GH4's 4K & clients

[PatrickV]

Hi guys,

 

My GH4 arrived yesterday and I have some practical questions about how to deal with 4K files regarding clients:

 

• When the client uses the video for online purposes (Vimeo/YouTube): would you guys recommend to supply the orginal 4K resolution file? Or scale it down to 1080p first? (in terms of quality, playback etc.)
• When the client uses the video for offline purposes: I guess it depends on the system they wanna use for the playback of the video, right?
• When using 4K mode and slow-motions (1080p) in the same videoproduction. Should you render in 4K or 1080p?

Hope to hear from you! Thanks in advance.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

1- Supply 1080p unless they specifically ask for it. Or if you can, both. I've always supplied 2 file versions. "Best", and "small".
2- Right
2- Render to 1080p if you're shooting 1080p slowmotion. Last thing you want is upscaling the soft 96p image 4 times bigger!

[PatrickV]

Hi Ebrahim,

 

Thanks for your quick response!

 

1. Is this because of the slow internet connection of some users, which makes 1080p more suitable for online purposes because its playback is more user-friendly?

2. Clear.

3. Clear.

 

Additional question:

 

When u want the best possible image of your 4K footage on Vimeo: should you render as 4K or 1080P?

[dafreaking]

Also most people don't have 4K monitors, so serving 4K is not very practical as yet.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

1. Is this because of the slow internet connection of some users, which makes 1080p more suitable for online purposes because its playback is more user-friendly?

 

 

Additional question:

 

When u want the best possible image of your 4K footage on Vimeo: should you render as 4K or 1080P?

4K files will add more issues than benefits for a client who doesn't specifically want 4K. 

1-It will take you longer to deliver if you're doing it online, 
2-Will take more space on the client's harddrive. 
3-It will require a faster computer to view/play.
4-It will take them much more time to upload the 4K file to an internet video service (YT/Vimeo)
5-Even if your client doesn't mind these 4 points, if they don't have an expensive 4K monitor to view it, they will not benefit from 4K at all. And will have cost themselves all these troubles for nothing at all. 

Remember: As the Dafreaking said: you need a 4K monitor to view 4K images. And most people don't. If they do, they will specifically ask for it, and you will deliver it. That's why I said "only when they specifically ask for it" 


As for the second question: I would like to know the answer too. Since Vimeo downscale the footage to 720p anyway, is it better to downscale the video to 720p before uploading, or uploading the highest resolution and letting Vimeo do the scaling? (Only speaking of online viewing) 

[PatrickV]

Thanks! It's clear now!

 

I hope somebody can answer question 2 for us :-)

[Nick Hughes]

As for the second question: I would like to know the answer too. Since Vimeo downscale the footage to 720p anyway, is it better to downscale the video to 720p before uploading, or uploading the highest resolution and letting Vimeo do the scaling? (Only speaking of online viewing) 

 

Probably best to still upload 1080 to vimeo. BTW, with vimeo plus ($60 a year or $10 a month), you have the option to stream at 1080.