Need Advice re: Final Cut Pro & AF100 Codec

nedcam

nedcam

Well-known member
I've shot quite a bit with the 100 but never had to do any editing until yesterday and was wondering if there's anything weird about AVCCAM & FCP6, I've always edited using P2 sources. I am currently trying to export a low rez file of 29 minutes, it has the time code reader filter on it which may be slowing it further? It's taking 5 hours!

So my question is: Am I supposed to change any settings regarding using the AF100's AVCCAM footage (as compared to P2)? Any tricks I need to know? Or perhaps it's just the natiure of the beast for such a long sequence export? Would transitioning to FCPX be faster? I am 80% DP and 20% Editor so I don't know all the ropes.

Thank you
 
You can use Log and Transfer, Red Giant's Grinder, or 5DtoRGB to transcode your clips to ProRes 422 and you'll be happy.
 
FCP 6 is pretty old and only has limited support for card-based video formats and even ProRes is not fully supported. You might have to play around with 3rd party applications until you find the solution which works for you. Final Cut Pro 7 was better for working with these formats (although you still need to convert the footage - don't try and edit it natively).

FCPX has support built in but in my opinion is a lesser edit system. It works in a different way to other systems but it might work for you.
 
I use all the ProRes flavours for different reasons.

ProRes (Proxy) for when I'm trying to save space on larger projects (like feature films).
ProRes (LT) for projects which are only going to end up on the web.
ProRes 422 for broadcast work shot on the AF101.
ProRes (HQ) for broadcast work shot on 10 bit cameras like Red or Alexa.
ProRes 4444 for feature films.

This would not be possible with FCP 6. I thought the original poster would like as much info as possible to help him make a decision.
 
Gary Askham said:
This would not be possible with FCP 6. I thought the original poster would like as much info as possible to help him make a decision.
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But you didn't give him as much information as possible. You made a vague reference to FCP6 being unsuitable because of ProRes not being "fully supported". That's a far cry from listing flavors of ProRes, many of which have to do with formats well above and beyond 10-bit, and dubious proxy usage. ProRes LT is great for its smaller size, but I don't think it's going to hinder him in any way to use ProRes 422, especially with how massive (and cheaper now) storage is. That's the only flavor of ProRes that is sad to not have in FCP 6.

Nedcam, you can transcode your AF-100 footage to the ProRes standard (can't remember how it's referenced in FCP6) and you'll be happily editing away.
 
Originally I hated FCPX, but it is much improved and I use it regularly now.. have even grown to prefer it in some cases (long projects, over an hour, are still easier to manage timeline-wise in 7).

I do have FCP7 on another internal drive and in the past, for X, imported that way, creating a folder with the 422 files which I then imports into X... but lately I've experimented with importing both native and ProRes in X and it works really well.. I don't know what computer you have, but if it will support Snow Leopard as a minimum (needed for the AP Store), I'd give FCPX a try. It's only $300.. Then invest in $100 worth of online tutorials and take the time to learn it.

The negativity directed at Apple and FCPX is getting to seem more political than practical as X is improved.
 
Mac said:
It's only $300.. Then invest in $100 worth of online tutorials and take the time to learn it.
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That's not exactly chump change for people. Plus, you probably want Compressor, so it's at least $350 (if you don't get Motion as well).

I wouldn't spend a dime on tutorials. Plenty of free stuff all over the web.
 
If you have the FCP6 Suite on another drive you can export a Movie File from X and use the old Compressor, it's pretty much exactly the same... And while $300 might not be "chump change", for those of us that started with hardware-based NLEs over 15 years ago it is pretty amazing for the price.

As for tutorials, I spent many hours searching for something comprehensive, so it depends on how valuable your time is - IMHO the good free one is Izzy's - but for more in-depth learning Larry Jordan's is vastly superior. It's not free though. I expect people to pay me for my expertise, so I don't mind paying a working professional for his.
 
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FWIW, I still cut with FCP6. I would describe myself as the opposite of the OP - I'm 100% editor and I dabble in camerawork, just so I can avoid large broadcast projects and still make some kind of living. FCP 6 will log and transfer your AVCHD material to Prores422, but it's quite slow. I actually use FCP X to do the transcode, simply because I have it and it's quick to transcode. One of these days, I'll try and get beyond the exasperating paradigm shift that is moving from FCP 6 to X.

Absolutely no issues cutting regular ProRes422 on FCP6 - I do it in anger. I run a native PR422 workflow throughout, mastering everything to a PR422 master and transcode from that to whatever the client needs.

One alternative, if you're at the start of your editing journey, is to look at Adobe's cloud-based CS6 Prem Pro. I don't personally like it, but you might.

Ben
www.bengiles.co.uk
www.matobo.co.uk
 
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