AVC-Intra in FCP7- native or prores?

B

Bokes

Well-known member
Best AVC-Intra workflow?
FCP7 on a 2010 Macpro 3.33 6 core.
Do I need to compress all files to prores- or can I just log and transfer and let FCP bring it in Apple AVC-Intra?
 
If you import in log and trasfer it re-wraps the AVC intra as pro res files. AVC 100 becomes pro res HQ.

No need to convert just load it in and FCP takes care of the rest.
 
That's the way it used to be, but is it still that way? I thought the latest release added native AVC-Intra? So the log & transfer process just rewraps it from MXF into MOV?
 
I think Barry is right ... Used to be that AVC I was transcoded to pro res, but in FCP 7 in the upper left Log & transfer window, if you click on the gear icon > preferences> you'll see that AVCI has a native setting which did not used to be there.
 
Yes you are right Barry when transferring MXF files to FCP they will turn up as MOV files in the "capture scratch" directory. However does that mean it is native ??????? Question is what codec is in the mov file and what time line you have to chose. I alway use a prores 422 HQ timeline because there is simply no other option in FCP (besides all the other prores flavours) or am I missing something???
 
From what I learned from the apple forum-
There is no native sequence setting, so it is best to go to prores. The question now is HQ or not or does it really matter?
 
i think the only difference is that prores is 8 bits and prores HQ is 10 bits, most of the time you will not see the difference.
 
As I said FCP 7 re-wraps the native AVC intra files as pro res, no need to transcode and what you get one the files are re-wrapped as .MOV is pro res HQ. You can see in the sequence settings that is what FCP then see's. You will also see in the bin that the file originated from AVC intra but if you drop a clip onto the sequence timeline it sets it as pro res HQ.
 
Gary I always thought that AVC-I and prores are both different codecs and that re-wrapping is just a coat over the codec so that QT or FCP can read them. So in other words I thought you can have AVC-I mov files as well as prores mov files but they are not the same. If you convert the AVC-I codec to prores, than re-wrapp it in a move file than we are not talking about native use of MXF files by FCP right ? For me native means that FCP use the MXF files directly from the cam without doing anything with it. For instance when you use that particular utility to transfer tthe mxf files from the cam to FCP (forgot the name of the app) you will see MXF files in your "capture scratch" and no prores mov files. Maybe you can explain it to me in a simple way when I am wrong.

GaryNattrass said:
As I said FCP 7 re-wraps the native AVC intra files as pro res, no need to transcode and what you get one the files are re-wrapped as .MOV is pro res HQ. You can see in the sequence settings that is what FCP then see's. You will also see in the bin that the file originated from AVC intra but if you drop a clip onto the sequence timeline it sets it as pro res HQ.
Click to expand...
 
At the end of the day what does it matter?

I shoot AVC intra 100 it re-wraps into FCP as a MOV file and then when it goes to the timeline it appears as pro res HQ, I then export my master and it is a quicktime file in pro res HQ.

Its all about workflows and as far as FCP is concerned it all works and I don't need to consider if it is native or pro res, it also loads and runs very quickly on my 8-core mac pro.

You can transcode to pro res if you like but you are wasting your time as it is far slower than a simple re-wrap in log and transfer.

I used to have AVID that can read the MXF natively but it seemed to take just as long for it to read the files as it does to re-wrap them to .MOV in FCP log and transfer.

it is also a good workflow as I did a drama last year that was edited in Spain, I just sent him a disc with the re-wrapped files on it and it loaded fine in an older FCP studio 2 system as all it saw was the AVC intra 100 as a pro res HQ file.
 
You are right Gary, I also use it like you describe it but I just want to know how it works exactly. I am a scientist from origin (academic chemist) and they want to understand things they use.


GaryNattrass said:
At the end of the day what does it matter?

I shoot AVC intra 100 it re-wraps into FCP as a MOV file and then when it goes to the timeline it appears as pro res HQ, I then export my master and it is a quicktime file in pro res HQ.

Its all about workflows and as far as FCP is concerned it all works and I don't need to consider if it is native or pro res, it also loads and runs very quickly on my 8-core mac pro.

You can transcode to pro res if you like but you are wasting your time as it is far slower than a simple re-wrap in log and transfer.

I used to have AVID that can read the MXF natively but it seemed to take just as long for it to read the files as it does to re-wrap them to .MOV in FCP log and transfer.

it is also a good workflow as I did a drama last year that was edited in Spain, I just sent him a disc with the re-wrapped files on it and it loaded fine in an older FCP studio 2 system as all it saw was the AVC intra 100 as a pro res HQ file.
Click to expand...
 
Oh its far too advanced magic for me, I just shoot edit and deliver. So long as it all works (it never did properly with the sony plug in and the Z7 and S270) then I am happy.
 
Dont know if this helps but here is the details for a clip that has been re-wrapped as a .MOV. AVC intra is Mpeg4 so it must be fairly easy to make it work in FCP:


*** MediaInfo Mac // Plain text file report
2010-10-12 22:09:07 +0100
Information for File: 0001QB.mov

General / Container Stream # 1
Total Video Streams for this File -> 1
Total Audio Streams for this File -> 4
Video Codecs Used -> ai12
Audio Codecs Used -> PCM / PCM / PCM / PCM
File Format -> MPEG-4
Play Time -> 9s 960ms
Total File Size -> 139 MiB
Total Stream BitRate -> 117 Mbps
Encoding Library -> Apple QuickTime
Video Stream # 1
Codec (Human Name) -> ai12
Codec (FourCC) -> ai12
Frame Width -> 1 920 pixels
Frame Height -> 1 080 pixels
Frame Rate -> 25.000 fps
Total Frames -> 249
Display Aspect Ratio -> 16/9
QF (like Gordian Knot) -> 2.193
Video Stream Length -> 9s 960ms
Video Stream BitRate -> 114 Mbps
Video Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Video Stream Size -> 135 MiB (97%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-11-19 20:52:18
Audio Stream # 1
Codec -> PCM
Codec (FourCC) -> sowt
Audio Stream Length -> 9s 960ms
Audio Stream BitRate -> 768 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Number of Audio Channels -> 1
Sampling Rate -> 48.0 KHz
Bit Depth -> 16 bits
Audio Stream Size -> 934 KiB (1%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-11-19 20:52:18
Audio Stream # 2
Codec -> PCM
Codec (FourCC) -> sowt
Audio Stream Length -> 9s 960ms
Audio Stream BitRate -> 768 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Number of Audio Channels -> 1
Sampling Rate -> 48.0 KHz
Bit Depth -> 16 bits
Audio Stream Size -> 934 KiB (1%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-11-19 20:52:18
Audio Stream # 3
Codec -> PCM
Codec (FourCC) -> sowt
Audio Stream Length -> 9s 960ms
Audio Stream BitRate -> 768 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Number of Audio Channels -> 1
Sampling Rate -> 48.0 KHz
Bit Depth -> 16 bits
Audio Stream Size -> 934 KiB (1%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-11-19 20:52:18
Audio Stream # 4
Codec -> PCM
Codec (FourCC) -> sowt
Audio Stream Length -> 9s 960ms
Audio Stream BitRate -> 768 Kbps
Audio Stream BitRate Mode -> CBR
Number of Audio Channels -> 1
Sampling Rate -> 48.0 KHz
Bit Depth -> 16 bits
Audio Stream Size -> 934 KiB (1%)
Date of Original Encoding -> UTC 2009-11-19 20:52:18
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top