Output HVX Footage from FCP Question

M

mdreuben

Member
I've imported about 60 minutes P2 footage shot at 480p / 30fps into FCP. My utimate goal is to remove some of the really bad takes and dead air to provide my client with a final file that he can take to his editor to work with on the finished product. He doesn't want to sit through watching all the raw footage - just the better takes.


My editing sequence is 720x480 (NTSC DV) / 29.97 and Compressor setting DVCPRO5-NTSC, Quality 100%. At this setting all the footage and audio comes in fine with no rendering needed. The scenes in the canvas are super sharp.

My question concerns how to output the footage. When I use the same settings (DV/DVCPRO50) as the footage was imported, it's somewhat blurry and flat. In fact nothing looks as good when I output the footage as Uncompressed. But the file sizes are HUGE. A 2 minute segment is nearly 4 gig. The same clip imported into FCP is half that size.

Could someone help explain what I'm missing here? I can't figure out what settings I should be using to keep the output quality maximized but not have the files as large as they are getting to be.

Thanks so much!
 
Shiloh Arts said:
This link might be helpful to you. You might already be aware of it, but if not take a look on page 9, or 17.

WorkFlow for Final Cut Pro and Panasonic AG-HVX200 HD Camera
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link! It got me as far as knowing that I've imported everything correctly. However, it never got as far as answering my question about QT settings for the output. If I output at anthing but animation or uncompressed, the footage looks softer and flatter. Logic would tell me to output at the same compressor as was used to shoot, but perhaps that means I'm compressing the compressed footage?

How can I get clean, crisp, output QT movies that are about the same size as what I'm importing? This two gig a minute output rate is twice the size of the input rate.

Thanks,

Martin
 
I just tried it and my footage looks good. Not sure what to tell ya. DVCPRO-HD is a non-gop format, and yes, it takes up some space. That's the nature of HD.
 
Have you tried using Media Manager?

You can tell MM to copy selected sequences into a new project and delete any unused material without having to recompress the files. It'll use the same compression settings as you're currently using so your files won't increase in size.

You can also tell MM where to place the new project and associated files. It's very helpful when you need to consolidate various elements into a single portable package.
 
DCSensui said:
Have you tried using Media Manager?

You can tell MM to copy selected sequences into a new project and delete any unused material without having to recompress the files. It'll use the same compression settings as you're currently using so your files won't increase in size.

You can also tell MM where to place the new project and associated files. It's very helpful when you need to consolidate various elements into a single portable package.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! It would work for me the new editor was going to be working in FCP, which of course they arent : (

I still can't figure out why I can't export and get maxium quality without this huge increase in file size.
 
The media-managed media files will be in Quicktime format with the same compression as your existing files, only shorter since the unwanted parts have been trimmed out.

The editor you're collaborating with can use the project you created or just use the Quicktime media files without having to use FCP.

It's also possible to assign names to the clips in your project sequence and have media manager use those assigned names for the clip media as well. That way when the QT files are used elsewhere the media files will have names which will make sense to all of you.

In a perfect world, all editors collaborating on a particular project will have the same version of the same program. That's what we do for our show. Otherwise it would be way too confusing and cumbersome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top