"Cloudy" Footage when Exporting ProRes 422 Timeline

Hello everyone,
I'm having a problem when exporting a "QuickTime Movie" from FCP6 with a ProRes 422 sequence. The exported footage is very "cloudy" and washed out. When I export to an .mp4 from FCP6 as a QuickTime Conversion, it's not as bad, but the contrast is still way too bright. I'm at a loss as to why this is happening. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance!!!

I too use a Canon mark II and post at cinema5D.com all the time. You might find some helpful resources there for shooting and handling the footage from that camera. I suggest this because you said the Sony HDV camera looks OK compared to the 5D footage. My 5D footage beats all my HDV cameras in highlight detail so this is suspicious.
The 5D is a challenging (and rewarding) camera but the exposure system is hard to manage. It is possible your footage was over exposed in-camera. If not, you can try running the footage through Apple Color and check the video scopes. Areas around the faces should be around 55 to 65 IRE in the Waveform monitor. Your display might need to be calibrated. This would explain the difference between the computer monitor and the TV output. It is also possible you have not updated Quicktime. There was a big update to QuickTime which fixed the way the Canon h264 files are interpreted and this fixed most issues like the ones you are describing.
Your camera also should have the latest firmware update from Canon which added manual controls in the M mode. Without this, the camera is constantly changing its exposure during the clip and will tend to blow out highlight details easily if there is a predominance of dark colors in the scene.
Also, you can try enabling highlight tone priority on the camera, which is sort of like a Black Stretch mode on some camcorders which adds a stop of highlight detail.
Regardless, the fact that it looks the same in all mediums except your computer monitor suggests the problem is a poorly calibrated monitor. I'll bet your footage is not properly exposed, but for some reason it appears to be this way on a dimly set monitor. Forgive me if I've over simplified the problem.
One last test you can do is change your compression settings to Animation and render just a few frames. Don't do too many, because the file will be huge. Animation doesn't use any color management (this is called absolute colormetrics) wherein the ProRes and h264 CODEC's are relative colormetric. If the footage still looks wrong in animation compression, you can eliminate the gamma shift/color management from your list of culprits. Hope that helps you figure this out.

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Jerky Footage When exported from PPro

Hi everyone, I hope someone can PLEASE help with this.
Ive read loads online, but failed to find a solution!
Once again I turn to the Online Community for guidance and support.
Equipment: Sony NX5 on a Monopod.
Captured: Full HQ 1920*1080 P 25fps
Pc: Win 7 professional, i79477ok @ 3.50 Ghz, Graphics card: GeForce GTX-470. 12G ram.
Editing using PPro cs6. Timeline rendered, then exported (media encoder cs6) using my own present: h.264 720*576 25 fps, PAL, Progressive, Aspect: D1/DV PAL WIDESCREEN 16:9 (1.45.87) Bit rate 10, 14.
When I am zooming out, form an object, in camera its fine, once imported to PC, playing back using VLC is fine, but when exported, (using above) I see stutter on the same "zooming out". Project played on PC and to SD DVD and on both its "jerky"
What am I doing wrong, doing nuts here - Video attached below.
PS - I cant really see the "Jerky footage" on the below clip, but when I watch it on my monitor full screen you can see it then, trust me.

Yes I used a Manfrotto MN561BHDV-1 Fluid Video Monopod.
I didnt use "pull back" I was merely "zooming out" and it seems as the footage is NOT zooming out fluid, it zooming out jerky.
Do you think my export is the issue?
Im currently trying, h.346, mpeg-dvd. mpeg, avi and QT... final destination is a DVD DISK.
Any suggestions?

What is the best compressor setting to use ... when exporting a 720p timeline from FCP for a project that will only be played back in a standard def monitor?

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Update: The iBook can play any 480p video and higher if I encode them with DivX and in AVI format. But of course this is not compatible with my iPhone 4. At least I can shrink my library now and get away from the full MPEG-2s. I don't get why I can't use Apple's h264 though. There has to be a setting I am missing. The sample Apple h264 videos from the days of Tiger worked flawlessly on my iBook when it was new so the CPU must be capable of decoding it. I really can't understand this.
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So now I may need three or four copies of each video, LOL. I need to hardcode the subtitles if I want to use AVI to playback on older machines, and keep the mp4 file for the iDevices too, while keeping higher quality h264 videos for my American relatives...
If h264 is compatible with my iBook, what is the proper encoding settings? Must I dramatically lower the settings or frame rate? I can settle on 2 copies of each video that way. One iBook/G4/eMac compatible video that syncs correctly with my srt soft subs, and another version that works well with my iPhone 4 and iPad.
All in all, I will end up with more than 3 or 4 version of each video. On my late G5 dual core I have the full 720-1080p uncompressed master files. On my i5 iMac I have the h264 compressed versions for distribution, and lower versions for my iDevices. Now I need to keep either full MPEG-2 files for the iBook to play, or convert to older formats like DivX AVI for our family's legacy machines. I am running out of hard disk space quick now, LOL.
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In a section of a project I am working on, there are 5 consecutive video only cuts located on V1 above audio only cuts from a different source on A1&2. The video content of these V1 cuts comes from different sections of one single source clip.
When I export to quicktime, the entire project is exported correctly with the exception of these 5 cuts. They are replaced by a different section of the source clip. Thoughts?

