Sony A7S III & FX3 Video Formats EXPLAINED: Best Quality & Smallest File Size

[@towermedia5940]

Some examples would be nice imo, like how big a 3 minute clip in XAVC S 24 and 120 fps is approximately, just to get a practical understanding!

[@SamMasghati]

Just do your math. 100Mbit/sec is appr. 12 MB/sec. Thus 200Mbit are appr. 24MB/sec. So filming 3 min footage should take up 180 x 12 when filming 100Mbit, and 180 x 24 when filming in 200Mbit/s. Its usually a little bit more, but still a good referance

[@TheOfficialiGuy]

Can you make a video on “filming with your A7siii when your pre-order shipment is no where in sight…” Thanks Matt!

[@paultaylorcomedy]

Mate! I've been waiting for a video like this for 2 weeks since I got my a7siii. I'm in Europe and it's weird how PAL offers different options in record mode and frame rates than NTSC. For example, in XAVC HS, in PAL, there's no option for 25p but only 50p or 100p so the file size isn't actually smaller than XAVC S 25p. Anyway, great explanation and thanks 👍🏻

[@picasary]

Baahh ... it depends Paul Télor 😂Just kidding

[@millmountain]

Me too, really don't understand why we don't get 25p In that mode

[@theothervalentin]

I was also hoping they would provide 25p in h.265...maybe they will add it in future firmware updates

[@andugo]

alot things is missing like pal xavc s no 4:2:0 etc

[@badger-productions]

I just got the camera today, and I was going crazy thinking I was doing something wrong.

[@noahthecubeguy]

Wow, very well explained. Love your videos man, keep up the great work!

[@RichardsWorld]

You actually recommend the opposite of Max Yuryev. Up to you. But if you actually look at the menu in the camera the H.265 files are not smaller. They have the same bit rates, and in 120P the H.264 is actually bigger. But 200MBs in H.265 is better quality than than H.264 at 200MBs. You are getting better quality with the H.265 option with the disadvantage of editing and rendering speeds. Some other cameras do what you said though, they give you smaller file size. But in this camera they aren't doing that.

[@paulfairchild8942]

Helpful.

[@InternetCity]

HEY MATT! Great video but now I have a question. I bought the fx3 and I'm trying to edit XAVC S I but premiere pro literally can't handle the footage. Is there something I should look to turn on in settings? My pc specs are AMD 3900 XT, RTX 3080, 64GB RAM, 2x 2tb SSD.

[@jelmerbraad1595]

Are you sure you have hardware acceleration enabled? I have a 3060 and I spose S I just works fine. Maybe the 3900 XT is ur bottleneck. I have a 5900 x and experience no problem

[@InternetCity]

@@jelmerbraad1595 it was my version of premiere

[@AlexeiGeidys]

@@InternetCity are you using proxies for the editing? is the best look it up.

[@ramonbannister9498]

Good info! Thanks, Matt. This is at least my 2nd time watching this video, because I finally got my a7s iii. Depending on whom you ask, you'll get different recommendations. Well, I like Matt's the best as I even checked on my camera for total record time available. For 128 GB card: 1h 8m @XAVC S-I 24p; and 2h 40m @ XAVC S 24p 100M 4:2:2 10 bit. That's more than twice the amount of time. I also like Matt's explanation of WHEN to use S-I...Before today, I was an advocate of ALL I all of the time. But w/ this camera being 4:2:2 10bit you don't need that. If you're filming w/ lots of movement and intricate detail in the shot, that's when to use ALL I. As they say, use sparingly.

[@BarkandJack]

Super helpful. Thanks for explaining this stuff so a noob like me can understand it.

[@CarloTimothy]

wow i am EARLY on this one! Matt I love you so much! nobody will see this anyway. thank you for all your work Matt.

[@whoismatt]

Thanks so much Carlo! Love you too

[@srirajk2318]

I don't even have this camera but I still watched the entire video 🤷🏻‍♂️....although nice information dude❤️ so much I have learned in your videos keep going🔥❤️

[@maruwaanmoses]

I don't shoot Sony nor wedding videos. I'm just here to listen to Matt explain things 🙂

[@jennifergala]

only 100MB? That's why it looks bad. Still prefer Blackmagic for video.

