Editing Sony a7iii footage in Edius 6.5

[Ezra]

Yes. Still going strong with Edius 6.5
Any recommendations on how best to edit 4K 30 footage recorded using an a7iii and Ninja v (prores 422)? I set my project setting to 1080p 29.97 (there doesn’t seem to be any 4K presets) but it seems that the video frame rate is not very smooth. Trying to be able to punch in on interviews.

Ezra

[antonsvideo]

You don't need a 4k preset if you want to zoom in to interviews, do this in the HD project with the layouter

6.5 allows for custom project size and you can set to 3840x2160 but then you do not want to zoom in too much

can you inspect your Sony clip to see its default frame rate, is it really 30p or 29.97p

[Ezra]

Hi Anton.

The actual frame rate is listed as 29.97 on the Ninja and Edius says the clip properties is 29.97. The project settings Frame rate is set to 29.97 Field order: progressive, but for some reason any motion is not smooth. I was wondering if I have a project setting wrong setting…..or maybe it’s something I’m missing on my Ninja V.

[antonsvideo]

maybe the PC is just stuttering during playback, what does the buffer show while playing?

[GrassValley_SL]

You can check if the file plays normal on you ninja and then export a piece from EDIUS and play the exported file on your ninja. (Check supported file types of your Ninja).

Most likely it just the preview on your editing computer.

[Ezra]

Thank you ! I think Anton is correct. I checked my buffer during playback and it jumps between 1/32 and 2/32. thus the slightly stuttered playback When I rendered out a section of the timeline it looked ok. I will export some of the footage this evening and run a few more tests just to confirm. My project will primarily be longer form interviews, punching in and out, with some b-roll footage, so I can probably get through this editing with the slight stutter, or maybe i'll edit in Proxy mode. Do you think I'll have a frame rate problem if I use footage from a Sony NX5 60i on the 29.97p timeline? I think it may be time to make the upgrade from Edius 6.5 :-)

[antonsvideo]

What is the Ninja set to for recording codec? Prores?

I recommend upgrading, but the PC needs to be of recent age to work with EDIUS X, your Intel i7-3820 will not work with X

other than that, EDIUS9 (full version) is still available for the moment and is a big improvement over 6.5

[Ezra]

ProRes 422 from my Sony a7III. I would have loved to be able to convert the XAVC-S 4k format that the camera records internally to a Grass Valley HQ format, but I dont think this is possible. I was hoping that my system could handle the ProRes 422 codec smoother but it looks like I'll have to figure a way (maybe Proxy editing) to get through this upcoming project. I will be upgrading my computer and going for Edius X.

[antonsvideo]

ProRes 4:2:2 is very easy on EDIUS 9 or X, realtime all the way

You can right click any clip or clips in the bin and convert to HQ

btw, make sure the audio mixer does not have any tracks that are not in off mode or the buffer will be at 1/32 etc.

[Ezra]

Yes. Right clicking gives me the option to convert to "HQX Online Quality" and works great...creates a similar sized file. Which do you think is more efficient? converting the files? or Rendering them? I also checked my playback buffer and its set to 128mb. Would bumping this up to the max 512mb be advantageous?

[antonsvideo]

I would bump it up to 512MB

bin conversion retains the 4k resolution

rendering will give you a HD resolution since project is HD