Final Cut Express 4 - why doesn't it support HD?

I purchased a Canon G12 camera that shots HD video, and I purchased Final Cut Express 4. Unfortunately, after I ran into cropping problems while editing my first movie, I found out Final Cut Express 4 doesn't support the HD format. Discouraging. Why doesn't FCE4 support HD?

FCE certainly does support high def (HD) video.
The problem is that your Canon G12 shoots video as H.264 .mov files, which cannot be edited directly in FCE.
You need to convert the G12 videos to QuickTime/Apple Intermediate Codec in order to edit them in FCE. Download a copy of MPEG Streamclip (free) to do the conversion. Alternatively you could also use Clipwrap2 to convert your G12 videos.

Similar Messages

When I import a Quick Time movie into the timeline using Final Cut Express, why does it need rendering?

when I import a Quick Time movie into the timeline using Final Cut Express, why does it need rendering?

Because your clip properties do not match your sequence settings.
It will help a lot if you provide details ...
FCE Easy Setup
Sequence settings (vid rate, frame size, compressor)
Source of your clips (camcorder make/model, etc)
Clip properties (vid rate, frame size, compressor)

Need help editing and exporting using Final Cut Express - why does video end up with judder?!!

I've imported material from my JVC HD Camera and have edited a 52 minute sequence on Final Cut Express. I've exported it as a Quicktime Movie and it's 43GB. How do I get this on to DVD?
I've tried using iDVD to export but as you can imagine, the quality is not great. There's a judder on it. I have no idea where to start with using applications like MPEG Streamclip to convert the clip so that when it does get on to DVD, it doesn't judder. Can anyone help? This is driving me insane!!

I've exported it as a Quicktime Movie and it's 43GB. How do I get this on to DVD?
First step - just use this export as the import into iDVD. iDVD will take care of the necessary encoding to fit it on a DVD disk. The file size is of no concern; the only concern is the length (in time) of the video ... iDVD can fit about 2 hours of video on single layer DVD media; about 4 hours on dual-layer DVD media.
Regarding the judder, this is not specifically an iDVD issue. Do you see the judder when you play the video in the FCE Canvas window?

Final Cut Express 3.5 surround sound support

I upgraded to 3.5 from 3.0 with the hope that FCE 3.5 would finally support MPEG-2 with Dolby 5.1 as it says it supports surround sound. Any idea if this is in the plans as FCE for the video part blows away all of the PC stuff but I would really like to edit the Sony SM100 MPEG files with sound.
G5 Power PC Mac OS X (10.4.6) 1 gig RAM Final Cut Express

There is no surround sound capability in Final Cut.

Final cut Express: compatibility with Sony HDR-SR1 AVC HD new codec

Does anyboday know when Final Cut Express will be able to support the new AVCHS format used by the latests Sony HDR-SR1 AVC HD 30GB Hard-Disc camcorder? I'm hesitant to buy the camcorder until I know that apple will support this new codec. thx

This has nothing at all to do this with the file transfer protocol. These cameras use USB, because USB is cheaper. What you are confusing is USB support with tapeless recording systems. Macs support USB, and file transfers over USB. The FireWire/USB issue is not relevant to these formats, none of which are supported on Mac editing applications. Nothing to do with these cameras having USB or FireWire. Even if they had FireWire no editing application on a Mac would connect to them because the formats are not supported, not the transfer protocol. It's not the USB functionality that makes them non-editable on a Mac it's the formats themselves.
These are entirely consumer products for home movies, including the so-called pro-style cameras. They are designed for delivery of MPEG-2 formats, mostly DVD based. Record your movie on DVD, put your DVD in your set-top player and watch your home movie. I think all of them are MPEG-2 based. The only MPEG-2 based format you can edit on a Mac is HDV, which is a tape-based format, not a tapeless format. All HDV cameras support FireWire.
You might be able to convert the media off one the DVD discs using MPEG Streamclip or some other product. You might be able to transfer the data via USB off the hard drives built into the camera and use some other product to convert them to an editable format. None of that requires FireWire. Nor can the media in its current form be accessed from the DVD disc or from the hard drive by an editing application regardless of the connection.
If these cameras are ever supported for digital editing, then you don't need FireWire and can use USB for file transfer of the media to your computer in faster than real-time. But this is all based on tapeless digital formats that don't require real-time or less than real-time capture of digital data as you do from tape. These formats will most likely never be supported by professional video editing applications. There are already professional video solutions with tapeless recording and to date all of these support FireWire.
To say that Sony only supports iLink on past products is just plain wrong. All Sony's, Canon's, JVC's and Panasonic's professional product lines on all their upcoming cameras and decks that can file transfer over FireWire use FireWire and not USB. Some only use SDI. None use USB.

