Flipping P2 footage on import in FCP 5.1.2?

B

borax

Active member
Hi,

I am currently loading my first batch of P2 footage that was shot with the Redrock M2 adapter and wanted to know if it is possible to "flip" the image as I import the files?

Since Aspect HD has the feature I was hoping FCP would have a similar feature.

Thanks
 
You want to flip it how? You can flip stuff anyway you want in FCP. There's the rotate control in the Motion tab, and several filters that will do various re-orientations. Never worked with an M2, so I'm not sure exactly what the orientation is.

But my guess is that in the Perspective bin under Video Filters is what you need. Check out the Flop filter, it'll do horizontal, verticle, or both.
 
He wants to know if you can automate a flip as you are importing your MXF files into FCP so that he doesn't have to do what you just described to every clip individually.

Borax, as far as I know, there is no possible way to do that thus far. Maybe with the next FCP update?
 
To do it during Import of the footage, nope. But the Flop filter is RT and easy to drop into everything. That's about the only solution for now I guess.
 
gotta do in post. Fix one, copy attributes, Paste Attributes on timeline. Such a minority feature, and would require re-encoding the files if wanted to do it on import, so I seriously doubt it would be in next version of FCP.
 
Well FCP reincodes the files anyway upon import, converting the files to Quicktime, so it doesn't seems like a huge deal. But the next logical progression for P2/FCP would be getting rip of the Quicktime conversion and dealing with MXF natively. So I agree with you, Mike, that it's unlikely that we'll see this feature.
 
Actually, you can add a filter to the Browser version of a clip. Open it in the Veiwer, apply the filter, it's applied to the copy in the Browser.

And hit that FCP Feedback Page with requests!
 
Noah said:
Well FCP reincodes the files anyway upon import, converting the files to Quicktime, so it doesn't seems like a huge deal.
Click to expand...
Actually it would be a very huge deal. FCP doesn't re-encode anything, it just changes the wrapping paper around it, but the footage itself is untouched. To do the flip would involve uncompressing the footage, rotating it, and recompressing it.

But the next logical progression for P2/FCP would be getting rip of the Quicktime conversion and dealing with MXF natively.
Click to expand...
We can only hope! Well, we can hope, but we can also ask and beg. Go to the FCP "feedback" menu and send them a note asking that they implement that. The more people who ask, the more likely it will be that it'll happen.
 
So if its not possible to flip the footage on import, and I haven't seen threads with people bitching about it like me, then I assume everyone is happy with this workflow??

Its kinda hard to think that everyone is cool the fact that you are looking at all of your master clips flipped UPSIDE DOWN! or maybe people are just flipping their display to accommodate the lack of a simple function button.

I for one would rather take the time on import to have my footage appear in the proper orientation.

- Rant Off - :)

Anyway, I have a second newbie question. I would like to know if I have to set my project prefereces or sequence to the proper resolution and frame rate before I import the footage into FCP.

or

Is the P2 importer window smart enough to know what resolution the footage is an just imports it properly no matter what those settings are?

I assume that if a P2 card contains multiple resolution types and you batch import it will just sort everything out according to the individual file.

(I do realize that most people won't change there settings as they go. I just want to understand how the P2 import handles files.)

Thanks
 
borax said:
I would like to know if I have to set my project prefereces or sequence to the proper resolution and frame rate before I import the footage into FCP.

or

Is the P2 importer window smart enough to know what resolution the footage is an just imports it properly no matter what those settings are?

I assume that if a P2 card contains multiple resolution types and you batch import it will just sort everything out according to the individual file.

(I do realize that most people won't change there settings as they go. I just want to understand how the P2 import handles files.)

Thanks
Click to expand...

The P2 import window will just import the footage at whatever frame rate and resolution it was shot at, (including multiple formats on the same card) so you do not need to set up the project before hand. However before dropping any footage in the timeline it is advisable to set up a sequence with the settings you intend to work in, other wise you will need to render clips if they dont match your sequnce settings.
 
borax said:
Its kinda hard to think that everyone is cool the fact that you are looking at all of your master clips flipped UPSIDE DOWN! or maybe people are just flipping their display to accommodate the lack of a simple function button.
Click to expand...
Or just shoot with a Letus35 Flip Enhanced, and never deal with any upside-down-ness ever...
 
Honestly Barry I would consider buying a Letus just to avoid the whole flip issue. Can you comment on the quality of the Letus compared to the Redrock M2? I know its off topic, but it is a solution to the problem.

BTW, I have imported the P2 footage and flipped it with the Flop (both) filter and things seem to work smoothly. So maybe its not the end of the world.

Although having used AspectHD on a PC, I am dissapointed that FCP lacks a flip function.
 
borax said:
Honestly Barry I would consider buying a Letus just to avoid the whole flip issue. Can you comment on the quality of the Letus compared to the Redrock M2? I know its off topic, but it is a solution to the problem.
Click to expand...
Haven't used the Redrock. I can say I think the Letus is amazing in video quality and it's half the price of the Redrock and it does the flip for you. Physical build quality is something I'm still learning about.
 
Barry,

I have searched through some of the older forum threads and have read some great things about the Letus.

Although I wasn't able to find out how the adapter doesn't just break off the lens adapter without the use of a rail system to support the weight.

Is the adapter really that light that you don't need rails?

What if you want to add a follow focus?
 
With the help of some kind people on the Apple boards, I was able to write a script that does a batch 180deg rotation of Quicktime files using the rotate feature in Quicktime Pro. Simple easy. Opening them in Quicktime player shows then right-side-up. Life was grand. Until...bringing my newly rotated clips into FCP for editing I found that they were again upside down. Checking them again in Quicktime player they were right-side-up.

Conclusion: FCP doesn't read the metadata that Quicktime Pro assigns. Life is no longer grand. :)

Anyone have any thoughts?
Todd
 
Yeah its a shame FCP ignores the changes which Quicktime Player is happy to see. Andreas Kiel wrote a small app to batch automate the clip rotation by applying the Flop (Both) filter to all clips using XML.
rotateClips
 
i wonder how long it will be untill camera companies begin investing in flip functions in camera.
 
What I do when editing M2 footage is drag all of the footage (seperate timelines to organize) to the timeline, FLIP them all, and use that for reference, to view the clips, then have a seperate timeline for your edit.. It works well and takes up zero space.. You can drag all of your clips to the timeline, then rotate 1 clip 180 degrees, then save it as a motion favorite, then select all of you clips, and apply that specific motion favorite you just created.. Sounds complacated, but WORKS WELL!

Good luck..
 
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