It gets weirder.
I opened the original source clip in Quicktime, re-exported it, renamed it with the same name as the old file and reconnected the file to the one in my FCP project. The section in question once again plays as edited in the canvas.
Next, I copy/pasted the offending section into a different sequence, and low and behold, it plays back in the canvas in the same incorrect way that it exports.

Exporting ProRes 422 vs DVPro

I need to export several projects. They are comprised of SD digial video and stills. I see in the dialog box that I have several choices between ProRes, DV, DVPRO. I have a copy of Compressor (from FCS.) Which setting would be best? I did a test and surprisingly (to me) the ProRes option created a smaller file. Thanks.

Well, apparently the decoder was included in recent QT updates. Well, 7.5.5 according to Apple:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/appleproresquick timedecoder10forwindows.html
"Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder is also included in QuickTime 7.5.5 and later"
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http://lfhd.blogspot.com/2009/06/view-prores-files-without-fcp.html
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Exporting Prores 422(HQ) Quicktime error -50

I've been having trouble with this particular file, both in Compressor 3 and 3.5
We're trying to run movie through, and we're getting a quicktime error -50 each and every time. The input is a 1920x1080 59.94i film. We're trying to use compressor to Inverse Telecine the film to 23.98 Prores 1920x1080 progressive. We've had this work with many other projects, but this one just craps out after a couple minutes.
has anyone seen this? could it be something like permissions or something? The file seems just fine.

To the best of my knowledge, Compressor can't be used with i-apps. But it can be used within Final Cut Studio / apple's pro apps.
If you are working with film, I strongly recommend staying within apple's pro apps and not iMovie or iDvd.
(not sure if roxio's toast can address this feature or not but it might also be worth looking into).
Hope this advice is helpful but if not just come on back.
Message was edited by: SDMacuser

Apple ProRes 422 HQ needs rendering, but it shouldn't.

Sequence Settings (hereafter called the master sequence) are:
Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) 1920 X 1080 24p 48khz preset.
Frame Size: 1920 X 1080 (HDTV 1080i 16:9)
Pixel Aspect: Square
Editing Timebase: 23.98fps
Compressor: Apple ProRes 422 HQ
Audio: 48khz/16-bit
Footage is:
Apple ProRes 422 (HQ)
Frame Size: 1920 X 1080
Pixel Aspect: Square
Editing Timebase: 23.98fps
Compressor: Apple ProRes 422 HQ
Audio: 48khz/16-bit
Data Rate: 19.5 MB/sec
I need to put a timecode window burn on the entire movie for a web clip. So I exported a ProRes master as a QuickTime movie using the sequence settings. I then imported that clip and slipped it into a new sequence with identical settings (hereafter called TimeCode burn sequence) and was surprised to see the red render bar across the entire sequence.
As an experiment, I exported a brief (one minute) clip from the same master sequence. I then slipped that clip into my TimeCode burn sequence and it does not need rendering (it shouldn't).
I shouldn't have to render the Master clip first, only to have to re-render it once I but the window burn on. The movie is 30 min. long and the file size is 34GB. Is there a file size limit on ProRes HQ clips that don't need rendering? Why don't the shorter clips from the same sequence need rendering. I don't understand this. Very time consuming.
EDIT: I will probably end up using the Timecode Generator option in Compressor, so please don't suggest this, as I am aware of it. I want to figure out this mystery.
Message was edited by: Mr. Landers
Message was edited by: Mr. Landers

No, you're absolutely correct to use HQ. Just checking.
The Red footage is has 4:4:4 subsampling, so HQ's the way to go.
If you generally use Recompress All Frames on Export then you probably know that it's pointless to render your timeline before an Export, since your Render files won't be accessed. Unless you need to work in that same sequence with the timecode - but, you could just use your exported master for that.
I know the recompress all frames option is probably overkill for a sequence with only one effect, but I'm also thinking about drive space. With those huge Red files, your render files have to be eating up quite a lot of it.
So, I'm suggesting that you don't need to render this sequence before exporting. Just export the unrendered sequence with Recompress All Frames. That saves you the space the render files would be taking up.