Final Cut Express problem after upgrading to Leopard

I have a Final Cut Express project file (plus all supporting files) on an external hard drive. This project has run successfully on 2 computers, a PPC running OS 10.4 Tiger and an Intel MacBook Pro running OS 10.6 Snow Leopard. After upgrading the PPC computer to OS 10.5 Leopard, it will no longer open the FCE file on the external drive. Other FCE project files work OK. The error message is: File Error: Access Denied.
Other files on the external drive open successfully (e.g. iMovie and iPhoto).
The Get Info window of the external drive did not have the checkmark in front of Ignore Ownership on this Volume. Adding the checkmark makes no difference.
Any suggestions?
Message was edited by: Ralphjh

Hi(Bonjour)!
There are 2 variations of FX1: the USA and the european: FX1 and FX1E, like the HC1 and the.. HC1E.
SONY choose 1080i60 (1080 pixels height, interlaced 60 frames sec) for USA and 1080i50 for europe. It's relevant because you can preview your HDV clip on a standard TV sets (NTSC or PAL).
The Z1 model can handle NTSC and ... PAL, nice .
Michel Boissonneault

Differences between FCP HD and Final Cut Express HD

Hey,
In terms of editing HDv does Final Cut Pro HD handle it differently? I mean does it editi it in it's native format where Final Cut Express HD doesn't?
Mean do you/will you lose quality editing HDV with Final Cut Express HD?
CHRIS

FCP HD (aka 4.5) edits DVCPRO HD natively. Anything else is a kluge.
Take a look at FCP5 if you are interested in HDV. It will work with a range of formats, but still can not edit 1080/24 iirc.
x

Final Cut Express doesn't support the canon 5d mark 2 Video files!?

At least not full support
http://seansense.net/2008/04/06/final-cut-express-40-1920x1080-vs-1440x1080
is Final Cut Express HD do support 1920x1080 30fps ?
What do you suggest I do/What choice have I?
Message was edited by: ariel26

this camera can play Both pal or NTSC = Depends on what i choose!
Need a third party case may be a little weird = the guy Knew I am a be-giner in editing - I'm not sure but I guess that He had to say Something about it -but he didn't...?
in fact i think he's got the Same camera = Same File - as set up at he's screen shot
http://files.macit.co.il/190218aforum01.jpg
but on any case, i copy this Details from dpreview - I hope it helps
Video*
Sizes • 1920 x 1080 (1080P)
• 640 x 480 (VGA)
• 30 fps
Audio 44.1kHz Mono (Internal Mic), 3.5mm external microphone jack
Format Quicktime MOV using H.264 codec, PCM codec for audio
File size 4.8 MBytes/sec (1080P), 2.2 MBytes/sec (VGA)
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5Dmarkii/page19.asp
Movie recording *
• Available optionally during Live view mode
• 1920 x 1080 (16:9) up to 12 mins (Quicktime 1080p H.264; 38.6 Mbits/sec)
• 640 x 480 (4:3) up to 24 mins (Quicktime 480p H.264; 17.3 Mbits/sec)
• Max file size 4 GB
• Quicktime MOV format (H.264 video, PCM sound)
• 30 fps
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5Dmarkii/page2.asp
_do you still think i need to go through the entire process whith the MPEG Streamclip as you Mention?_

I am new to Final Cut Express and don't understand why I am unable to drag transitions into Canvas? Something wrong in my setup? It's not the overlays they are "on" so can anyone advise me please?

