NX1 - Does anyone shoot in DCI 4K?

[Brad Bjornstad]

I was wondering if anyone elects to shoot in 4K DCI over UHD. I know there has been some pretty conclusive stuff for UHD actually having more resolution than the DC1 4K mode of the camera. Also, UHD has 23.976 fps which for things not to be later transferred to film is the desired shooting method as opposed to DCI's 24p only option. My question is... does anyone actually shoot in DCI or is everyone shooting UHD and cropping to the desired ratio after the fact?

Best,

Bradley

[jbCinC_12]

I was wondering if anyone elects to shoot in 4K DCI over UHD. I know there has been some pretty conclusive stuff for UHD actually having more resolution than the DC1 4K mode of the camera. Also, UHD has 23.976 fps which for things not to be later transferred to film is the desired shooting method as opposed to DCI's 24p only option. My question is... does anyone actually shoot in DCI or is everyone shooting UHD and cropping to the desired ratio after the fact?

Best,

Bradley

I'm interested to know about that too.  It's my first time with doing 4K, which mine's is only UHD and I downscale it for 1080p for processing.

[Brad Bjornstad]

Yes, I'm very intrigued! Because I can see benefits of each of the two! How do you like the NX1?

[IronFilm]

Who here still transfers to film??? Very few if any!!

[Sekhar]

I was wondering if anyone elects to shoot in 4K DCI over UHD. I know there has been some pretty conclusive stuff for UHD actually having more resolution than the DC1 4K mode of the camera. Also, UHD has 23.976 fps which for things not to be later transferred to film is the desired shooting method as opposed to DCI's 24p only option. My question is... does anyone actually shoot in DCI or is everyone shooting UHD and cropping to the desired ratio after the fact?

Best,

Bradley

Well, in my tests DCI actually produced (slightly) better resolution, so in my opinion that claim about UHD being better is total BS...it was true with early firmware versions, but not now. If you don't believe, check it out yourself, don't trust outdated tests.

More importantly, I shoot in 4K to have the flexibility to reframe for a FHD output, and DCI gives a bit more to work with. Also, I generally shoot with both NX1 and NX500, and shooting both in DCI 24p helps with combining the two footages into a multi-camera shot (on Premiere Pro). I also do 3D VFX work that is 24p. And I definitely don't care for film, so 23.976 is just an anachronism as far as I'm concerned.

[jbCinC_12]

Yes, I'm very intrigued! Because I can see benefits of each of the two! How do you like the NX1?

Actually I only got the Panasonic G7

[/Chop N Shoot Films/]

DCI offers no advantage and can produce slight syncing issues if mixed with footage shot at 23.98 framerate.  

[Brad Bjornstad]

Well, in my tests DCI actually produced (slightly) better resolution, so in my opinion that claim about UHD being better is total BS...it was true with early firmware versions, but not now. If you don't believe, check it out yourself, don't trust outdated tests.

More importantly, I shoot in 4K to have the flexibility to reframe for a FHD output, and DCI gives a bit more to work with. Also, I generally shoot with both NX1 and NX500, and shooting both in DCI 24p helps with combining the two footages into a multi-camera shot (on Premiere Pro). I also do 3D VFX work that is 24p. And I definitely don't care for film, so 23.976 is just an anachronism as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks for your thoughts. As I haven't performed tests on it yet, I have no idea personally of the differences. Only just bought the NX1. I have shot scenes on both, and I thought they looked remarkably similar. A lot of people say that DCI has less resolution, others say not so much - that's why I wanted to have everyones input  I don't disbelieve either group until I do some testing myself, so no worries! I was just hoping to get a quick look at what people think and how they utilize either or choice. Thanks for the help! Really appreciate it. Very helpful, indeed!
 

Who here still transfers to film??? Very few if any!!

A feature that you may want projected in a theater. Which I personally don't need, but some might! But you're correct, very few transfer to film these days! 

DCI offers no advantage and can produce slight syncing issues if mixed with footage shot at 23.98 framerate.  

