working with AVCHD & P2 footage in FCP6

C

coffeebreak

New member
I'm working with AVCHD footage from a Panasonic AGAF100 and P2 footage from a Panasonic HVX200A. I clipwrapped the AVCHD files into.mov files, renamed them with NameChanger, and imported the files into FCP 6, getting the browser settings on the left.

I then log & transferred the P2 footage, it's browser settings are on the right.

AVCHD - P2
frame size: 1280 x 720 - 960 x 720

compressor: H.264 - DVCPRO HD 720p60

audio format: 24-bit integer - 16-bit integer

pixel aspect: square - 16:9


Sequence Settings for the AVCHD are:
Frame Rate: 1280 x 720
Aspect Ratio: HDTV 720p (16:9)
Pixel Aspect Ratio: square
Compressor H.264

How do I get all the footage to be compatible in the same sequence?

Thanks!
 
editing in h.264 in FCP is not ideal. Not knowing what your final output will be, i'd recommend transcoding everything to prores 422 and set your timeline to prores as well.
 
The quick answer is:

Start with a sequence set to the OUTPUT FORMAT you're interested in.

Drop the clips into the sequence and FCP will automatically scale them and adjust ratios to make everything match as well as possible.
 
Thanks for your responses.

Thanks for your responses.

I went back to ClipWrap and converted the footage to ProRes 422. I wasn't sure if I needed to convert the DVCPRO footage to PRORES 422, but I found a helpful discussion:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2598690?start=0&tstart=0

According to this article, Shane Ross mixed ProRes & DVCPRO just fine. I guess there was also concern about working with graphics, but apparently it shouldn't be an issue.

"there is no way to mix formats and NOT have to render. But, you should be getting a green render bar, which means that the footage will play just fine, and you can see it just fine. It will just need to be rendered in the end when you are ready to master. No need to render the footage, just work with it. Nothing will get slowed down." - Shane

So I guess I will be working with the ProRess 422 & the DVCPRO, with the green render bar, and just render later.

Thanks again for all your input!
 
As far as I've experienced, the issues with graphics come up when you export from a sequence in one format to a Quicktime movie in a format with a different aspect ratio... e.g., exporting a 1280x720 sequence to a 960x720 DVCProHD file. As long as you work in a sequence that's the same as the format you'll be exporting, the graphics should be OK. I'm pretty sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top