what is better compression for editing in fcp...h.264 or dv/dvcpro

G

glkl

Active member
I have footage that is in avi format using a TechSmith EnSharpen. I want to edit the footage in fcp. Is there a difference in quality if I use the compressor setting dv/dvcpro as opposed to compressor setting H.264?

Thanks.
 
Editing h.264 in Final Cut Pro is a bad idea as it will have to recompress with every edit and upon export, because it's a long gop format. Go DV/DVCPRO or any other intra-frame codec (Photo-JPEG, Uncompressed), which will only add new compression if filters are added.
 
Is there much difference in quality dv/dvpro vs uncompressed. Will the file sizes be much different from the original?
 
What are you GOING to is the question.

Web? Won't matter, use DV/DVCPro. Film? Export using the highest quality.

CaptM
 
By "compressor" setting do you mean using the program Compressor to transcode all of the AVI files or do you mean changing the compressor property under Sequence settings?

-A
 
You will not ever use UNCOMPRESSED unless your work *specifically* calls for it. And if your work specifically calls for it, you will know. So no, do not use uncompressed.

DV/DVCPRO/DVCPRO HD are the codecs you will want to use. They are a mild compression.

H.264 is a more aggressive compression, and you will NOT want to edit in it. This is used mainly for exporting, perhaps to Blu-Ray or Web.

Some consumer camcorders shooting in h.264, and many people HATE editing in that format because it requires much more processor power to decompress that compression scheme. DV/DVCPRO/DVCPRO HD is great to edit with.

Every codec (ie "DV" or "DVCPRO HD" or "H.264") have various parameters that control how high of quality they are as well. But don't worry about this for now, it sounds like you need to do some reading and research in your manual and online about codecs, compression, long-gop, intraframe, etc.

Just use DV/DVCPRO for working with SD footage, or DVCPRO HD for working with Hi Definition. Just do it and trust us :)
 
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