Blaming the Camera

Question

I've just finished my last call to Apple Tech Support for Final Cut Pro X. I use a Sony HDR-FX1000 camcorder to take video which is captured using Final Cut (7 or 10 - pick your poison) and, for SD videos, creates a DV/DVCPRO -NTSC 720 x 480 (640 x 480), Linear PCM, 16 bit little endian signed integer 48000 Hz Stereo (L R) file.
When I put the video on the timeline it looks fine, but when I put a theme on the video, it looks fuzzy. I've compared the Original video and an exported Apple ProRes 422 video looking at the SAME FRAME at the SAME SIZE and it looks fuzzy.
The technician that I spoke with told me that, since I use a Sony HDR-FX1000, that the DV/DVCPRO Video - made by capturing in Final Cut Pro X - is NOT COMPATIBLE WITH FINAL CUT X AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT THE TRANSCODED APPLE PRORES 422 VIDEO LOOKS DIFFERENT WHEN I ADD A THEME!!!!  Really!!! Are you kidding me????!!!!
After the image is captured, Final Cut X transcodes the original to an Apple ProRes 422 - which looks fine until I add a Theme (or lower third).
Clearly, this MUST BE THE CAMERA'S FAULT, since it is responsible for taking the original picture and NOT a problem with Final Cut X software!
Oh, yes, this does NOT happen with Final Cut Studio 7!!! Oh yeah, that one has a driver for the camera so that means the camera isn't at fault there!
Interestingly, I was told that this happens with other cameras as well - but they are also not supported in Final Cut Pro X so, they ALSO must not be creating a proper video file.
Hmmmm.... let me think.... IF there are a number of cameras of different brands, models, etc. making videos that are ALL not compatible with Final Cut Pro X - even though the files have been created and captured using Final Cut Pro X - hmmm.... maybe it is the SOFTWARE (FINAL CUT PRO X) that's the problem!!!!
Time to think about blaming the cameras and their manufacturers (for producing a supposedly improper video file) and start thinking that maybe FCP X has a problem.
I'm done - Support isn't worth trying if this is the help I get. 

Answer 1

JamesB-JSA wrote:
I've just finished my last call to Apple Tech Support for Final Cut Pro X. I use a Sony HDR-FX1000 camcorder to take video which is captured using Final Cut (7 or 10 - pick your poison) and, for SD videos, creates a DV/DVCPRO -NTSC 720 x 480 (640 x 480), Linear PCM, 16 bit little endian signed integer 48000 Hz Stereo (L R) file.
When I put the video on the timeline it looks fine, but when I put a theme on the video, it looks fuzzy. I've compared the Original video and an exported Apple ProRes 422 video looking at the SAME FRAME at the SAME SIZE and it looks fuzzy.
As soon as you add an effect, your footage needs rendering (an orange bar appears above the storyline in the playhead timeline.  If your preferences are set to use proxy media for playback, your video will look very fuzzy. If your preferences are set for Better Performance, then while FCPX is rendering (or trying to render) your footage in the background, the video will look a little fuzzy while playing. Once the footage is rendered, it should look fine while playing.
You can set the playback to High Quality. FCPX will tend to skip frames during playback until the video is rendered (not very likely, though, with SD footage.)
To set your choice of playback quality, go to Preferences > Playback > Use Original or Optimized media and the dropdown to High Quality.
If you've turned off Background Rendering, then you need to manually render your clips (control-R) or the entire storyline (control-shift-R). Or you can put up with the fuzziness while you work -- it's actually considered a *feature* to be able to plow through your editing chores while FCPX tries to render your work in the background.  The only thing that matters is that the project looks like you need it to when it is exported. [That fuzziness thing drives me a little nuts too, so I usually keep background rendering on, or, I'll frequently manually render the project ... while I'm thinking about what to do next. I like to keep the playback quality setting at High Quality.]
 The technician that I spoke with told me that, since I use a Sony HDR-FX1000, that the DV/DVCPRO Video - made by capturing in Final Cut Pro X - is NOT COMPATIBLE WITH FINAL CUT X AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT THE TRANSCODED APPLE PRORES 422 VIDEO LOOKS DIFFERENT WHEN I ADD A THEME!!!!  Really!!! Are you kidding me????!!!! 
This doesn't make any sense to me either. First of all : ALL footage is transcoded to prores 422 at some point in the process, even if that's right before exporting. Themes have absolutely nothing to do with anything, and, they are also transcoded to ProRes (probably 4x4).
I had Final Cut Studio 3 and so I have all the DV/DVCPro codecs still installed on my system. Thing is: if you can get your media to even show in FCPX, then you've got it too and if FCPX will capture your video from your camera, then it is definitely NOT incompatible with FCPX. *I* have a camera that is incompatible with FCPX capture (@1080i res). I can however, use file import (*now*).
After the image is captured, Final Cut X transcodes the original to an Apple ProRes 422 - which looks fine until I add a Theme (or lower third).  Clearly, this MUST BE THE CAMERA'S FAULT, since it is responsible for taking the original picture and NOT a problem with Final Cut X software! Oh, yes, this does NOT happen with Final Cut Studio 7!!! Oh yeah, that one has a driver for the camera so that means the camera isn't at fault there! Interestingly, I was told that this happens with other cameras as well - but they are also not supported in Final Cut Pro X so, they ALSO must not be creating a proper video file.
My workaround has been to open the files in Quicktime 7 Pro and transcode to ProRes from there... absolutely no diff in the long run and, I might say, I believe it's actually faster (plus I have the *choice* of LT, 422, 422(HQ) or 4x4). FCPX does all its transcoding as a background process. QT7Pro just flat out converts it (uses all the cores too.)
Hmmmm.... let me think.... IF there are a number of cameras of different brands, models, etc. making videos that are ALL not compatible with Final Cut Pro X - even though the files have been created and captured using Final Cut Pro X - hmmm.... maybe it is the SOFTWARE (FINAL CUT PRO X) that's the problem!!!!
No... it's the camera manufacturers. There's nothing wrong with the video (give or take an argument or two.) It IS the file formats they tend to use. Just about every manufacturer has a "proprietary" *adaptation* of the (AVC/AVCHD in my case) file format that can cause problems with FCPX.  It is not Apple's fault, and they DO try to keep up. FCP7 would not recognize any of my Samsung camera footage (2 different cameras) but now, FCPX only has problems directly importing the 1080i footage of my newer camera (but like I said above, I can now import the files). It has been since version 10.0.2 that FCPX would capture/read directly the 720p footage from my camera.  So... some progress.
Time to think about blaming the cameras and their manufacturers (for producing a supposedly improper video file) and start thinking that maybe FCP X has a problem. I'm done - Support isn't worth trying if this is the help I get. 
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