Transcoding with MacBook Pro and Final Cut 7

[jrod81]

Hey guys,
Just bought a MacBook Pro 2.66 i7 Processor w/ 4GB of Ram (I might upgrade soon to the full 8GB). I also bought the new Final Cut Studio 3. Then went over to BH since I was spending all this money and got an HMC150.
So here is my question... in FCP 7, what is the secret to transcoding this footage on the HMC? I tremble at the thought of ProRes file size- is that the only option? This will be mostly for online video content, so surely there is a better codec. What about proxy? Is that an option?
Any secrets for my above stated setup and the footage from the 150 is greatly appreciated. i almost went with the JVC HM100u just to have footage that I could drop straight into FCP and start editing- please tell me I did not make a mistake on that.
thanks
jared

 

[Phil1076]

I don't use FCP...I use Premiere Pro CS5 which handles AVCHD natively (althugh I choose to transcode anyway). FCP will most definitely transcode so get ready to start trembling.

 

[Exact]

We use FCP 7. Don't waste the space on ProRes 422 - use ProRes 422 (LT) instead the files are much smaller but the data rate is still faster than the HMC records at. You did NOT make a mistake in going for the HMC over the JVC!

Depending on what MBP you have, transcoding will be somewhere between real time and 1.5x real time (i..e 60 mins takes 60-90 mins to transcode).

If you are shooting for mostly online content then shoot 720p and use ProRes 422 (LT) for sure. The file size for 720p is much smaller when transcoded.

I typically let FCP ingest the footage overnight so the transcode time is usually while I sleep...

 

[Exact]

I don't use FCP...I use Premiere Pro CS5 which handles AVCHD natively (althugh I choose to transcode anyway). FCP will most definitely transcode so get ready to start trembling.

Phil, this is interesting. A lot of people as saying the CS5 will handle things natively very well. What makes you transcode? As an FCP user I obviously look on with envy at the possibility of being able to use native footage (no transcode time) so I'm interested why you still transcode?

 

[jrod81]

yeah, me too

Phil, this is interesting. A lot of people as saying the CS5 will handle things natively very well. What makes you transcode? As an FCP user I obviously look on with envy at the possibility of being able to use native footage (no transcode time) so I'm interested why you still transcode?

 

[Phil1076]

Well, I'm not sure to be honest. CS5 imports AVCHD natively without any issues whatsoever. Editing it natively is ok, but it's just not smooth. My system is as follows:

Dual Xeon 5450 3Ghz CPUs (8 real cores)
24GB RAM
GTX 470
Dell PERC 6i RAID card with 4x146GB 10k SAS Fujitsu drives in a RAID 0 for transcoded media.

For all intensive purposes, this is a high end system. I work in IT and over the years I've accumulated a few server-grade pieces of hardware. My system is not top of the line by today's standards, but it's up there nevertheless.

When scrubbing AVCHD footage, it still stutters....I do weddings and alot of times I will record 30-40 minutes in one clip and then cut subclips....these subclips stutter badly if I try to cross-dissolve between them. This is actually a bug in PP and is not related to hardware, but I digress....

Unless I'm putting together a short 2-3 minute highlight clip, editing several hours of AVCHD natively with this system is extremely frustrating; it's just not smooth. I transcode to AVC Intra using Media Encoder and then it really flies.


I suspect it's a software maturity issue...AVCHD is still fairly new (kind of) and PP just needs to be optimized a little.

Just to clarify, editing AVCHD natively is very doable; it just not good enough. I'd rather set my box to transcode overnight while I sleep and have a nice, fast canvas to work with than save myself the transcoding and deal with stuttering issues.


I won't even begin to discuss what happens when you try to edit a CPU-intensive codec such as AVCHD natively, while at the same time adding CPU-intensive effects like Magic Bullet Looks.....We're talking THERMO-NUCLEAR MELTDOWN.