage?

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Or is there a better way? What are your workflows from moving large raw files into interesting clips that can be used for a final video?

[Cornucopia]

What is/are your camera model(s)?

What is your definition of RAW? Is it...
A) Non-debayered full sensor linear/log pixel storage (the usual profession term for RAW)
B) "Straight-from-the-Camera" original format, whether compressed as DV/HDV, MPEG2, AVC-MP4, AVCHD, etc (the usual consumer term for raw)
C) something else

If B, like I assume, does all your footage have the SAME format (aka from the same camera using the same setting)? What might that/those be?
Please use MediaInfo detailed text readouts as examples.

Until we know details like that, we couldn't get very far beyond vague generalities.

Scott

[fabes253]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the reply, and yes you nailed it, it would be, B. I am not a professional but I love working with video, its a passion and a hobby. I use Sony Vegas to edit though I feel like I need something else sometimes, I just use it because its very easy to work with. I have a couple of GoPro's and a Sony SLT (DLSR), soon I will be getting the DJI Phantom Vision Plus quadcopter.

GoPRO MediaInfo
General
Complete name : D:\My Media - Stock Video\2014 Vegas Trip\GOPR0186.MP4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : JVT
Codec ID : avc1
File size : 241 MiB
Duration : 44s 461ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 45.5 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2014-04-28 05:03:00
Tagged date : UTC 2014-04-28 05:03:00
AMBA :



Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.2
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=8
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 44s 461ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 45.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 59.940 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.362
Stream size : 239 MiB (99%)
Title : GoPro AVC
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2014-04-28 05:03:00
Tagged date : UTC 2014-04-28 05:03:00
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Color range : Full

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 44s 459ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 695 KiB (0%)
Title : GoPro AAC
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2014-04-28 05:03:00
Tagged date : UTC 2014-04-28 05:03:00


SONY SLT MediaInfo
General
ID : 0 (0x0)
Complete name : D:\Projects - Vegas\2014 - Leanna MMA\Leanna Vids\Naga HD Cam\00051.MTS
Format : BDAV
Format/Info : Blu-ray Video
File size : 151 MiB
Duration : 47s 956ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 26.5 Mbps
Maximum Overall bit rate : 28.0 Mbps

Video
ID : 4113 (0x1011)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.2
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=15
Codec ID : 27
Duration : 48s 48ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 25.2 Mbps
Maximum bit rate : 26.0 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 59.940 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.202
Stream size : 144 MiB (95%)

Audio
ID : 4352 (0x1100)
Menu ID : 1 (0x1)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Codec ID : 129
Duration : 48s 64ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 1.47 MiB (1%)

[smrpix]

Nothing at all wrong with Vegas. Being easy to use is often considered a good thing.

Which version are you using, and what do you feel it's lacking?


In your case, I would load all of your footage into Vegas and subclip it into manageable selects, then use those for further editing. Stick the material you're not using into a closed bin so it's out of your way.

[fabes253]

I feel that its lacking the ability to do higher quality generated media, text and effects. I see some really cool things done in Adobe After effects but I cannot get close to mimic'ing it in Vegas. I have loaded up After Effects a few times but I am just lost.

[smrpix]

Agreed, After Effects is a completely different kind of tool than Vegas. Adobe's Vegas equivalent would be Premiere. Premiere and Vegas are for editing footage (which was your initial question,) and basic effects. AE is capable of very sophisticated 2D compositing and animation.

Given what you seem to have and seem to know already, I wouldn't think AE would be too big a hurdle for you -- start with baby steps, and understand that literally no single person knows or uses all of its capabilities.

AE by the way is a terrible, cumbersome editor.

[fabes253]

Would you say Premiere is better than Vegas? IF so/not in what regards?

[smrpix]

They are both excellent. With the Pro versions it comes down to personal preference. Free trials exist for both.

[Cornucopia]

For your needs, they would be nearly the same, with Vegas maybe slightly edging out Premiere in the ease-of-use category.

Scott

[fabes253]

Thanks Scott,

Circling back to my original question with the data I posted, what would you recommend to convert the video into a compressed format with minimal loss for saving? Or should I? I keep hearing about Handbrake? Is that something I should use?

Is the trimmer in Vegas the best method for creating subclips? Or would there be a better program to recommend?

[smrpix]

Is the trimmer in Vegas the best method for creating subclips? Or would there be a better program to recommend?

Subclips (with specific exceptions) are just links to portions of your original files. There's no conversion involved. Use your NLE's own tools to do that.

[Cornucopia]

OK, so you have got somewhere between 10-20 hours of footage there (based on the 2 cams' bitrates). That's a good chunk.

Here's my questions: how much are you going to work on at a time? And, what data capacity do you have overall?

Here's what I'm thinking: the best way to retain quality in those clips is to not do anything to modify their integrity. So, GOP-based (I-frame-only) editing is best, then smart-rendering-capable frame-accurate editing is next (some minor recompression with GOP boundaries), then standard full recompression style dumb-rendering editing is least desirable. The next thing to think about is if your editing projects are going to be doing more than just simple edits. If not and it IS just simple edits, you would simply live with cuts on the I-frame, or look to find a smart-rendering editor that worked with your material (mainly variations on AVC). OTOH, if you are going to be doing transitions, titles, FX, layering/compositing, etc., and/or if you intend to COMBINE material from differing sources (and when I say that, I mean not IDENTICAL in format & settings), then smart-rendering won't do you good anyway because much of your material might need to be rendered regardless of positioning.
This, and for edit performance smoothness reasons, is why it makes sense to:
A) Convert to a single common format, and
B) Upconvert to a lossless or near-lossless I-frame-based digital intermediate codec

Doing these would very likely greatly increase your capacity needs (which is why I asked), but it trades off via increased bitrate & decreased codec complexity the different priorities of space usage vs. CPU/GPU resource burden.
There is ALWAYS loss with lossy recompression, but using a lossless codec avoids that, and using a near-lossless codec makes the loss in- or barely-visible.

BTW, similarly with audio, unless you are expecting to remain keeping everything in it's original form, I strongly suggest you upconvert ALL your audio assets to LPCM (aka uncompressed WAV) for editing & mastering.

Then, when you are ready to provide some materials for final viewing & distribution, that is when you do one more recompression to your target format(s).

***************

I disagree with your assessment of title/FX in Vegas - it has more depth than is first apparent. However, if you have difficulty with AE, you will likely not be ready to create such higher-quality generated FX/media anyway (and Vegas allows & would require plugins and/or complicated layering and keyframing, just like AE once you desire to get to that level).

Scott

[fabes253]

Wow great information and some of it is out of my realm of knowledge. GOP (I looked it up group of pictures?), I-frame, and "smart-rendering-capable frame-accurate" are terms I am not familiar with so I could only consume a portion of what was said, though your opinions are not any less appreciated.

I will likely be working with 3-4 hours of footage at any one sitting, but an entire project might include footage spanning over 20 hours. Data capacity is 4x 4TB drives so I hope Im good there.

As for up converting to a recommended codec, what program, what codec would be good considering the original files are avc format?