[@petrub27]

Good video but again the message is wrong. Hs and s codec are not for editing. Xavc i is the only one suitable for that, hence the file size

[@TheBrowneTown]

If h.264 and the h.265 (HEVC) in 4:2:2 are both shooting 100Mb/s then I think the file sizes will be identical. The difference will be that theoretically the h.265/HEVC will capture more data within those 100Mb/s and be slightly higher quality, but harder to edit if your computer doesn't have hardware acceleration.

[@justaross]

Looks like most popular NVidia cards will not support hardware encoding/decoding for 264 10-bit 4:2:2, but will support this for 265. Please correct if I'm mistaken here.

[@ronneabat]

But can’t you use proxy internally and not have to working about it?

[@DaMoroshka]

not theoretically but factually h.265 will retain more data within same bitrate, and also playback of h.265 on modern macs will be smoother than 10 bit h.264 that Matt recommended first hand.

[@CizzuCizzu]

Best video quality in a mirrorless ?! Really?! Ahahah..

[@slachowitzer12]

I would avoid 4:2:2 if possible as many computers don't support that and its not a simple editing software update, its a hardware limitation. 4:2:0 10 bit is going to be a lot easier on your computer.

[@GabrielAlves-lp1qr]

Are you sure about this? Isn't 4:2:2 hard to edit only on h.265?

[@slachowitzer12]

Yep . 4k 60 4:2:2 10 but won't even playback in FCPX but 4k 60 4:2:0 10 bit plays back great and even with multiple adjustment layers.

[@GabrielAlves-lp1qr]

@@slachowitzer12 Yeah but is it h.264? If so you're right.

[@JonathanChan]

@@slachowitzer12 I've been wondering about this as I have had trouble playing back 4K 10 Bit 4:2:2 footage in Final Cut Pro. Do you know where I can read more about this?

[@slachowitzer12]

@@GabrielAlves-lp1qr no, in both XAVC HS & XAVC S the 4:2:2 footage is really tough to work with. I've tested extensively all of the codecs and the best quality to performance is the XAVC HS codec at 4:2:0 10 bit. Unless you want 30p, then you have to use XAVC S at 8 bit.

[@ChrisRowe]

H.265 won't give you smaller file sizes, since both XAVC-HS and XAVC-2 are at 100mbps the files sizes will be roughly the same. What H.265 does do is that it's twice as efficient as H.264. So a 100mbps encoded H.265 video has the equivalent information of a 200mbps H.264 video. But it's a delivery format, not an editing format.

[@Pfagnan]

Nice! Thanks that makes more sense!!

[@EmileModesitt]

Some great info, thank you! I think you might be a bit confused on codecs and compression, however. Whether you're shooting XAVC-S 100mb/s (H.264) or XAVC-HS 100mb/s (H.265), they're both recording at the same bitrate, so file sizes should be the same. In fact, since H.265 is a more efficient codec, XAVC-HS should yield higher quality results at the same bitrate. So 100mb/s H.265 should technically be higher quality (i.e. have more information) than 100mb/s H.264 with the exact same file sizes. That's the whole point of H.265; more image information in smaller package. Whether or not they ACTUALLY look different in the real world, I don't know, but TECHNICALLY that's how it works.

[@ryansulak]

i know this is an old comment, but do you know how to film using the .mov codec with the FX3? I'm filming with the settings he suggested in the video, but all my files are mp4. And I prefer not to have footage that compressed

[@EmileModesitt]

@@ryansulak MP4 and MOV are just wrappers - they don’t indicate compression levels. I’m other words, MOV is not more compressed than MP4 (all other settings being equal). Some cameras use MOV, others (like Sony) use MP4. It’s the codec and bitrate settings that will affect the quality of your image, not the wrapper.

[@hsy541]

This video is very very misleading, If you dig deeper into technology, there is actually way more hardware that support h265 10bit codec than h264. In other words, HEVC aka HAVC HS in sony's term is much more editor friendly! And when you use HAVC HS 4k chose 10 bit 4:2:0. not 422, 10 bit is a big jump from 8 bit, but 422 is just tiny bit better than 420, unless you zoom in like 2x 3x you WILL NOT notice the difference! If you have an old pc, or your pc is not that powerful, go for HAVC HS! I've tested on my old machine i7 6700, 1080ti with FREE davinci, it is butter smooth!!!

