C100: Issue with importing C100 AVCHD footage in FCPX

Tim Nitsch

Tim Nitsch

Well-known member
I posted this in the NLE > FCPX forum as well as mac rumors and and I've yet to get a reply :( so I figured I'd post here:

So I'm slowly trying to convert myself over to X from 7 and I have run into an issue.

Now I know FCPX can edit the .MTS files natively but my issue is importing the files.

Normally when I import the footage off the card, I simply copy the entire folder structure into a folder on an external drive so I can stitch the spanned clips back together later.

Usually I do this in ClipWrap but I noticed that FCPX will do this too.

Here's where the issue comes into play. Any time I try to import the folder structure into FCPX it keeps asking me to import it into another folder, but I don't want to do that, I just want it to leave the files where they are. Conveniently there is a option to do just that but unfortunately its grayed out and I can't select it. FCP is forcing me to import the files into another folder.

Is there a work around for this?

One option I have found to work is to do what I would normally do in FCP7 which is to convert the .MTS files to ProRes in ClipWrap or 5DtoRGB if I know I don't have any spanned clips and then as long as the AVCHD folder structure is not in the same folder as the ProRes footage I can import the ProRes footage into FCPX without having to move the footage into another folder.

But I'm trying to avoid having to convert the small AVCHD files into these monster ProRes files and save some disk space and speed up my workflow by dropping that time-consuming step.

Any other ideas?
 
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This is a unfortunate part of FCPx's way of handling the C100 avchd file structure. The copy feature is greyed out leading to duplicate files. A friend who owns an FS700 doesn't have this problem with its AVCHD files.
 
ClipWrap WILL automatically detect spanned clips as long as you drag the "AVCHD" package file into the program window, and not just the folder it is contained within. Also, you don't need to go to ProRes when you simply re-wrap...

Why don't you just use Clipwrap to convert your cards into .mov files and then import to FCPX?

Or, you could ingest the card using the Final Cut import window to a new FCPX event, then afterwards, "Consolidate" the event media to an external folder if you don't want the media living in an event (new 10.1 feature). You could then erase your card archive.
 
Again I'm still somewhat new to FCPX, but how well does it play with .mov files? I know in FCP7 I always had to render when I used anything but ProRes.

(or I could not be lazy and just try it myself lol)
 
Well I tried what Nate suggested and it seemed to work fine so that may be what I need to do from now on.

Thanks for the help guys!
 
Yes, Clipwrap is the way to go. It also allows you to organize your clips at the finder level into folders. Then when you import the folders into FCPX, those folders and all the clips will come in (like bins in FCP7) already organized! Way better then letting FCPX import the clips off the card. Plus, it's a faster import off the card with clipwrap IMHO.
 
Paul Frederick said:
Yes, Clipwrap is the way to go. It also allows you to organize your clips at the finder level into folders. Then when you import the folders into FCPX, those folders and all the clips will come in (like bins in FCP7) already organized! Way better then letting FCPX import the clips off the card. Plus, it's a faster import off the card with clipwrap IMHO.
Click to expand...
Hi Paul
I'm thinking of trying the Clipwrap route but have a couple of questions. Do you rewrap or transcode to prores before importing in to FCPx?
thanks
 
That option is greyed out because you are importing from a 'camera' or in your case an archive of the original file format. It will always be like this if you maintain the original volume structure of the footage from the original camera. If you want to treat it like footage that is in a folder on a drive, either rename the folders or move the files out to a different folder.

Generally my method for file import / acquisition in FCPX is I have a drive specifically for my 'digital negatives' and from there I ingest and transcode to my working scratch drives.
 
I just use 7, because I've got it and know it, and it sounds like you do too (mine's on a sparate boot drive).. I Log and Transfer creating ProRes files that I can put on any drive I chose. In the Capture Scratch folder I manually arrange the clips into named folders - then in FCPX I import the folders as keyword collections without creating optimized media.. It sounds like a "process", but really isn't, and has worked well for me without adding APPs or learning curves to my already complicated life... The only problem is in the new X, with projects and events in bundles, you can't just hand off the bundle to another computer (which was the reason for the change).. You have to remeber to move the Capture Scratch folders as well.
 
Mac said:
The only problem is in the new X, with projects and events in bundles, you can't just hand off the bundle to another computer (which was the reason for the change).. You have to remeber to move the Capture Scratch folders as well.
Click to expand...

Simply use the "Consolidate Media" feature before you hand off the bundle. Done.
 
Curnsie said:
Hi Paul
I'm thinking of trying the Clipwrap route but have a couple of questions. Do you rewrap or transcode to prores before importing in to FCPx?
thanks
Click to expand...
Drew, I usually just rewrap and edit the native files in FCPx, then set it to render and export to ProRes for my MASTER. I like the smaller file sizes for alot of my day to day projects, local commercials, direct to web stuff etc. if I need ProRes (for big documentaries, or for my stock footage I sell), I shoot in ProRes on the Ninja 2. On my system, FCPX can handle the native files as well as ProRes ones, so I just rewrap in Clipwrap.
 
Paul Frederick said:
Drew, I usually just rewrap and edit the native files in FCPx, then set it to render and export to ProRes for my MASTER. I like the smaller file sizes for alot of my day to day projects, local commercials, direct to web stuff etc. if I need ProRes (for big documentaries, or for my stock footage I sell), I shoot in ProRes on the Ninja 2. On my system, FCPX can handle the native files as well as ProRes ones, so I just rewrap in Clipwrap.
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul, I've now added Clipwrap rewrap to my workflow to avoid FCPx's annoying forced footage duplication issue referred to by the OP. (where duplicates of the MTS files are copied to the FCPx library)
:)
 
I think you will really like Clipwrap. It gets rid of the annoying interlacing and allows you to put the footage into a bin that you want and now even allows you to batch name the files. I make a folder for each project then import all clips into it from Clipwrap. Organize into sub folders if needed all in the finder, then when you import the folders into FCPX, the folder structure is imported as bins and it works great! (Not sure how the new FCP 10.1 deals with this though-I'm not upgrading to it until I finish a major documentary).
 
Paul Frederick said:
It gets rid of the annoying interlacing
Click to expand...

I'm still having to set the Field Dominance Override to Progressive after importing rewrapped clips in to FCPx 10.1... I'm shooting 25psf on the C100.
:(

Edit: I've realised I had some clips shot at 50i for slomo and had forgotten about them. The 25p clips are now correctly showing as Progressive after rewrapping and importing in to FCPx. I shot this in November and had forgotten about the slomo 50i.... :)

BTW when importing the folder structure is imported as bins as before.
 
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