Less CPU intensive codec for FCP

F

Flintstone

Well-known member
I'm using a three year old MacBook Pro for editing in Final Cut Pro. I have the latest FCP Studio 3. I mostly edited in SD. But now the trend changes. I require HD. Camera debate aside, I was wondering which codec is lighter for the CPU to handle. DVCProHD? XDCAM EX? ProRes?
 
Flintstone said:
I'm using a three year old MacBook Pro for editing in Final Cut Pro. I have the latest FCP Studio 3. I mostly edited in SD. But now the trend changes. I require HD. Camera debate aside, I was wondering which codec is lighter for the CPU to handle. DVCProHD? XDCAM EX? ProRes?
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Depends on your camera, stay native, unless you are using AVCHD and then you'll have to convert to ProRes. I film in XDCAM codec, use it to edit, render in ProRes HQ. My MBP can handle it easly, just remember to use external drive for your footage and all scratch disc files.
The article linked in the earlier post doesn't make much sense at times- why would you convert from XDCAM to ProRes is beyond me. Any time you convert you lose quality- period. And also one the signal goes through compression in the camera (like HDV, DVCProHD or XDCAM) capturing as "uncompressed" is simply impossible. The only time you can capture uncompressed is through HD-SDI or HDMI capture device.
Anyway- to answer the question XDCAM is handled easily by MacBook Pro (2.6GHz, 4G RAM)
 
Really depends on the camera. If you're working XDCAM EX cameras- you should cut that codec; P2 cameras- DVCPROHD; RED cameras- ProRES. I'd recommend getting a newer system if you can't get the work done with your current setup. It's an investment.

Noah
 
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