[@kostasrestas]

Is there any way to see how many minutes left for recording video ? I mean ,if i had 128gb sd card and shoot at xavc s i 10bit 422 at 25fps for example,can i see at display how many minutes i have for recording???? (xavcs i recordable time)

[@whoismatt]

Yes, the camera will tell you the approximate remaining recording time at the top of the screen

[@A2KMedia]

we got the a7s3 and the problem we are facing with is that 422 is not supported by the nvidia NVENC encoder making our RTX3090 useless and footage slow as it is being processed on the CPU, this is frustrating so being forced to record 10bit 420.

[@Veer.Bansal]

Anyone here from Crazy XYZ's Playlist...

[@whoismatt]

Haha guess he likes this video

[@Slayclay1]

🙋‍♂️

[@NONE2NONE]

Why would you want to use H265 over H264? Is it just to save size?

[@Louie-ty6bh]

Just want to say that you can explain things really well. It's actually a skill. Thanks for this vid =)

[@ToastedSynapseGaming]

Hey Matt. Here you go again with V90 cards. You forgot THE BIGGEST factor for XAVC-S and HS as opposed to S-I: You don't need V90! Save some money and buy V60. The a7Siii can happily record even 120p on those cards as long as you don't want S-I. (except 24p. You can record S-I with that framerate on a V60 if you really want)

[@CRISSBLAZINY]

CAn you record 25fps or 50fps? Thank u

[@LetsPlayThru]

Can’t tell you how helpful this was. Thank you for breaking it down so well.

[@MohnishD]

Can I use v60 cards for 4k120fps (I don't need All Intra for now)? And will v60 cards be able to shoot 1080p 240fps?

[@mirrorlessny]

V90 works for sure if don't need ALL Intra

[@LIJ]

You rock. This is the right video at the right time. Canon sure blew it by not doing it this way for the R5!

[@vextakes]

NGL, never had problems editing h265 (XAVC-HS) especially if you are able to use HW acceleration on a graphics card. IF you are only using your CPU, yes, it will be miserable

[@shotsbykaiel]

Can you do a video on the atomos ninja with the Sony a7siii? I just figured out after hours and hours of trying to figure out that (I may be wrong) I can’t record 4K on the Sony and atomos at the same time. I can do prores 422 on the atomos but then I can’t record on the Sony at the same time. I’d love to know the recording options with the atomos as you did with this excellent and well explained video :)

[@nelsonpun]

any reason to not use the built in proxy setting in the a7s iii when shooting HS?

[@EugeniaLoli]

No, you DO NOT want 4:2:2. This is so sad, everyone suggesting 4:2:2, while it makes no sense in these bitrates. Remember two things: Sony gives you the SAME 100mbps bitrate for BOTH 4:2:2 and 4:2:0. 4:2:2 REQUIRES 20% more bitrate to be of the same quality as 4:2:0, and yet Sony doesn't give you that (unless you shoot all-intra). Also, between the two, there is no visual difference when the right bitrate is used, not for the human eye at least. But if you test a fast moving object in 4:2:2 and 4:2:0, you will see that the 4:2:0 will be better, simply because it doesn't require as much bitrate. If Sony was to give you 130 mbps in 24p for 4:2:2 (as they do 140mbps for 25/30p), then sure, use 4:2:2. But Sony doesn't do that (cripple hammer for 24p?). And most people don't get it that they LOSE quality when they use 4:2:2 10bit at just 100mbps. And the final nail in the coffin: you get NO HARDWARE ACCELERATION in 4:2:2, in either h.264 or h.265. The only GPU that supports that is the iOS chipsets, but not nvidia or amd gpus. So all work goes to CPU, that makes things very slow to decode. So, PLEASE, don't suggest people to use 4:2:2. Every youtuber is doing that in the last 2 months, and it's the WRONG suggestion. At least for these bitrates that are offered and the current state of GPUs. If things change in the future, sure, use it. But as it stands today, use only 10bit 4:2:0 at 100mbps with 24p. Better quality than 4:2:2 at the same bitrate, and you get GPU acceleration.

[@ShadowsofSmoke]

Excellent explanation. But you forgot the Benefits of using Ninja V. I bought the A7SIII exclusively to record on my Ninja V. I probably will never use internal recording.

