h.265

[Luff84]

Dear Forum,

I'm very new to editing so please go easy if this is a silly question!

I understand that h.265 is able to capture more data of the image which will obviously produce a better looking video but until now i haven't been recording in it as YouTube doesn't seem to support it which is usually where my videos end up.

My question is, should i be recording in h.265 and then exporting in h.264 for optimum quality?

Thanks

 

[Shawn Esplin]

The biggest problem with doing that is the workflow. You would probably have to convert the H.265 to another format for editing if you want decent performance, so it adds more time and trouble for questionable benefits.

I've only shot a little in H.265 for that reason, but the people I've seen compare it with H.264 have said they didn't see much difference. Maybe it's more noticeable under certain circumstances, but the real quality jump with the I2 comes with ProRes and RAW.

H.265 can definitely help with lowering file sizes while keeping similar quality, but DJI chose to record H.264 and H.265 at the same bit rate so you can't really get those space savings while shooting with the I2.

If you're interested in H.265 there's no reason not to try it out, but I think most people are sticking with H.264 on the SD card side for the moment.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

The biggest problem with doing that is the workflow. You would probably have to convert the H.265 to another format for editing if you want decent performance, so it adds more time and trouble for questionable benefits.

I've only shot a little in H.265 for that reason, but the people I've seen compare it with H.264 have said they didn't see much difference. Maybe it's more noticeable under certain circumstances, but the real quality jump with the I2 comes with ProRes and RAW.

H.265 can definitely help with lowering file sizes while keeping similar quality, but DJI chose to record H.264 and H.265 at the same bit rate so you can't really get those space savings while shooting with the I2.

If you're interested in H.265 there's no reason not to try it out, but I think most people are sticking with H.264 on the SD card side for the moment.

Shawn is correct - and if you are on a Mac by chance you will have one extra hurdle to jump through. Many Mac users have found h.265 is not yet natively supported and you will need to download something extra to be able to play the files.

H.265 was designed to be able to capture more data in a smaller file size and will likely gain more traction sometime in the future as everything supports it natively (editing workflows, YouTube, Vimeo, etc). Until then, h.264 is easier to work with.

Michael
www.FloridaDroneSupply.com

 

[Rotofan]

The only reason why I have played around with H.265 is a lot of 4K televisions only support H.265 (e.g. Vizio). I agree the workflow is painful (FCPX user) and you can always use handbrake to convert from H.264 to H.265 if you want to watch the video on a 4K TV.

 

[Luff84]

Thanks for the replies. I did some filming in h.265 and i couldn't even view the video properly let alone work on it, i'll just stick with h.264 for the time being until i learn a bit more about it!

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Thanks for the replies. I did some filming in h.265 and i couldn't even view the video properly let alone work on it, i'll just stick with h.264 for the time being until i learn a bit more about it!

This seems to be a pretty common outcome at the moment. I am sure it will get better at some point.

 

[Shawn Esplin]

Thanks for the replies. I did some filming in h.265 and i couldn't even view the video properly let alone work on it, i'll just stick with h.264 for the time being until i learn a bit more about it!

If it's footage you care about, you can at least find software to convert it so it's not totally lost. After a little testing though, I'm sticking with H.264 on the SD side for now too.

 

[spidernd]

Rename the file extension and the h265 files will play. It sounds crazy but change it from a .mov to an .mp4 manually by renaming the files. They play on a mac in premiere after you do.

 

[The Editor]

Rename the file extension and the h265 files will play. It sounds crazy but change it from a .mov to an .mp4 manually by renaming the files. They play on a mac in premiere after you do.

Not if you do not have the codecs installed on you PC/mac. The .mov/.mp4 is only the wrapper, the codecs are totally different between H264 and h265

 

[spidernd]

Not if you do not have the codecs installed on you PC/mac. The .mov/.mp4 is only the wrapper, the codecs are totally different between H264 and h265

If I installed something to make the codecs work I didn't know that I did; using an imac from 2013 and a newer 2015 macbook pro. The files work on both now that I renamed them, and I haven't downloaded anything for h265. You know more about this than I do

 

[deltalimatango]

Shawn is correct - and if you are on a Mac by chance you will have one extra hurdle to jump through. Many Mac users have found h.265 is not yet natively supported and you will need to download something extra to be able to play the files.

H.265 was designed to be able to capture more data in a smaller file size and will likely gain more traction sometime in the future as everything supports it natively (editing workflows, YouTube, Vimeo, etc). Until then, h.264 is easier to work with.

Michael
www.FloridaDroneSupply.com

Rename the file extension and the h265 files will play. It sounds crazy but change it from a .mov to an .mp4 manually by renaming the files. They play on a mac in premiere after you do.

Premier supports H.265 which is why it plays. Final Cut Pro X doesn't support H.265.

 

[deltalimatango]

Found this. 2 Easy Ways to Open & Play H.265/HEVC Files on Mac | . I in no way endorse or support or recommend the products or solutions here. I am simply providing info. I tried H.265 and had to convert it to H.264 before I could render anything. Added and extra time consuming step. In the future H.265 will be the defacto standard but until then, I will be sticking with H.264.

 

[elguapo]

For those of you using a Mac, this is all about to change in the fall this year. Apple announced they are going to support h.265 at the OS level, FCPX will have the ability to edit native h.265 files.

Finally, I will be able to streamline my workflow since I shoot in h.265