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Canon 7D / 5D Mark II Tips - HD video editing the easy way
I am a Photographer experimenting with video, not the other way around. When I started thinking about editing video from my Canon 7D, I first thought of Adobe Premiere Pro. I have an old version which I used for a project a few years back. I would love to also get Adobe After Effects. Since Adobe moved into the Suite system, it has become ridiculously expensive to upgrade their software. I already have CS4 Design Premium and to purchase an upgrade to CS4 Production Premium, it would cost $1200! No wonder they are having such an issue with software piracy. I started looking for alternatives. I read about all of the problems associated with using Canon 5D Mark II video on cinema5D.com. Slow processing, nightmare crashes, having to use proxy files, etc. Many 5DII users convert their video using Cineform’s Neoscene before importing it into Premiere Pro, Vegas Pro and Final Cut. That’s an additional step which costs $130 ON TOP of the cost for the video editing software! Finally, I found Pinnacle’s new Studio HD Ultimate. This new release is version 14, and since Pinnacle is a Avid company, it’s very polished. Best yet, it is the only video software package which can directly import Canon 5D Mark II and 7D video without the need for additional conversion. That’s right, it imported my 1920×1080p, 24 fps video without any problems. It’s also around $100! For an extra $30, you can get the Studio HD Ultimate Collection which includes some great plugins as well as a real Chroma Key green screen. Pinnacle offer some great video tutorials right on their website covering most of Studio HD’s features.
I have created two videos so far and posted them on YouTube. I really love the way this one came out using multiple video clips, photos, transitions and even an audio track. I’m impressed, see for yourself.
NOTE: I have added an additional article called Tips on Editing HD Video with Studio HD. 64 comments to Canon 7D / 5D Mark II Tips - HD video editing the easy way |
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Thanks again for your help. I’m using 50fps because I’m in Spain where PAL is standard - although since I really want to view the videos on a PC, it doesn’t matter that much. I’ve just tried changing my camera to NTSC and taking a test 640×480 60fps video, but still haven’t got a solution. Here are the output options I’ve tried (I’ve tried all these with 50fps and some also with 60fps):
AVI : DV - poor qualty with 50/60fps and flicker with 50fps
AVI : MJPEG - judder and stretching with 50fps
AVI : Custom/Uncompressed - good quality but 10x original file size!
MOV : DV - file size similar to original, but video blank with 50fps and 60fps (tried playing both with Windows player and Quicktime)
MOV : MJPEG - average (degraded) quality
MPEG-2 TS : Crashes with 50fps, poor quality with 60fps
MPEG-4 : Full size - quality reasonable, but degraded from original, file size 1/8 original
MPEG-4 : Custom 50fps - quality better, still degraded though, file size 1/3 original
So… the AVI Uncompressed is good quality-wise, but when I said I didn’t care about file size, I meant within reason… 10x the out-of-camera file size is unreasonable! The best ‘compromise’ was the MPEG-4… but I still feel it’s a real shame to lose the quality from my original.
I’d be grateful for any further suggestions! Thanks
Although Studio HD does clearly stated that it supports both NTSC & PAL formats, the Pinnacle forum has many complaints about generating video for 50 fps. You can see a list here. I would contact Pinnacle directly to complain about this. They may have an update which is not listed on their website which addresses the problem. From my own experience, I know there is a bug importing 60fps video and trying to slow it down. You can see the work-around that I used.
Another possibility is to download the trial version of Cineform’s NeoScene to convert the video either from 50 fps or to 50 fps. The trial version was fully functional for a trial period with no watermarking, but I am not sure if that has changed.
One other thing — since you are using the trial version, there is a note in the Avid Knowledge base that the trial version may not be enabled for Pal. Read the article here.
Thanks for those links - it looks like I might be swimming against the tide trying to get this to work. I’ve just been chatting online for an hour or two, to two Pinnacle support guys, and unfortunately I wasn’t too impressed. They insisted “What you see in the EDIT is what you get on the output”… and since the view when editing is fixed at 720×480 I should record my footage in that format (which I can’t!).
I don’t need to record in HD, and it doesn’t appeal to me since the files are so much bigger - but maybe that’s what I’ll have to do. I’m guessing I’ll have less of a problem here since it’s a much more common format.