[@EugeniaLoli]

@@ShadowsofSmoke yes, the ninja is a good workaround for this problem

[@ModernFrameMedia]

I'm glad someone is giving solid information that is correct. 4:2:0 10 Bit in XAVC-HS is the way to go if you want quality and smooth playback in editing. Shooting in XAVC-S won't give you 4:2:0 10 bit so its not the best option right now.

[@xkben90]

HEY HEY HEY now... the cripple hammer comments only work for Canon. Not Sony. Cmon now! All jokes aside, thanks for the detailed explanation instead of just saying “X is wrong because i say so.”

[@matthewchute5514]

Forgive for not knowing the most about this but wouldnt 4:2:2 give you more headroom in post with colors? Also are you saying if we want the best quality then use S-I?

[@ExploringwithRickBekah]

Thanks for the video - any idea what kind of requirements are needed for smoother editing of the HS 4K option? I have a Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core 24 thread CPU, 32GB ram, Radeon 5700XT and would be using an SSD or external HDD.

[@mattxlr21]

Exact same set up I have! Except I have 64gb of RAM. I have edited this codec and it's not to taxing on my computer. Jumps to different parts of the clips pretty quickly.

[@AbrahamTario]

Great info, I’m here learning while I wait on B&H to ship my camera. :/

[@JayPBangz]

Should I Record in XAVC S-I 4k for sports football? I know you mentioned if things were moving faster you would change it to that option?

[@Bigboytravel]

Great video, can you include file size per 60 of video for people that are new to sony. Would help them realize the size difference you mentioned between s and i

[@talonsix]

For the five FCPX users on here, all frame rates of HS edit quite smoothly on the 2017 iMac Pro.

[@nobit3000]

that‘s kind of funny: I have a 2017 i7 imac and downloaded several different clips shot with the the SonyA7sIII, and NONE of the play smoothly! actually most of them don‘t even open with quicktime player. only vlc can open them, but still, playback is very choppy. any help or advice would be apreciated!

[@stevenuseda6317]

nobit it's probably just the processing power of the computer lagging. I have a 2019 MacBook Pro and it plays well in premiere with Xavcs I although it's still slower than BRAW when I was on blackmagic

[@nobit3000]

@@stevenuseda6317 hmmm I have a i7 4,2GHz with the Radeon Pro 580 with 8 GB ram, but quicktime player wouldn´t even open a H264 4K 24p file (error message: file not compatible) ....

[@Nekojitablog]

@@nobit3000 Same here! We're watching every single video about this camera on KZbin. We have a 2015 MacBook Pro full specs and our videos are shot in 1080p anyways but nobody is talking about 1080p and how files are. This 4K 120fps hype is going crazy😩

[@nobit3000]

@@Nekojitablog I went to a local camera store and recorded some test clips: the problem is 422! neither h264 (XAVC S) nor h265 (XAVC HS) 10bit 422 files would open in quicktime player or davinci resolve free (studio version will open those). whereas 10bit 420 will open and play easy. the only problem is that only h265 (XAVC HS) offers 10bit 420, which is only available in 4k (not in HD) plus if you live in a PAL country, you only get 100p and 50p, NO 25p or 24p.... unfortunate

[@thetalkingfly]

Great Vid Matt- super helpful! cheers, S.O.

[@EverythingFilmmaking]

Hs works just fine..easier to edit on my computer versus the S codec..so this is not true.

[@whoismatt]

Can you share your specs?

[@A2KMedia]

10bit 422 / 420? also framerate and resolution?

[@EverythingFilmmaking]

@@whoismatt 4.2 ghz Quad-Core Intel Core i7. 40gb 2400 mhz ddr4. Radeon Pro 580 8gb

[@noheadlights]

@@whoismatt I can confirm this. Use 420 10 Bit. It edits like butter because it is supported by the GPU on most systems, even though it is H.265.

