Converting Nokia N95 video for editing in Final Cut Pro?

I have some .mpeg4 videos shot with a Nokia N95 mobile phone that I want to edit in Final Cut Pro.
I read everywhere that .mpeg4 is not an "editing format".
I want to use Quicktime Pro (or Mpeg Streamclip) to convert the footage to something I can use in FCP *without degrading the original quality* but I am completely lost as to what settings I should use.
Can anyone point me in the right direction? I have done some test conversions but a side by side comparison in Quicktime of the original and converted footage showed the latter to be softer, less contrasty and with different colours. Not at all what I wanted.
I've posted this question on th eFCP and iMovie forums but haven't had any definitive replies. Is this really so complicated?
Thanks in advance!

I've been using iMovie 09 with these files but because the image quality is pretty poor I need the image correction functions of FCP. I can import the .mpeg4 files to FCP OK and work with them but I seem to spend all my time rendering. This is why I began to wonder if my initial file format and sequence settings were what they should be (and I am completely lost here).
The edited film will be uploaded to blip.tv and then embedded in websites. My concern is not to degrade the quality during my workflow.

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Hey guys plz suggest me a good mac mini machine for editing in Final Cut Pro X. Is there any difference in i5 mac mini or i7 in terms of rendering or editing, and what is the use of an SSD drive in terms of editing in mac mini either than its 5400rpm HD, or should i buy imac i5 with ssd ?
Lets see if i buy mac mini i5 with 16gb ram and a ssd drive, Will it work better than mac mini i7 with 16gb ram but without ssd drive ?
So guys plzz suggest me the best mac specs for video editing
Thanks in advance

Your budget?
Take a look at this: http://www.barefeats.com/minivmp.html
The 2012 Quad-Core i7 Mac mini is a real contender when it comes to CPU power compared to our examples of a Quad-Core Mac Pro and Quad-Core iMac. We plan to add some other examples of Quad-Core desktop Macs (including a faster Mac mini) to these graphs in the days ahead but the point is made.
However, the GPU in the 2012 Quad-Core i7 Mac mini is weak in comparison to the Mac Pro (and iMac) as you can see from the "Heaven" graph.
That's going to affect its ability to handle advanced Pro Apps that make use of the GPU for certain types of effect rendering.
These apps include Apple's Final Cut Pro and Motion as well as Adobe's Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and After Effects.
The Mac mini's Intel HD 4000 GPU will also hamstring hard-core gamers.
The Mac mini is also weak in support of OpenCL as you can see from the "LuxMark" graph.
It is forced to render the model using only CPU while the iMac and Mac Pro GPUs are able to render the model.
Why does this matter? Because apps like Final Cut Pro, Motion, and Photoshop use OpenCL acceleration for rendering certain effects.
http://www.barefeats.com/imac12p1.html
Even a Mac Pro (refurbished special 4-core 2.8 is $1819 and can be upgraded to more RAM, 4x4TB w/o going into Thunderbolt storage) and have multiple SSDs as the choice or need arises.)
Fusion drive + Thunderbolt but I think you are asking too much out of the mini. It is fine for a lot of uses.

HT204382 how to convert movies from flip for use in final cut pro

How do you convert movies from a Flip video camera for use in final cut pro?

DVDs are in a socalled delivery format (mpeg2), which isn't meant and made for any processing as editing...
in recommended order, choose one of the following tools/workarounds:
DVDxDV (free trial, 25$, Pro: 90$)
Apple mpeg2 plugin (19$) + Streamclip (free)
VisualHub (23.32$)
Drop2DV (free)
Cinematize >60$
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connect a miniDV Camcorder with analogue input to a DVD-player and transfer disk to tape/use as converter
http://danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6010.shtml
http://danslagle.com/mac/iMovie/tips_tricks/6018.shtml
http://karsten.schluter.googlepages.com/convertdvdstodvs
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Well, first, if you are talking about AVCHD video, FCE & FCP can directly import it from your camcorder. They will also import AVCHD from an SD card or even your hard drive provided you have saved the entire AVCHD folder structure, not just the .mts files by themselves.
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If that doesn't work, then look into ClipWrap, which has a $49.99 price tag.
This will work the same for converting .mts files to ProRes assuming you already have FCP installed, which gives you the ProRes codec.
FCE & FCP do not, however, directly import video from DSLRs because the camera manufacturers have each done some proprietary stuff in their implementation of video in their DSLRs. However, if you have a Canon DSLR & FCP (that is, FCP 7) there is a Canon EOS video plugin that will enable you import the video directly from the DSLR into FCP7. Not sure it's supported on Lion (10.7.x) just yet, but if you have a Canon DSLR it's worth a look.

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What is my best hardware/software to convert vhs to digital so I can edit in Final Cut Pro X? Wondering if there is a solution under 100.00 or do I need to think a bit more. Thank you.

Have been doing this for some time, my setup:
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Recording is dead simple after fiddling around a bit with software settings for channel, etc. Start the player, hit "record" on the software and wait for the end.
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#42 - Quick and dirty way to author a DVD
Shane's Stock Answer #42 - David Roth Weiss' Secret Quick and Dirty Way to Author a DVD:
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Hi folks
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Cheers
Cameron
eMac Mac OS X (10.4.7)
emac Mac OS X (10.4.7)
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Hello Everyone...
I am basically a Avid Film Editor. Past 2 years I am using Final Cut Pro. Recently I finished Final Cut Pro Level 1 & T3. Right now I am working as a App. Support Engineer specially for Final Cut Pro .
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I knew I'd find this same post here. That makes three versions of trhe same list of questions.
Posting three times here implies you have posted this set of questions in many other FCP forums around the Net. If that is so, do us all the kindness of returning to all of them and closing them. Include the suggestions you have received and the solutions that were successful for you. That way your multiple threads will show up on search inquiries when other confused FCP newbies try to start complex film projects.
It's a bummer you cannot find these answers in the FCP manuals, I'm usre you looked there first. But, since we run on volunteers around here, it may be several days before someone with enough practical CinemaTools experience can stop by and handle them for you. Please have some patience.
bogiesan

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Converting Nokia N95 video for editing in Final Cut Pro?

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