FCP and iMac- how does preview work for H.264 files?

[GavinGear]

I'm getting tired of Windows + Vegas because non-pro Vegas 32 bit on 64 bit Windows is *SO* unstable.

What I'm wondering is, if I were to switch to Mac hardware (say, a 27" iMac with quad or dual core) - are any of them capable of previewing footage straight off the 7D? How about with color grade, sharpen, brightness/contrast applied? (Basic filters, nothing fancy)

Can anyone elaborate as to what models of Mac work well with 7D footage? Seems like Mac + FCP is industrial-strength and very stable.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Shane Ross]

> "are any of them capable of previewing footage straight off the 7D?"

ANy of what? NLEs? Guessing FCP since this is the FCP forum. Yes, you can watch the H.264 files right away. They are quicktime files. You can open them in QT and watch right away. But if you want to edit them, you need to convert them to an editing codec, like ProRes 422. H.264 is NOT an editing codec. For the full workflow, you can watch this tutorial:

http://library.creativecow.net/ross_shane/tapeless-workflow_fcp-7/1

Or you can use MPEG STREAMCLIP to convert...or Compressor...or Magic Bullet Grinder.

>"How about with color grade, sharpen, brightness/contrast applied? (Basic filters, nothing fancy)"

After you convert to ProRes, you can grade all you want. But if you want to see what it looks like...REALLY looks like, you can't do it on a computer monitor. In ANY NLE. YOu need video output hardware and a good HDTV or Broadcast monitor to do that. You can get OK with a computer monitor, but it will look different than on your TV. With an iMac, you can't really do this. There is no way to connect the professional hardware to the consumer machine.

> "Can anyone elaborate as to what models of Mac work well with 7D footage?"

WORK WITH? ANy of the Professional models. MacBook Pro, Mac Pro. Consumer? iMac will... iBook...maybe. But you need to convert the footage...as I mentioned.


Well,

 

[robertrogoz]

Or you can use MPEG STREAMCLIP to convert...or Compressor...or Magic Bullet Grinder.

MPEG streamclip is a free program, but unfortunately you pay the price, which is a lot of important metadata is lost in the process of transcoding. For $50 bucks you can purchase Clipwrap, which will allow you to preserve all the metadata from the files.