[@MegaWeitzel]

I don't know if you are reading comments this late, but there are a few corrections Regarding editing speed you got the basics right H.264 is easier to decode than H.265. But there is a huge asterisk. Modern GPUs by Nvidia, Intel, AMD or the apple T2 chip have native decoders for some video formats which makes them much faster to edit. And most modern NLEs use those. But not all video formats are supported. For H.264 only 8bit 4:2:0 and for H.265 only 8/10/12bit 4:2:0 are supported. So regarding decoding speed on most systems the list is as follows from fast to slow: XAVC-S 8bit 4:2:0 XAVC-HS 8bit or 10bit 4:2:0 XAVC-S-I 10bit 4:2:2 XAVC-S 10bit 4:2:2 XAVC-HS 10bit 4:2:2 {very slow} So for most the best option is actually HS 10bit 4:2:0. It has better compression or quality than H.264, edits faster than the 10bit variant of H.264 and the difference in color subsampling is not noticeable.

[@paulfairchild8942]

I thought XAVC-HS was a nightmare for most editing rigs given its H.265? Using Prem Pro on PC with 16 core chip and GTX 2070 GPU. I know Resolve is much better optimised than Prem Pro.

[@MegaWeitzel]

@@paulfairchild8942 well as long as you don't use 4:2:2 color subsampling your rig should easily edit it. Your rtx 2070 has a very fast H.265 decoder

[@paulfairchild8942]

@@MegaWeitzel Interesting. Thanks for that info.

[@indago1]

Hey Matt, Love you content :) But may i suggest one thing - its better to choose XAVC HC 4:2:0 10 bit for editing. It works fast and when you color grade you wont see much difference, even more its really small files.. but XAVC S actually is a bit worse, like, if you have to lift up shadows, it has more noise and artifacts than XAVC HS in my tests

[@benzovisual]

you saved me thanks bro

[@426Studios]

If you color grade heavily then 4:2:0 is very bad since you wont have leeway on grading. Thats why many content creators back then were craving for 4:2:2. You wont see any difference on the colors because we humans are less visually perceptive to color differences, but when you grade, especially if you rotate some hues to have a consistent color scheme, then 4:2:0 can easily cause artifacting on your image because your image only contains little information because of the 4:2:0 chroma subsampling.

[@sebastiantouma4965]

Here for the Philip Bloom comment... I'll wait...

[@TLOverlander]

My A6700 does in camera proxies... HS for image quality AND small size... Edit with the proxies.... Life is good 😂 Also, 4:2:0 10 bit is what you want for just about anything you wanna do. I don't know ANYTHING that broadcasts in 422 🤷

[@kahanisaaz]

Dear Matt plz educate me... in 2024 what recording file format shall i choose for Sony FX3? XAVC S-I 4 K or XAVC S--I DCI 4 ? plz guide?

[@patrickparado]

Still testing it out, but how do you get 1080 240 fps to work? It’s a S&Q function, right?

[@2010SLP]

You have to set your file format to one of the two HD options. Then go to S&Q Settings and you can set the S&Q Frame Rate to 240fps. You can also set the Rec. Frame Rate to whichever frame rate you want the 240fps to be conformed to in camera. Selecting 24p will provide you with footage that is slowed down by a factor of 10. Note: you will need a CFexpress Type A card if you want to record 240fps using the All-I codec. Then set your mode dial to S&Q and hit record.

[@patrickparado]

2010SLP oh my Rec Frame Rate was at 120. Thanks!

[@movimox]

Why not proxies recorded IN camera in 720p ? I am surprised you did not mention this as it saves some much time compared to proxy rendering in Premiere.

[@rsstnnr76]

The camera records proxies?

[@sirackcity]

I can seem to upload my 4k videos on too my mac book pro or iphone directly from camera for from the cf express card drive. It says does night recognize codec. Shooting in the 4k 10 but 60fps…and the iPhone just loadshalfway and stops. Any suggestions? Thinking of getting the new m1Ipad. Kind of frustrating. Thanks

[@JoeAnthonyFilms]

Hey Matt, great video but why no talk about best 1080 settings? I feel like you just ninja kicked full HD in the face and that’s just not cool 😁

[@ParsclickTV]

HS is easy in my M1 laptop and I’ve been using it with no difference to S to be honest in my tests

[@TinySpeck]

I seriously don't get Sony's marketing idea. You know these cameras are not available in major of the world till early 2021 right? Till they adequately deliver this already overhyped product there will already be something more powerful from another brand which is usually available faster. Sony IS the leader but virtual, on paper....

