Good delivery format/container to send to client?

Jeff9329 wrote on 3/21/2010, 5:50 PM

I need to deliver some interview footage to an ad agency for some interviews I shot.

I asked the agency what format they wanted the footage delivered in, but they were not exactly sure. He was not a video guy, just an ad executive, but seemed to think his editors could work with anything. However, I think thats unlikely, i.e. FCP cant handle AVCHD without the full package (of course Vegas can).

Is a HD 422 1920X1080 60i 50 Mbps 24bit PCM uncompressed audio MXF file fully compatable with FCP? I know it is with Vegas. I would prefer to render the AVCHD out to a MXF in Vegas (a render to sync audio and make a few basic cuts was needed).

I need to send this out tonight as Im going on travel, so I dont have time to mess with the ad guy any more. I was told the destination is DVD, if that matters.

MXF it?

Thanks for any feedback.

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Comments

jabloomf1230 wrote on 3/23/2010, 10:59 AM

There is also a modestly-priced MJPEG2K codec at:

http://www.morgan-multimedia.com/M-JPEG2000/.

You do have access to the Morgan MJPEG2K codec's property page and it has has a wide variety of settings. It doesn't have any real advantage over Cineform, that I could see and the Morgan MJPEG2K files are far less portable.

This codec has been discussed on the SCS forums before, so you can probably find out more about it by using the search feature.

PerroneFord wrote on 3/23/2010, 11:07 AM

I use that codec. I am quite pleased with it. Other than going to the Mac with it, I don't know that I'd consider it "far less portable". Both programs have free readers. Cineform costs $129, Morgan costs $30.

I can tell you with a great deal of certainty, if I need to round trip with someone using a wavelet codec, I am far more likely to get them to buy a $30 program, that a $129 one.

jwcarney wrote on 3/23/2010, 11:33 AM

Perrone, are you able to capture directly into motion jpeg 2000? Say, using a Kona card?

John_Cline wrote on 3/23/2010, 11:48 AM

For what it's worth, Videoguys.com has the Cineform NEO Scene package for $99 instead of the $129 from the Cineform site.

Coursedesign wrote on 3/23/2010, 7:03 PM

,,,and if you check out any of Creative Cow's forums, you may see a coupon code for 5% off anything at Videoguys, so you'll pay only $94.05.

NickHope wrote on 3/23/2010, 11:20 PM

In my PC-Mac tests I encoded some HDV to Cineform version 3.3 (which came free with an old version of Neo Player). The Mac-based stock footage house I sent them to installed Neo Player for Mac and replied to me thus: "Files will not play in FCP but they play in Quicktime after codec is installed. Would not suggest this at all, if you could steer clear of this it would be much appreciated."

David Newman wrote on 3/24/2010, 11:05 AM

File do play fine in FCP (if you install the codec first), we are even multi-stream realtime in FCP now. There are those that don't like change, but they will be catching up, as most of the large facilities now take CineForm files.

David Newman
CTO, CineForm

NickHope wrote on 4/26/2010, 1:18 AM

Jeff, how did the client get on with the MXF file you sent them?

I did some further comparisons of intra-frame formats for sending my 1080i HDV footage to Apple folk. Here were the output file sizes:

Original HDV .m2t file 20MB
Avid DNxHD 120 8-bit 89MB
Avid DNxHD 185 8-bit 134MB
QT MJPEG-B 90% quality 175MB
Cineform 3.3 (1440x1080) 202MB
QT JPEG 2000 75% 226MB
QT JPEG 2000 90% 226MB

All were rendered in Vegas 8.0c at 1920x1080, except Cineform (version 3.3), which crashed at that resolution).

Note that the QT JPEG 2000 slider doesn't have an affect on the file size.

DNxHD does look good, even at 120 8-bit setting. To be honest, they all look acceptably close to the original.

Perrone, are you sure that the Quicktime JPEG 2000 codec in Vegas properly supports interlaced footage (in the way that the QT MJPEG does, and PhotoJPEG doesn't)? I have searched extensively for a definitive answer to this and cannot find one, and I'm not sure how to test.

PerroneFord wrote on 4/26/2010, 5:36 AM

No I am not sure it supports interlacing properly. I shoot interlaced so rarely it's never an issue for me. And I stopped using that JP2K some time ago once I bought a third party solution.

Jeff9329 wrote on 4/26/2010, 3:56 PM

-Update on my original question and decision for MXF file delivery-

The MXF file delivery worked out well. The client was thrilled and said to use him as a reference. I never got any technical details on production, but I am supposed to get a copy of the commercial the footage was used in.

Rory Cooper wrote on 4/27/2010, 10:52 PM

Thanks for a helpful thread and for the follow up I will also be using MXF from now on. Did some runs, very quick and effective

Where do I get the Sony plug to deliver with the clip?

Rory