12 Reasons to Use 4K Video in Your Next Production Project
Does shooting with 4k make the above video a reality? Not quite, but it can do a lot more than Macgyver being able to “lock on and enlarge the Z-axis.” (go to the time stamp 1:32 of the above video to get the reference).
So what is 4k? How can it benefit a video project? And why should you even care? We collected the answers to these questions and other 4k questions from 5 video production companies. With their insights, you’ll better understand why our standard at Devin Super Tramp LLC is to use 4k and 8k for most of our video production projects.
What is 4k?
4K is a resolution of approximately 4000 pixels wide. Generally, when we refer to 4K, we’re talking about 4K UHD (Ultra-High-Definition) which is 3840 x 2160 pixels. This is the current standard for TV and digital media. However, the slightly wider DCI 4K (4096 x 2160) is usually used in cinema. 4K is approximately four times higher resolution than the previous HD format of 1080p.
Can you really tell the difference between 1080p and 4K?
Let’s say you have fairly good eyesight. You sat 7-8 feet from a 50″ TV. Whether it’s 1080p or 4K, there’s unlikely to be a considerable difference in sharpness. This is because the human eye is limited by how close two pixels can be to each other before it fails to see the distinction. So, you might think “what’s the point in 4K?”
Well, if you have a big TV, you sat quite close to it, or happen to have 20/20 vision, the pixels might be pretty noticeable. In reality, post-1080p resolutions are really more about size than definition, because they allow you to achieve the same sharpness with much larger screens. So, while 4K is unlikely to make much difference on current standard-sized displays, it will have a sizeable impact on the definition available to larger formats.
Why shoot in 4K?
We’re going to say something unexpected here, and that is that even if you’re only planning on publishing in 1080p it can still be a good idea to shoot 4K footage. This is because it gives you wiggle room to crop or zoom footage while editing and still achieve full resolution.
Overshooting resolution also gives you the scope to scale up in the future. In 10 years’ time, you might want to revisit your favorite projects on your cutting-edge 32K home-cinema (we can dream, right?) – and you won’t want to see all of those ugly individual pixels.
More realistically (and more immediately), you might want to show your film in a theatre, so it can be a good idea to keep that higher resolution in your back pocket.
How much space does 4K video take?
There is one downside to shooting in 4K and that’s file-size. At 1080p, a 60 second clip of 30fps footage would only require around 130MB. A 4K clip of the same length and frame rate would be nearly 3 times as big. That might not sound like much, but if you’re working on a big project or need to fit a lot of takes on your camera, it could be the difference between needing to buy 3 memory cards or 9. There’s also the case of storing that footage on your hard-drive, which can get pretty expensive, pretty quick.
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Still not convinced? Here are 10 powerful reasons on why 4k is the best to use for your next project.
1. You get super sharp images.
With 4k shooting, the images are much sharper and clearer. People think that just because you’re shooting in HD, you automatically get sharp images. That’s not necessarily true since there are different types of HD (720 and 1080P) and the resolution would still differ depending on the type of camera you use. When you shoot at 4k and even if you down sample to an HD quality, you will still see a difference in the sharpness of the image.
2. You can stabilize footage without noticeable effects on your video.
Unless you’re a huge production team with money and people at your disposable, chances are stabilizing your shots on location can be challenging. Even if you’re standing still, there will be camera shake. There are programs capable of stabilizing your footage but these often require you to “zoom in” and it can be prove deadly if you’re using 1080p as it can easily render your footage unusable. With 4k shoots, you can zoom and stabilize the video without noticing much of a difference in quality.
3. Cropping your shot or video won’t be a problem.
Cropping a video in 1080p is near impossible especially if you’re aiming for super high quality. In fact, most people don’t even consider the cropping portion because it wasn’t an option. Using 4k, you can easily find a better composition by cropping without having your shot suffer. Recomposing a shot after it was shot is definitely an added perk.
4. You can pull usable and high quality still frames.
Grabbing frames from 4k video is just perfect. The frames are good enough to showcase on the web compared to grabbing a still frame from a 1080p, the latter will look low-res. Aside from that, most people are even realizing that the 4k still frames are good enough to print.
5. You can shoot two rolls at the same time.
Traditionally, when doing shots or interviews, you use two cameras to capture different angles – usually one wide and one tight. With 4k, you can replace this two-camera setup since you have more room to play around with. You can zoom and crop with ease without worrying about losing quality and data.
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6. Low light conditions
We know that in unfavorable light conditions the use of the telephoto lens is very complicated, although we have high quality optics we will always have a higher f-number than when working on angles. Once we take this into account and know the advantage mentioned in the previous section, we will have a video in Full HD without the need for an optical zoom.
7. New compression codecs
At the moment we have a very powerful compression codec such as the H.265, it duplicates the compression of the H.264 and partially solves one of the biggest disadvantages of the 4k files.
8. Evolution of the market itself
Until a few years ago those who bought a camera for 4k video were not sure how the market would behave. But we can already see that all the big companies of television, video games, mobile phones and computers are betting on this technology.
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9. Downscaling to HD
If you’re working on a project in HD, you can still use 4K video and easily downscale it to HD resolution. And since there are four times as many pixels, this results in an even sharper image. When color correcting, this downscaled footage allows for more flexibility. Both Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro X allow you to downscale 4K footage within your HD sequence in a few clicks.
10. Chroma Keying
When keying out a green or blue screen background, the additional pixels around the subject’s edges mean you can tweak and refine your settings in order to obtain a cleaner and more polished final result. More sharpness and detail also make it easier to track movement appropriately.
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11. Perfect Pans and Zooms
Have you ever tried to film a perfectly smooth pan with a video camera? It's almost impossible. Have you ever tried to film a perfectly smooth zoom with a manual lens? It's literally impossible.
If you shoot 4k, small pans and zooms have never been easier. Simply zoom out, grab a few seconds of your scene and then add a pan or a zoom once you get back to the computer.
Adding these movements to your video in post will actually look better than anything you can do in the field and because 4k gives you so many extra pixels to work with, your finished product will look flawless.
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12. Extremely Helpful For Visual Effects
For producers who use compositing elements and create visual effects, 4K video is a must. Visual effects artists find themselves in all kinds of post-production conundrums. It's much easier to place a composited element when there are more pixels to work with. If the visual effects element is larger than the composition, it's much easier to scale down and retain visual clarity.
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In Conclusion
So, there you have it from multiple professionals in the field. No doubt, 4k has draw backs, such as file size and lower resolutions (like 1080p) currently being good enough. However, as the many reasons state above, the industry is going towards 4k and higher. Plus, you have greater creativity over your project when you use 4k footage in your projects. Knowing all this, you should make plans to have 4k part of your next video project.