[@ReginaMirova]

I'm a bit confused when I choose XAVC S 4K and frame rate 60 I get only 200M 4:2:2 10 bit and 150M 4:2:0 8 bit. Did I get something wrong?

[@heraldocavalcanti4364]

Hi Matt! And about record proxy video on A7SIII? Is it easy to do that recording XAVC S-I? Can you give some examples about the size of the files in each format for one shot of 1 minute with the same characteristics? Thanks!

[@bsmrodeo]

What your thoughts on the A1 against the FX30? My A1 heats up really fast and it doesn’t help I live and shoot rodeos in the SW desert. Thanks for your videos. Subbed

[@Ionatanm]

Hi I updated my a7iii (firmware 4.0) and now I can just record 4K in 24 and 25 fps, no more 100 or 60fps, do you know why?

[@BrentRivers]

Matt my understanding and my initial tests are S and HS create the same file sizes when using all equal variables, but with a potential quality increase (marginal) in HS given the efficiencies in the 265 codec. More info folded in. But given the marginal differences in quality even with all-I, it makes total sense to just use S at highest bit and color depth. Am I wrong in my understanding?

[@DJaysParadise]

100% correct. XAVC-S and XAVC-HS use the exact same bitrates in this camera so the filesize is not smaller when using HS. As you said due to the efficiency of HEVC there should be a theoretical quality difference but i tested the codecs against each other and did not find a visual difference

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

guy moves his head more than a bobble doll on the dash of a drunk driver down a dirt road...

[@ammarkhalaf7505]

T H A N K Y O U .. this was so helpful :)

[@dtpdowntoplease]

Hi Matt My footage from my fx3 is not playing in premiere pro how can I fix this I shot in slog3 25 fp Also I was only able to play it in VLC

[@JonasMarcinko]

Hey Matt, Thanks for the video. I have a question. I cant see the thumbnail pics or open the video files in the windows 10 player for quickly seeing which shots are what. just shows the thumbnail without an actual picture. is there a windows plugin that i need for viewing the files from the a7s 3 on windows> I can see them in Premiere pro just fine but it would be nice for the organization of projects to see the shots in the windows file explorer? Thanks!

[@whoismatt]

I would try using VLC media player

[@JonasMarcinko]

@@whoismatt Yay! they play in VLC but still no thumbnails :/ I've searched the web, updated everything, and still no luck. thanks for your response!

[@camjonny]

Same thing on a Mac unfortunately 😯

[@87andsmith]

@@JonasMarcinko it's a 10bit thing..

[@flyingdroneinperu3681]

This video opened a whole new world to me! Thanks so much, greetings from Perú my friend!

[@spacebarvideoproductions]

Hey Matt! Great video. I know this video is 3 years old, but I'm pulling my hair out over here man. On my Sony FX3, I can only choose 24p in XAVC S-I DCI 4K. I've seen your video and so many others, where people choose XAVC S-I 4K, HS 4K, S 4K and they can choose 24p, but not me. I only see 23.98. I'm on software version 4. Did Sony get rid of 24p on the FX3 or something????

[@KatieKookaburra]

Awesome vid, thank you.

[@PrecisionSeniorMarketing]

Great video, thanks, but now I have more questions. :) I'm renting a Sony FX3 to record an small conference in March for the company I work for. I'm in digital marketing and I've recorded lots of simple video with a Panasonic Lumix G7 and edit in Premier. I'm doing a run through to test the camera end of February. (2024) I don't need the highest quality as it is a small corporate event that we might share online, not making a movie, and I'm more worried about just getting the thing recorded and edited without choosing the wrong settings and screwing it up totally. ( It will end up being about 6 sessions of 30 min. clips, with a few additional random clips). Could you recommend basic settings (HD?) that will be workable in Premier with hours of video, without added complication? If I'm over my head I may just end up hiring someone, but the boss man really wanted me to try and get it done so we have the know how in house. Thanks for any help you can provide. (Note: Local camera shop recommended the camera for a number of reasons, recording for hours on and off, distance from camera to stage, etc.)

