Sony launched a new YouTube channel, Sony4K, dedicated to collecting examples of 4K and UHD cinematography captured with Sony cameras and behind-the-scenes information about how the cameras work, and techniques and best practices for capturing 4K content.
Sony4K will combine video created by Sony with user-generated content, which will be featured on a special "User Uploads" playlist.
"We created this channel to do one thing — to create a community of Sony owners, users and operators of 4K cameras," said Channel Manager Brett Erlich in a press briefing introducing the initiative. "This is all just an attempt to give people who use these cameras a forum to get loud and share what their experiences are, their opinions, and why they like using these cameras so much."
Click to load a full-resolution version showing YouTube's Quality selection menu.
Yes, the videos will be presented in full 4K. Clicking on the gearwheel in the bottom right-hand corner of the YouTube interface reveals a pop-up menu (above) that offers user-selectable resolutions ranging from as little as 240p all the way up to 2160p. Sony's videos for the channel are being shot on a range of Sony 4K cameras and mastered in 4K XAVC before being fed into YouTube's standard compression engine for streaming at multiple levels of quality. Eventually, playlists will be added spotlighting footage from each of Sony's 4K cameras, from the F65 down to the FS5.
Part of the impetus for the channel has been to introduce Sony's 4K camera systems to a new segment of the digital media ecosystem — Youtubers. "Sony is often thought of as broadcast, or high-end cinema, [but] our cameras are being used in all areas of production," said Dan Perry, the director of Sony's Digital Motion Picture Center.
Sony hopes a community will grow around discussion in the YouTube comments, as well as at a Facebook page being introduced in tandem with the YouTube channel.
