which import codec for FCE?

droliff

droliff

Active member
Hi all,

I am pretty new to video editing in FCE, and brand new to 'tapeless workflow' (just bought a Panasonic HMC40)
so am not sure of all the technical protocol yet.

What is AVCHD as opposed to DV or HDV?

What is meant by 'transcoded'?
I see that if I go to menu-->final cut express-->easy setup I get a window with default settings as in figure 1 below

setup.jpg


figure 1

The default codec is DV-NTSC as seen in the popup menu in figure 2

codec.jpg


figure 2

which of the above codecs would you recommend for footage from the HMC40?

I am using the 'log and import' option for importing footage directly into projects from the SDHC card.
Does the check box option under the 'import settings' tab mean that audio/video will be transcoded
with the import codec specified during 'easy setup'?

import.jpg



Thanks very much for any advice. Much appreciated.

Best,

Dennis

Dennis Roliff Photography
 
The file type that the camera or editing system compresses video into is called the Codec. Your camera's codec is AVCHD.

Transcoding simply means to recompress the video into a different codec. DV is for mini DV tape-based cameras, and you will see a significant quality and resolution loss by transcoding to it.

For the highest quality in FCE, if you shot at 60i on the camera settings (default), you want AVCHD Apple Intermediate 1920x1080 60i as your import settings.

Unfortunately, FCE does not allow you to use a 24p timeline, and only a 30p timeline at 720 using the HDV codec, which is not as good as Apple Intermediate.
 
Tim Joy said:
The file type that the camera or editing system compresses video into is called the Codec. Your camera's codec is AVCHD.

Transcoding simply means to recompress the video into a different codec. DV is for mini DV tape-based cameras, and you will see a significant quality and resolution loss by transcoding to it.

For the highest quality in FCE, if you shot at 60i on the camera settings (default), you want AVCHD Apple Intermediate 1920x1080 60i as your import settings.

Unfortunately, FCE does not allow you to use a 24p timeline, and only a 30p timeline at 720 using the HDV codec, which is not as good as Apple Intermediate.
Click to expand...

Tim,

Thanks for the input. Again, this is all new to me.
So if I wanted to shoot in 24p to get the 'film look', FCE would not let me edit that footage? Or I would not be able to transcode the footage to that codec? I see that there is an option for HDV Apple Intermediate Codec 720p25. why 25 instead of 24?
What book would you recommend to get schooled up on all of this?

Thanks.

Best,

Dennis

Dennis Roliff Photography
 
Sorry, missed your reply.

Nope. No way to get a 24p timeline in FCE. I suppose you could add pulldown to 24p and edit in 60i, but that's asking for problems, especially when you add transitions. It's usually something that is done after the edit is complete. The DVX100 has a shooting mode that is 24fps but adds pulldown so you can edit in a 60i timeline, but I don't know if the HMC40 has that.

25p is PAL standard/ European video/ film. You don't want that.

I don't have any specific book recommendations, but I did get one of the Apple Pro training series on color correction and it was pretty good. Best of luck
 
24p can be edited in FCE if it was recorded to tape with a 2:3 pulldown. The HMC40 doesn't shoot to tape. I don't know if it records its AVC files as 23.976fps or 29.97fps with a pulldown.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top