Editing GoPro 6 files in Movie Studio

scubanw67 wrote on 6/16/2018, 11:52 PM

I used to make movies in GoPro Studio, which requires a conversion of the compressed MP4 to AVI (I think) for editing, prior to final rendering to H.264. I adopted Movie Studio several months, and just upgraded to Version 15 (build 116). I have been capturing GoPro footage and loading the raw MP4 files into Movie Studio for editing. Just recently I was working with some raw GoPro footage in GoPro Studio and noticed that after I imported the raw MP4, converted for editing, and rendered back into MP4...the clip was much sharper. I am just wondering if I need to consider any type of conversion prior to editing the raw MP4 GoPro files in Movie Studio??? The higher quality clips rendered through GoPro Studio were rendered in a higher bit rate, so I expect that may account for some, if not all, of the increased sharpness. I am still learning this hobby and any help is greatly appreciated.

Comments

Musicvid wrote on 6/17/2018, 4:02 PM

GoPro Studio does internal grading on both mp4 and mov, as well as gamma correction on it's 10 bit log files.

If you like the "look", which is a bit overstated for me, the Cineform AVI is very good!

Musicvid wrote on 6/17/2018, 4:06 PM

In "some" earlier versions of Vegas, the GoPro Cineform codec shows up as a custom AVI renderer, giving you more creative control. But you will lose the built in gamma correction for 10 bit, which also is very good.

scubanw67 wrote on 6/17/2018, 6:49 PM

Thanks! GoPro is no longer supporting GoPro Studio...end of life. It was a nice place to learn editing. Sounds like Movie Studio is just loading in the raw 10bit file that comes straight off GoPro. I have been rendering the initial clips out in Sony XAVC at a much higher bitrate and load them back in at the higher resolution for editing. I was hoping it was so simple, if just for the extra step. Color correction in Movie Studio is plenty robust, at least for me, to give me some beautiful final images. Thanks again for the technical info!

Musicvid wrote on 6/19/2018, 6:11 AM

That is correct. Vegas does not, to my knowledge, have a built in GoPro LUT to correct flatline Gamma in Protune files. Therefore, they will look very flat. That's also the reason I keep GoPro Studio and VP 8 around, among others.

You can poke around and see what S-log, C-log, etc. look like, or you can undertake the learning curve to build one yourself, or see if there are some third party and homebrew LUTs for GoPro out there (I bet there are).

Or shoot 8 bit since that will most likely be your delivery format.

Chief24 wrote on 6/19/2018, 8:27 AM

This was just posted by our favorite Dr. Zen (Derek Moran) over at Movie Studio Zen:

 

https://www.moviestudiozen.com/free-tutorials/sony-vegas-pro/592-render-cineform-video-from-vegas-pro-movie-studio

Actually, just used the "download" he referred to for my new build only a couple of days ago. For a LUT, I know Casey Faris of Ground Control (does a lot of DaVinci Resolve YouTube videos), has a Protune to REC 709 free one, though to me, mine usually show too much contrast for my liking, so prefer to do the coloring the old fashioned way, heh-heh.

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Musicvid wrote on 6/19/2018, 9:41 AM

Thanks!

That link is a gem!

I bet there are some really good efforts, but I don't think reverse engineering the GoPro map is really possible. Unbake a cake?

scubanw67 wrote on 6/21/2018, 12:35 AM

The additional technical info is great. I did some research based on your comments...now I am starting to get it. I am pretty happy with the color correction I have been able to achieve in Movie Studio. There is a softness in color tone that GoPro Studio generated in final render...something I am currently unable to reproduce in Movie Studio. Maybe I can replicate it with more practice. However, I am very happy with the Movie Studio color adjustments. Thanks again the above comments...much appreciated.