Idea Considering purchase of SONY AS200V action cam & Prodrenalin software.

Hi Dereck I have a few questions to ask about a future purchase. With my MS platinum 13 I would wish to use 'Prodrenalin' (US$47.0) to remove distorsion like fisheye from a AS200V footage then move the optimised XAVCS 50p file to the MSP13 timeline to combine with other cam footage. Is this possible, as I read in the explanation on the ProDad website that it only exports optimise footage in MPEG4 or MOV. Do I need to convert my exported file type to MPEG2 or is there another more direct way? Can you help with a workflow recommendation? I am leaning toward the AS200V as it is a lot cheaper than the GoPro Hero4 black with the accessories I would require.

Hi Eagle Eye

I don't have an answer right now.

This is a topic I am actually going to experiment with myself in the new year, because I would also like to buy a Sony Action Cam. I have already donated enough money to GoPro and think most of their cameras are hugely over-priced compared to a say a DSLR camera. Sony's Action Cams are extremely good now.

I haven't experimented with Prodrenalin, so I am not familiar with it's output settings.
My guess is that you can import the video from Prodrenalin directly into Movie Studio.

Other users on the forum have been experimenting with ProDAD's Mercalli software. Maybe they have some insights on this topic ?
www.moviestudiozen.com/forum/movie-studio-platinum/697-another-stablization-question-about-using-mercalli-software

Stay tuned.

Derek

Hi Eagle Eye,

I have the full copy of Mercalli 4+ SAL, which, as far as I can tell, is the only ProDAD product which can render files to ProRes 10 bit 4:2:2 files. My camera original files are ProRes 422 HQ, so I like that I can closely match the output of Mercalli to the output of my camera.

I have the trial versions of ProDAD DeFishr, ReSpeedr and ProDrenalin. I have only tinkered with them making various test.

From what I can tell, DeFishr may be more useful as far as removing the fisheye effect, and it has other corrections such as roll, tilt, pan, X and Y shift, zoom, and lens. It appears the only option for render is Mpeg4 in a mp4 container. It has a Sony AS100V preset, and provides a method to calibrate a camera for a custom preset.

ProDrenalin doesn't offer all the view corrections of DeFishr, but it does offer virtual camera tilt, pan, roll and zoom. It also has some color corrections, as well as stabilize and rolling shutter compensation. As you have pointed out, it will render in Mpeg4 either in an mp4 or mov container. These are both avc 8 bit 4:2:0 sub-sampling. It also has the Sony AS100V preset and ability to calibrate.

The features between DeFishr and ProDrenalin are just different enough, if it were me and I was using a lot of action cam footage, I would most likely op to purchase both to capitalize on the strengths of each.

Now might me a good time to buy in, as they are running some sales, and if you download the trial version, it appears they offer an additional discount coupon code they say will work with a sale price!

I run a comparison between the DeFishr and ProDrenalin for fisheye removal using mp4 sample footage from a GoPro Here 3+. Using just the defisher option in both, I couldn't detect any great difference in the results (maybe DeFishr edged out Prodrenalin by a slim margin!). I was able to make some additional corrections in DeFishr that improved the sample footage, but I didn't have the time to tweak the footage in each program for the ultimate result.

I doubt that you will run into any major problems editing your films in Movie Studio Platinum from either ProDrenalin or DeFishr. They appear to be pretty straight forward avc 8 bit 4:2:0 files. I would assume there may be a color shift from the original camera files and either of the ProDAD rendered files. You should be able to correct for the differences in Movie Studio and develop a preset Color Correction to apply to all the ProDAD processed footage in the future. Movie Studio Color Match, may be the only correction necessary, if any at all.

With all that said, please keep in mind......I don't have a Sony AS200V camera, and I'm not any kind of expert in DeFishr or ProDrenalin.......I'm just offing my opinion based on this limited experience.

Thanks for your extensive reply 'Eagle Six' I appreciate your observations. I have now bought the AS200V cam due some good pricing here. At the moment I don't have time to play with it, but maybe over the Christmas break I can get into it. I mainly wanted it to do breakaway shots etc to give me two camera coverage. I like to record some road journeys when on holiday. My HXR-NX70p produces great video and is generally suction mounted on the windscreen looking ahead. The 'Prodrenalin' correction I am mainly thinking of would be de-fisheye as the cam has steadyshot. Some xavcs footage I have seen on Utube is sharp and has well saturated colour. I am not a pro of any kind and this cam was in the end the best spec for an economic choice, cheers.

Thank you Eagle Six for your detailed reply.

Thanks Derek and Eagle Eye for the kind words.

Having 2 cameras opens up a whole new dynamic and provides that professional edge. I'm sure you have gotten some fabulous footage from your NX700. That appears to be a great camera with dual XLR inputs, earphone monitoring, ability to record on things like the Atomos Ninja Blade via HDMI, light weight and water resistance. And, as you point out, seems like the AS200V will make a great economic addition to your set.

Although I used a GoPro this past summer, the only action cams I own are 12 year old SD 4:3 cameras which require a recorder. Sooner or later, I will need an action cam again and would be in the market to purchase. I would be most interested in how you integrate the AS200V with your NX700 films, and what your opinion is about the AS200V, once you get to the point to put it through it's paces. I'm now retired and not a professional, so I value your opinion as much, or greater than those online review sites.

I would think in addition to the AS200V SteadyShot, add the stabilize feature of ProDAD ProDrenalin, you should achieve some phenomenal rock steady footage.

Good Luck With It.

I don't have a NX700 camera its an HXR-NX70P. I will take a while I guess to satisfy myself of the wisdom of my purchase and to define quite when best to apply the AS200V to our road trips. Thanks for your kind comments.

Eagle eye. wrote: I don't have a NX700 camera its an HXR-NX70P. I will take a while I guess to satisfy myself of the wisdom of my purchase and to define quite when best to apply the AS200V to our road trips. Thanks for your kind comments.

Sorry EE, that was my typing mistake, yes I realized you have the NX70P, somehow I got going on too many 0's.!!!

Hi Derek & Eagle Six you may like to have a look at the PDF at www.sony.co.uk/pro/attachment/1237492960962 ? I am still reading it. On page 55 I note the AS100 is depicted as being able to transfer files to the computer just by SD card to VEGAS Pro 13. I am hoping that MSP13 will be the same. I don't want to add anymore software such as 'Play Memories' of 'Action Cam Movie Creator' which is the way the AS200V documents seem to steer you to. I would like to think I could import it into 'Prodrenalin' correct it for fisheye save it and add it to MSP13 timeline. After, the project of mixed footage (NX70p & AS200V) would be rendered to Blu-ray using MSP13 and on to DVD Architect. I will be trying all this over the next few days. :unsure:

This is always an exciting time, with a new camera, so many things to explore and figure out.

You of course will find out first hand within a few days, but I think you will be fine with your desired work flow. You should be able to remove the SD card from the As200V, insert in computer, copy video files to your hard drive. Then import them into ProDrenalin, do some magic, export/render in mp4/mov, then put them in SMS13P via Add Media. Reading the AZ200V manual it appears you may lose any GPS data that would transfer with the file when uploading via Play Memories.

I think Derek has Play Memories and would be better to comment. But, again, you will become the best expert in your own work flow, once you have your AS200V up and running. Thank You for the pdf link and I look forward to hear how your progress is going.