[@littletheatrefilms5825]

Excellent video and you are always great at explaining things. I just uploaded my clips and they are all mp4. Is that all the Sony fx3 records to? I’m coming from canon so please forgive me. Thank you

[@daycreek]

I wouldn't rule out XAVC HS using 10 bit 420. There's a much bigger difference in 8 bit vs 10 bit than 420 vs 422. As a matter of fact, you would be extremely hard pressed to see any difference at all with the A7SIII. I have not been able to distinguish the difference even when cranking grading to the max (422 vs 420). I would suggest trying it for yourself. So...Why would you choose XAVC HS 420 10bit? Smaller file size and guess what? It edits much easier than 422 in XAVC HS 10 bit. It is now my go-to codec for the A7SIII. Works great with a 4-year old mac and Davinci Resolve. Please give it a try: XAVC HS 420 10-bit.

[@whoismatt]

Hey Alan! Can you share what graphics card you have in your Mac?

[@daycreek]

@@whoismatt Sure. It's the Radeon Pro 580 8 GB. As a side note, Max Yuryev did a recent video about 422 vs 420 and how XAVC HS edits with 420 w/o a problem where 422 has problems. Max was able to edit XAVC HS 422 10-bit cleanly with a new iPad that uses Apple's own graphics chip but that was the only device that was able to cleanly edit XAVC HS 422 footage. Even his $10k Mac Pro had issues. I've experienced the same thing as Max, 420 XAVC HS edits like butter and looks virtually identical to 422...at least with the A7SIII.

[@AliKazi]

My 16inch top Spec December 2019 MBP could not handle the 4k 120 S-i codex from my A7siii... (Just a black screen in quicktime and you can hear the recorded audio and it struggled to edit it in FCP X) So I returned the crazy expensive Sony type A cards. What would be helpful is if you could tell me what settings are best to use on the Atmos Ninja V for recording green screen projects?

[@adipop]

Lots of likes and sub ! Thanks for sharing ! Just bought and sony alfa7iv and you really help me!

[@singhhoop]

I used your run and gun video and downloaded the settings for Sony a7 iv. But for some reason I cannot playback the XAVC S 4k on my intel Mac book pro. I even tried DaVinci but still not preview. What’s the fix for that because I do not want to shoot XAVC HS 4k!

[@RedEyeJedigaming]

XAVC -I HS does not allow to change bit rate and MB in file format, I don't know why.

[@sriabhi]

I wanted to know the use of 600Mbps bit rate on sony fx6 & sony a7iv. How can i export that in premiere pro ? If i move the slider to right end; 240Mbps is the highest possible export. Is there is a limit for 4k bitrate ? just wanted to know the highest possible clarity when exporting. Thanks.

[@CrackaLackTV]

You're my go to guy on camera stuff. Thanks.

[@kahanisaaz]

u said nothing abt XAVC S-I DCI 4K. Plz inform us abt that format also.

[@Donbros]

So if you do very very short clip s-i is gud, but if you film something longer than 1 min clip - that other one

[@DianaMarchenaGarcia]

Thank you so much, really great video and explanation, I’ve just watched it 3 times and I’m definitely gonna watch it couple of times more!

[@AngeloPoulis22]

can u playback 4k120fps in camera's screen? can u playback 4k60fps in camera's screen?

[@randomdrops692]

Video in crazy xyz playlist

[@Purecast9]

I’m so glad I stumbled upon this video. Really helpful. Although I shoot tech videos and am really happy with the A7RM3,I really want the 4K 60 as I need the flexibility of slowing down certain B-Roll shots. Guess I’ll be exchanging my one for the A7S3. Also,believe it or not,I edit all my videos on my iPad Pro (2018) using LumaFusion. Hopefully it’ll be able to edit once I upgrade the camera now 🤞🏼 Love from India 🇮🇳♥️

[@TatyanaHarkoff]

Hi Matt, what format would you recommend if I shoot my videos for KZbin only? MP4?

[@DPFilmco]

I record in XAVC HS 100M 422 10bit ... and it’s easier on my computer than the XAVC-S...

[@samsamalin216]

The noise you notice at 400x can be cleaned in post after recording raw.

[@cedricpaulhiac2363]

Hi Matt, Thank you for another great video. Watching your video made me wonder if there is a visible difference in rolling shutter between S and S-I 4K record modes?

[@a.z2972]

Please keep making these about absolutely everything to do with the a7siii. They’re so helpful thank you so much

[@DailyDrivenDeathTraps]

Coffee on me m8, thanks for the help with my new A7SIII

[@EtheriumSky]

I'm curious - aside from XAVC-HS being a major pain in the ass due to h265 editing - is the image quality actually superior to XAVC-S? Or if my record settings are the same with either than there would be no quality difference?