Yes, I mean shooting strictly in one or the either. Not mixing. And if you were to mix you'd have to do a conversion to match the two - which would add an unnecessary wrinkle to the mix.

[Micah Mahaffey]

I use DCI 4k, it's my go to resolution on the NX1.  

[Brad Bjornstad]

I use DCI 4k, it's my go to resolution on the NX1.  

Thank you, sir! That is mostly what I have been using myself, and I'm glad I'm not the only one! I haven't done many "technical tests" on the NX1 yet - just the good old eye test. I have been strongly preferring DCI. It was just after doing research online - where an OVERWHELMING amount of people decried DCI - that I thought I might try to get a collective set of people's opinions on the matter whom have had the camera much longer than I have.

Cheers!

[Sekhar]

Yes, I mean shooting strictly in one or the either. Not mixing. And if you were to mix you'd have to do a conversion to match the two - which would add an unnecessary wrinkle to the mix.

This is a non-issue, you just interpret the 24 fps footage as 23.976 fps if you need that rate, no conversion needed and no sync issues.

[DBounce]

I use to shoot in dci, looked pretty good to my eyes. 

[Geoff CB]

I almost always shoot in DCI, less rolling shutter than UHD and I like that it lowers the sharpness a little. I work at a movie theater and video landscapes that go in to our preshow so I actually use that aspect ratio and resolution on a weekly basis.

[Brad Bjornstad]

I almost always shoot in DCI, less rolling shutter than UHD and I like that it lowers the sharpness a little. I work at a movie theater and video landscapes that go in to our preshow so I actually use that aspect ratio and resolution on a weekly basis.

Awesome! Thank you  I will continue to use it. I have preferred it and unless there was something I wasn't seeing that other had encountered, I was going to continue. Glad to hear that people get good results!

[M Carter]

I've been shooting UHD since it's the exact ratio of 1080, which I tend to deliver in. I still use FCP 7 for editing (I know, but I need a week or so to get 2nd nature with something else and the time never appears…) I transfer the H265 to UHD prores, and I also do a batch at 1080 prores. I synch both sizes and my audio on a 1080 timeline, do my rough edit with the 4k turned off, and then go to the 4k layer and reframe as needed - but I do a lot of one-man-band corporate stuff, and reframing interviews is really a great tool for me, particularly going to a much more tele look for key phrases or to hide cuts. I do basic CC with the three-way in FCP, and take clips to AE for any specialty work. Good system and very quick, and I'm cutting in real-time, no rendering. My decision is based on the aspect ratio, but I'm not losing much by going this way.

Any hard numbers or tests on rolling shutter though? I could see using DCI for scenes with a lot of motion or for keying/motion graphics projects.

[Geoff CB]

I've been shooting UHD since it's the exact ratio of 1080, which I tend to deliver in. I still use FCP 7 for editing (I know, but I need a week or so to get 2nd nature with something else and the time never appears…) I transfer the H265 to UHD prores, and I also do a batch at 1080 prores. I synch both sizes and my audio on a 1080 timeline, do my rough edit with the 4k turned off, and then go to the 4k layer and reframe as needed - but I do a lot of one-man-band corporate stuff, and reframing interviews is really a great tool for me, particularly going to a much more tele look for key phrases or to hide cuts. I do basic CC with the three-way in FCP, and take clips to AE for any specialty work. Good system and very quick, and I'm cutting in real-time, no rendering. My decision is based on the aspect ratio, but I'm not losing much by going this way.

Any hard numbers or tests on rolling shutter though? I could see using DCI for scenes with a lot of motion or for keying/motion graphics projects.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?303559-Measuring-rolling-shutter-put-a-number-on-this-issue!

Slight improvement because it's sampling a smaller portion of the sensor.

 

[gsenroc]

Yea the sensor uses less pixels for DCI 4k, so less oversampling -> better rolling shutter, the output will be not as sharp as UHD, but the difference is neglectable.