I have had mixed results with Pinnacle’s Support. I can take a few tries to find someone who is really knowledgeable enough to answer a tough question.
Give Cineform’s Neoscene a try. Before the CS5 update, many Premiere Pro users swore by it to convert their 7D & 5DII files.
You might also want to try shooting at a higher/larger format and converting down. You will be working with bigger source files, but who knows, in the future you might wish you had a hi-res video to use.
I just came across your blog and have been stuck here for a while now…although your content is very helpful I still have one question…(or two)
I’m quite a novice when it comes to videographing with my new 7d. Which steps are necessary when i want to upload it on youtube with HD quality…I’ve tried to import it with iphoto then editing with iMovie so the options are 1080p/24fps. I just export it to Quciktime so I’m not sure what kind of format that is, i guess it’s .MOV.
Still…the quality turns out to be crap when i’m uploading it on youtube, does somebody have any tips on what I should do?
I’d appreciate your help! Thanks.
Have you checked the video again on YouTube? Both YouTube and Vimeo have several steps to display 1080p video. Both websites actually reprocess the video to meet their streaming video requirements. (This reprocessing can also alter the video quality, so you always need to double check your video after uploading.)
With YouTube, you must start with a video that is 1080p (although a 720p may also work). The Canon 7D creates MOV files which use the H.264 codec and is a format supported by YouTube. Once you upload it to YouTube, YouTube will process it quickly for the initial display, usually within a few minutes after the upload depending on the length of the video. This first pass will look blocky. Usually within 1-hour, YouTube will replace this low-res video with a full HD video with selectable viewing up to full 1080p.
With Vimeo, the full 1080p display is limited to paying Vimeo Plus members. After the video has been uploaded, you would need to log back into the settings for that video and go to the “Video File” tab. You will then see the option to “Display this video in 1080p”. Check it and the video will be reprocessed for 1080p viewing.
Hi. I would like to burn the 5D MII HD mov file on a DVD so that I could share the video to audience, who just has the DVD player but would like to see HD movie. Is it possible? Thanks a lot.
Well, you have a few problems. You can burn the native H.264 MOV file to DVD as a computer file for back-up and transport to another computer. However, in order for a regular DVD player to play the file, it would need to be able to process the native H.264 MOV format. Not all regular DVD players can play the H.264 MOV format. Programs like Nero will input this file but convert it to a MPEG-2 non-HD format which can be played on a regular DVD player. Blu-Ray is a different story. With Blu-Ray, you will be able to convert the file to an MPEG-4 with H.264 encoding for playback in HD.
i have zero problem with the speed of the program…my computer rocks! my issue is how to output a file in HD 1080 (for web use - vimeo). i have searched for the answer, played with many outputs and nothing is working. i have a 5D mark ii and record in 1920×1080 (30fps). i even have the project settings “use this format for new projects” set to 1920×1080 (30fps), but every time i go to output my project the default output for fullscreen is stuck at 720 and all the other settings are greyed out (i can’t click to change them). i played with the custom settings, but it will not allow me to add 1080 without changing the numbers to 1024×576 on me. it’s so weird. i play the original file and it looks fantastic fullscreen (27″ monitor), but anything i output looks pathetically degraded fullscreen. i am at my wits end! please help!
marcia
UPDATE: as always, as soon as i ask a question, i figure it out! i was trying to output it as an avi or mov (which is what it is originally), but i found the 1080 output option under mpeg2. it’s outputed and looks great fullscreen!
First, there is a patch available from Pinnacle which updates Studio HD to 12.1.3.
But, check the Default Project Preferences. It sounds like the default setting for new projects is still at 720p. Be sure to change Use this format for new projects to selecting HD 1920×1080/30p or HD 1920×1080/24p. You can see the screen in this article.
Can Corel VideoStudio Pro X3 edit HD videos from Canon 7D? Thanks!
No idea. According to the Corel site, it supports MPEG-4 & AVCHD, so it is possible. I did find a forum posting claiming the 7D videos crashed the user’s computer, but that could be form a variety of reasons. Pinnacle Studio HD is in the same price range and I know it works very well with videos from Canon 7D/5DII/T2i. Premiere Pro CS5 also handles these videos very well, but is priced significantly more.