[@transamericanlife]

Personally, I only ever record in 60fps because anything slower looks much less realistic to my eye

[@venkatphotography3610]

Hi ..Sir from India A small Help Sony a7s3 Best format Your Reference? Video Shoot s

[@dannygrau2983]

What if I don't want to use any picture profile or slog at all ? Can I still get great low light performance shooting straight out of the camera ?

[@DannyPops]

thank you for the public service here! I had forgotten all about what file format meant what after I changed it to HD a year ago and now am back to 4k!

[@dolwolfianphotography]

Thx for the headache I got after watching your video 😂😜📲

[@alanchen2540]

Great info and thanks. However, I thought XAVC HS is much harder to edit comparing to XAVC S as you did. But since getting A7S3 in the past two weeks, the result is upside down and I don't know why. When using FCPX, the latest version, it dropped frames significantly when previewing XAVC S while it not happens in XAVC HS. Is it because of 27' iMac 2019 not having T2 chip? Hope someone could help me to answer.

[@alanchen2540]

by the way, I was comparing XAVC S and HS in the frame rate of 60p in 422. XAVCS in my 27 iMac 2019 really requires proxy when editing. HS needs proxy only when selecting 120p 422

[@CarstenE]

Hi Allen, just got the A7siii and also have an iMac 2019 and have the same problem. So you solved by using XAVC HS 4K? Do u have any additional tips for a smooth workflow ? I would really appreciate an answer :)

[@gerrypi51]

No wedding film due to heat shutdown !!! Kamera Sony A7S3 We always film the wedding ceremony with 2-3 cameras with a continuous run (1 clip / for easier editing) of approx. 60-80 minutes. Earlier in HD no problem. But with 4k XAVC-S / 50p / 200M 4:2:2 10 bit it's over after 50 minutes: the camera switches off due to overheating. What are you supposed to do there? The customer wants 4k. Please advise

[@wildwoodtop]

what model was the first Sony Handycam to support XAVC S

[@seanodonnell429]

My computer seems to struggle with the Sony A7SIII 4k 10 bit 422 200M regardless of whether or not I’m recording in XAVCHS or XAVCS. Recently I just edited a wedding where my second shooter was shooting on a canon r6 4k 10 bit 422 IPB standard (340 MB/s), which means he was recording with the h.265 codec. I noticed that premiere handles his footage much better than my XAVCS footage. It scrubs and plays back more smoothly. Why would this be? Why would computer struggle more with the Sony footage despite it being in the less compressed h.264 codec?

[@SimplestUsername]

XAVC-HS is a more advanced compression algorithm than XAVC-S. I'm dissapointed you dismissed HS 50M before comparing it to S 100M.

[@JeffBourke]

I am overwhelmed with rage that I can not set a custom white balance when I’m using my memory presets.

[@marcusthompson666]

Intra codecs for HQ capture converted to intermediary codec for editing. That's what the pros do. Respect your time and use codecs designed for editing. DNxHR and Prores HQ are in every high end shops AVIDS. Thank me after a year of killer grades and reliable playback.

[@YouEnjoyWeCapture]

Hey Matt or anyone else who can advise :) I purchased the Sony A7S3 a day before I had to shoot a baby reveal. I watched this video and followed the set up shooting in the recommended setting XAVC S 4K. Unfortunately, I am unable to import to either my iMovie or Premier Pro. I contacted Sony (no help) and Apple (no help). The footage is on my desktop... Is there a way I can convert these files to be able to edit them in iMovie or Premier Pro? I switched settings to HD until I can get this figured out. I have gigs booked and need to find out how to move to the higher quality settings and be able to edit in Premier Pro. Thank you in advance for any guidance.

[@whoismatt]

That’s very strange, they should work in both premiere pro and iMovie by default. If they won’t work, I would look at using a free software like handbrake to convert the video files.

[@ZachMayfield]

I can’t friggin wait to get one of the babies

[@tsehgal1]

Matt, great video. Can you mix XAVC S-I and XAVC S in the same timeline and still get the benefits of each format?

[@whoismatt]

Yes