Media from Panasonic AJ-PX270

Question

Media from Panasonic AJ-PX270

Hello,

I use this camera since a few months but note 2 problems:

✖ First footage in 920x1080 AVC-G25/25PN appears as interlaced in metadata explorer in FCP X, but it wrong it in fact real 25 PN.

✖ Second I note some artefacts, especially aliasing that appears in the outlines of objects

I try to play the same footage directly from the camera (media on the SD card) connected to an HD monitor via SDI and do not notice these artefacts. Is this due to a bad conversion from mxf file by FCP X...?

Any help or people who have similar problem are welcome here, many thanks.

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1), FCP X

Posted on Jul 10, 2015 3:11 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 23, 2015 2:27 PM in response to Anne Monbaron

Nobody use the AJ-PX270 with FCP X here? I do not believe you! ;-)

On other video forum the same problem as above bring out. It seems that the import plug-in provided by Panasonic for FCP X is not very good and falsely interprets metadata (see my first screenshot).

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Answer 2

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,799 points

Jul 23, 2015 3:35 PM in response to Anne Monbaron

Don't actually see a 25PN for this camera.

Recording Frame Rate

720 x 480: 59.94i, 29.97p
720 x 576: 50i, 25p
1280 x 720pN 23.98/29.97
1280 x 720p 23.98/25/29.97/50/59.94
1920 x 1080i 50/59.94
1920 x 1080pA 23.98 1920 x 1080pN 23.98/29.97
1920 x 1080p 23.98/25/29.97/50/59.94

I guess you just mean 25p.

If you're playing the video directly from the camera through HDMI to a TV monitor you wouldn't see the interlacing anyway.

It doesn't actually look like interlacing, though it's hard to tell as the image doesn't look as if it has motion. A lot of cameras shoot P formats simply by field doubling rather than shooting whole frames, so they are actually two fields. even if the two fields are the same.

Is the viewer set to better quality playback?

The camera does appear on the supported cameras list with the couple of asterisks next to it about using optimized media with it.

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Answer 3

Jul 25, 2015 8:09 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Hello Tom,

"Don't actually see a 25PN for this camera."

As you can see here since the firmware update Ver 16.30 the support of 25 PN was introduced.

"If you're playing the video directly from the camera through HDMI to a TV monitor you wouldn't see the interlacing anyway."

The test was made with the SDI output.

"Is the viewer set to better quality playback?"

Yes.

"The camera does appear on the supported cameras list with the couple of asterisks next to it about using optimized media with it."

Where do you see that?

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Answer 4

Jul 25, 2015 8:54 AM in response to Anne Monbaron

"The camera does appear on the supported cameras list with the couple of asterisks next to it about using optimized media with it."

Where do you see that?

Here: Cameras supported by Final Cut Pro X - Apple Support

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Answer 5

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,799 points

Jul 25, 2015 12:36 PM in response to Anne Monbaron

SDI is better, but should make no difference. Not a great fan of using PN with 25fps because of the way it reduces the data.

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Answer 6

Jul 25, 2015 1:11 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Hello,

Thanks Luis for the link. In the FCP project I use the original media, I also have "optimized media" but it seems that FCP always want to use the original media. How can I switch from original media to optimized media in FCP X?

@Tom: What do you exactly mean with "it reduces the data"? The frame rate in Europe is 25 images per second.

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Answer 7

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

152,799 points

Jul 25, 2015 1:33 PM in response to Anne Monbaron

If there is optimized media available for the clips, FCP always uses it. The info inspector always displays information for the original media.

PAL based countries are 25fps, which is normally interlaced in SD and in 1080, two fields in each frame. PN simplifies the process of creating a progressive frame by only recording a single field and doubling it, The image is effectively half the data rate of an interlaced frame. This system is used because making a full 1920x1080 frame is difficult to encode, which is the whole point of interlaced media that only half the frame information is encoded in a 50th of a second. PN gets around this problem.

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Answer 8

Jul 25, 2015 2:54 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

Hello Tom,

"If there is optimized media available for the clips, FCP always uses it."

Even when the optimized media is created after the import (which is my case)...? How to check if FCP is using optimized or original media?

About 25 PN, sorry but I do not agree, 25p (for example in HDV) is what you explain by doubling one field to have a full image. That's because there is now PN, where N states for Native and use a real full frame without using the trick of doubling a field.

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Answer 9

Jul 27, 2015 4:10 AM in response to Anne Monbaron

About 25 PN, sorry but I do not agree, 25p (for example in HDV) is what you explain by doubling one field to have a full image. That's because there is now PN, where N states for Native and use a real full frame without using the trick of doubling a field.

I am afraid it is not exactly as you say. I am going to go out on a limb, here, but:

from what I read, 25p may double each *frame*, as a way to conform to a 50p transport stream - that probably only makes sense when recording to tape.

That is probably why I'd never even heard of 25pn until this thread.

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