To RAW or not to RAW?

Started by AdamH-NYC, March 16, 2016, 01:36:13 AM

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AdamH-NYC

Hi all, this is my first attempt shooting a short with 5D Mark3. it will be in black and white with professional sound recording on set, and I have one nagging question: Should I shoot it with ML Raw video? Production is in a month and I just install ML on my camera. At first peek in the last couple days, it's pretty stiff learning curve. Since it's black and white I want to rethink the RAW video route. My goal for this short is to enter film festival, would the HD recording from 5D Mark3 be good enough to translate to the big screen? Thanks for any wisdom.

Maciej_W

RAW files from 5D Mk III definietly will be god enough to show them on a big screen, but H.264 compressed video also should be suitable for that (I'm assuming proper lighting on the set etc.). Shane Hurlbut recorded about 70% of the "Act of valor" with 5D Mk II in compressed format, and the movie had theatrical release.

But I would recommend shooting in RAW (when you once try it, you don't want to use H.264 anymore). With RAW files you will have lots of options when it comes to color grading, and you will get more sharp and clean files compared to those compressed in camera.

littlebobbytables

It depends is the only true answer really... Yes you can get vastly superior end results using raw over H264 but like any tool, it requires practice and experience. And besides that, RAW has a couple downsides you have to take into consideration. If you can get comfortable with the production and post of ML RAW beforehand, sure go ahead. But if you don't feel 100% comfortable AND have a lot of crew and money depending on it...
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extremelypoorfilmaker

I would dare to add, since from what I am reading you want to have your film screened at festival, you should focus on the story and the script first. THEN decide how to shoot it. :)
I shoot h264 only if anyone specifically asks for it. On anything else, I shoot RAW.

BEAR IN MIND:

If you Do decide to shoot RAW I would STRONGLY suggest you to treat it like shooting film. a 64 GB CF card will give you 10-15mins top at full HD depending on which resolution you are shooting at If you get carried away, you will end up spending a fortune on storage. (Not to mention having to stop every half an hour changing cards) if storage space is not a problem but you don't dispose of let's say 10 64GB CF card, I would suggest to take into consideration integrating a Digital Image Technician into your production. Basically a person that is in charge of downloading media, back it up, review it and make sure it's not corrupted.

:)

AdamH-NYC

Thank you all for your advise. I think I will RAW:) One more question: I also have a 5D Mark2 as a second camera, but the owner doesn't allow me to use ML with it (afraid to brick it). Would the footage be close enough between RAW and non-RAW?

Maciej_W

Two years ago I've made a short movie with RAW and non-RAW footage from 5D Mk II (I had only one fast card, so I couldn't shoot it RAW etirely) and for me it's very cleraly visible which scenes are shot in RAW, and which in compressed format. I had also made an experiment: I had shown that movie to a few persons (definitely not film or color specialists), and I asked them to try to recognize footage shot in "better format", as I described RAW to them. The results were quite interesting. I got on average 75% correct guesses which takes were shot in RAW, and which not. And the "mistaken" takes were mainly H.264 shots with not so much motion - compression artifacts in them were not so obvious, and they were taken as a RAW footage by the viewers.

So if you mix in-camera H.264 with RAW, it will be probably recognizable for some viewers, but of course it does not mean, that you shouldn't do that and your movie won't benefit on it (e.g. if a second camera will allow you to get a different angle with more interesting framing and so on). In "Phantom Menace" they mixed 35mm film with footage from very early HD camera (which - again - was quite visible for me), but the movie was in theaters, and made a lot of money.

Datadogie

You can always reduce the better quality to match. But then again that's defeating the purpose.
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