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Any way to output 4K video full res with adjustments?

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KarlG

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May 3, 2016
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I shoot mostly stills but do occasionally shoot some short video clips. LR's limited ability to make adjustments to videos was sufficient for me. However, when I got a 5K screen I found that the detail of standard HD video is really disappointing compared to stills. So I started shooting at 4K. That looks much better. However, it seems that you can't export 4K video at full res with the adjustments applied. That is, in the Video section of the Export dialog, the H.264 and DPX options for Video Format only provide Target resolution up to 1920x1080. The only other Video Format option is "Original, unedited file".

Is there any way to output 4K video with adjustments at full resolution?
 
Nope, sorry Karl. Lightroom's video editing is basic at best.
 
Thanks, Your Highness, for confirming that 4K video adjusted in LR cannot be exported at full res. Yes, the ability to adjust video is very basic, but I'd still like to be able to export the result so I could view it on a 4K television or send a copy to a friend who has a 4K television or computer monitor.
 
FWIW, I do any video editing outside of LR and then import the final result into LR. LR really only is serving as a database for the videos, not as a "processing" app.
 
Camner: thanks for the response. I've heard that video editing has a steep learning curve, so I've been hesitant to learn it. So I've been happy to just tweak my videos' white balance, exposure, contrast, and vibrance in LR -- don't have to hop between programs, don't have to keep an original and edited version of each clip, ... It seems to me that a basic principle for LR should be that if it lets you apply adjustments to something, you should be able to export a full res version with the adjustments applied. Otherwise, the adjustments are "trapped" in LR -- you can only view the adjusted version within LR.

I'd be interested in hearing your suggestions for a basic video editor program. I'm on a Mac, so iMovie is a possibility, but I have also seen others suggested, such as Premiere Elements and Filmora.
 
I think it all depends on what you want to do with videos. I now use iMovie 10.x, after trying Premier Elements for a while (people seem to like it, and it can do more, I think, than iMovie, but I found the interface rather clunky). But, all I'm doing is editing "proud grandparents" kinds of videos. And iMovie is plenty good enough for that! What I have read, but can't personally vouch for by experience, is something to the effect of "If iMovie isn't full-featured enough for your needs, get Final Cut Pro." The downside of FCP is that it is pricey!

I suggest you give editing a whirl. I find that pretty much 100% of the time, there are parts of any video I record that has one or more of the following faults:
  1. There are some blurry spots when I moved the camera too fast
  2. The subject moved out of the camera frame for a while (or perhaps I couldn't keep up the tracking without risking viewer vertigo)
  3. The subject(s) are doing something boring for too long, or even if not boring at first, the clip spends too much time on that one activity and thus it is boring
  4. People behind the camera are talking too loudly
Skimming over the clip, breaking them apart and deleting the unwanted segments (and inserting a transition between the clips), doesn't take that long.

I also get to add a title, a fade to black at the end, etc.

I did find the learning curve a bit steep, but (a) it wasn't too bad, and (b) the learning curve is less steep than is the case with LR, in my (humble?) opinion.
 
I'd be interested in hearing your suggestions for a basic video editor program. I'm on a Mac, so iMovie is a possibility, but I have also seen others suggested, such as Premiere Elements and Filmora.
iMovie is a pretty good place to start on a Mac. It might be all you need for simple projects involving cuts and fades, basic image corrections, and titles. Premiere Elements would be another consumer-level editor, but I haven't used it.

If you have a long-term goal of reaching a more professional skill level for video editing, you could get Final Cut Pro. Another option is DaVinci Resolve, which is interesting because it's apparently pro level, but it's free. They do sell a $299 version, if you need "all the features of the free version plus support for multiple GPUs, 4K output, motion blur effects, temporal and spatial noise reduction, 3D tools, remote and multi user collaboration tools." I use Adobe Premiere Pro, which comes with a Creative Cloud subscription; if I didn't have that I might be using FCP or DVR.

Even though Resolve is free, the reason I didn't lump it in with free iMovie or cheap Premiere Elements is because the list price is not really where it costs you. It's in that learning curve you mentioned. You should decide whether you do or don't plan to learn pro-level video editing, because if you don't, it may be best to stick with video editors like iMovie and Premiere Elements. If you pick up a program like Final Cut, Resolve, or Premiere Pro, you could easily drown in the menus and buttons trying to find the two or three features you need to just get a basic edit done. They have interfaces denser than Lightroom, with seemingly bottomless dialog boxes and infinite panels and sub-panels full of options. All those options are there for good reasons, but you have to really need or want to learn them to put up with them.

On the other hand, the consumer editors like iMovie boil down the process to the essentials most people need.
 
KarlG,
Do you have the photographers bundle of CC? If so you have Photoshop, and your able to edit video in Photoshop. What I'm not sure of is 4K video. I don't have any 4K video clips to test this.
 
camper, Conrad, and frozenfram:

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Very helpful information.
 
I should amend my post though. I said DaVinci Resolve was free, but I forgot you want 4K output, which is part of the $299 version. So for 4K output it's the same price as Final Cut Pro. But at least you can try out the free version before you buy.
 
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