How to transfer XDCAM from EX1 using ProRes 422

Ok, I'm starting to think a little above my pay-grade here, but:
My understanding is that I can directly import XDCAM files shot on a Sony EX1 by placing the SxS card in my MBP express card slot and using Sony's transfer application. However, I want to transcode to ProRes 422 because the timeline will contain P2 footage from an HVX200.
Does the ProRes 422 step require the EX1 camera itself to be connected via firewire, or can I transcode using just the cards? If I transfer using the native codec but edit in a ProRes 422 timeline, can I edit both the P2 and XDCAM footage just as well as if they had been transcoded on transfer?
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Hope it helps
Andy

FCP7 export prores 422HQ with discrete audio displays incorrect timecode in quicktime7?

Hi all
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Can I combine codec m2v1 with apple ProRes 422 (HQ) in same FCP X project?

Can I combine codec m2v1 with apple ProRes 422 (HQ) in same FCP X project?
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If not, could I add the logo animation after outputting to compressor using QuickTime 7?
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Hi Mary,
I'm new to FCPX too!
When creating a new project, if you click on Use Custom Settingsand then ckick on the Custom checkbox in Video Properties, you can specifyexactly what you want!
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Good luck, and happy cutting!
Jb (James)

How can I set FCPX to import my footage as Pro Res 422?

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Thank you so much in advance for your help!
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PS:
Here is where it says my footage is H.264 - where can I change this?

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Why is DVD SP4 creating a corrupt video in the timeline when the corruption does not appear in the imported Quicktime ProRes 422 self contained movie?

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FCP Apple PRORES 422 (HQ) setting-how to export?

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First off, ProRes HQ is VASTLY OVERKILL for converted flash video. That is for 10-bit high end formats. All you gain in using that over ProRes 422 is file size.
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Convert the FLV to something like DV50 or just DV. but you have to get the right aspect ratio, or things will require rendering. Or better yet, get the MASTER footage, and not a flash video.
Shane

Media Encoder changes the timecode when converting to Quicktime ProRes 422 (LT)

After spending the majority of my day searching for a solution to this problem, I am hoping someone here will know how to resolve this issue.
After encoding several hundred clips of various file types to ProRes 422 LT at 23.976fps in Media Encoder, we discovered that the timecode of the source clips and the LT clips varies significantly when we bring the quicktime clips into FCP 7 or Quicktime 7. This is also creating issues for the EDL.
The source clips are XDCamHD, H.264, and .R3D files. We set up a batch in AME with a preset for ProRes (LT) at 23.976. After the batch processes, we import the clips into FCP 7 then export an EDL from the sequence. The EDL shows timecodes that do not match the source clips.
The timecode is off by several hours, not just a few frames. If we look at the LT clips in Premiere, the timecode seems to match the source clip. In Final Cut, not even close.
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If we use RedCineX to convert the R3D files, things seem to work. Also, compressor seems to have correct results. We were hoping that media encoder would be the solution as it processes these clips much faster.
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Two.
First, this.
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/premierepro/cs/using/WSd9957a95a81082eb28f05af5126718c47be-800 0.html
Second, this.
Customize or load keyboard shortcuts
From the Set menu in the Keyboard Customization dialog box, choose the set of keyboard shortcuts you want to use in Premiere Pro:
Adobe Premiere Pro Factory Defaults (Adobe Premiere Pro CS5)
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 (Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5)
Shortcuts For Avid Xpress DV 3.5 (Adobe Premiere Pro CS5)
Shortcuts For Avid Media Composer 5 (Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5)
Shortcuts For Final Cut Pro 7.0

Black frame on ProRes 422 multicam export

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New Mac Power book with 1 TB ssd.
Maxed ram and gfx.
External FW800 drive.
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#1 - You shouldn't be using ProRes HQ. All you are doing is doubling the amount of space the footage takes up. HQ is really meant for 2K footage or higher...stuff projected on a BIG screen. If this is going to DVD...SD DVD or BluRay, then regular ProRes will be your best option.
#2 - Are you looking at this footage on an HDTV? That is the only way to really tell what your footage will look like. Because the way FCP shows the footage, and QT shows it, are different. QT typically brightens the picture so that it will be viewable on most monitors. BUT, if you choose the FCP COLOR COMPATIBILITY in the QT preferences, it will show you what FCP shows you. And if this is too dark, then you need to color correct it to be how you want it to look. BUT! You cannot judge what the footage will look like on a computer monitor. It is VASTLY different that what an HDTV, or regular TV, will show you. You need to get the signal to the HDTV (HD capture card) and then color correct the footage to look the way you want it to look.
#3 - Avoid HQ. Seemed like it needed repeating.
Shane

"Cloudy" Footage when Exporting ProRes 422 Timeline

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