I am new to Final Cut Express and don't understand why I am unable to drag transitions into Canvas? Something wrong in my setup? It's not the overlays they are "on" so can anyone advise me please, by the way the "L" doesn't appear in the bottom left hand corner either? and by the way how can I get rid of that irritating Blue badge saying "AutoFill your contact details" all mine are in "address book" already!

You can't drag a transition into the canvas. If you're dragginmg a transition from the effects tab you drag it between the edit point of two clips in the timeline.
Make sure show edit overlays is turned on in the Canvas view popup.

HT2948 I have a Sony DCR-PC100 is it supported by final cut express?? wilth

I have a Soney DCR-PC100 is it supported by final cut express ?? what 'p' will they convert to??

Hi
Just my notes - for iMovie - but they go to 99% for FinalCut too.
NO CAMERA or A/D-box
Cable
• Are You sure that You are using the FireWire Cable - USB-Cable will not work for miniDV tape Cameras
FireWire - Sure not using the accompany USB-Cable but bought a 4-pin to 6-pin (or 9-pin) FW one ?
• Test another FW-Cable very often the problem maker.
Camera
• Test Your Camera on another Mac so that DV-in still works OK
• Toggle in iMovie pref. Play-back via Camera (on <-> off some times)
• Some Cameras has a Menu where You must select DV-out to get it to work
• Camera connected to "charger" (mains adaptor) - not just on battery
• Camera set in Playback mode - NOT Recording mode
Does Your Camera work on another Mac ?
Sorry to say it is to easy to turn the 6-pin end of the FW-cable 180 deg wrong.
This is lethal to the A/D-chip in the Camera = needs an expensive repair.
(Hard to find out - else than import/export to another Mac ceased to work
everything else is OK e.g. recording and playback to TV)
A/D-box
• Is the dip-switches set right ?
• Set to same standard as recorded/editing e.g. NTSC 29.97fps or PAL 25fps
• Try resetting it
Connections
• Daisy Chaining most often doesn’t work (some unique cases - it’s the only way that work (some Canon Cameras ?))
Try to avoid connecting Camera <--> external HD <--> Mac but import directly to the Mac then move
the Movie project to dedicated external hard disk.
• FireWire-port - Can be re-setted by - Turn off Mac and disconnecting Mac from Mains/Power for 20-30 minutes
External device’s (hard disk’s)
• Should be FireWire as USB/USB2 performs badly and so does Airport or Net-work connected ones too.
• MUST BE - Mac OS Extended formatted - UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange - DO NOT WORK for video due to 4Gb barrier.
Mac
• Free space on internal (start-up) hard disk ? Please specify the amount of free space.
(Other hard disks don't count)
I go for a minimum of 25Gb free space for 4x3 SD Video - and my guess is 5 times more for 16x9 HD ones
after material is imported and edited. No Camera or A/D-box
• GarageBands fix - Close iMovie, Open GarageBand, Play some notes, Close GB and iMove can now be OK
• Does Your Mac have a FireWire Port
• White MacBooks - don't
• MacBook-Air - don't
if not then a few Mac’s has a PCM-CIA slot and there are FW-Cards that makes a FW-port this way
else - NO SOLUTION
Only option as I get it is either
• Use another Mac to Capture material (to an external USB2 - Mac OS Extended formatted hard disk - or -
• Change to another Camera that can be used with Your Mac (no there are no miniDV tape Cameras that can)
• If Your Mac-Book has a PCM-CIA Card place - then there are FW-port-Cards and then
You can import via this - but I've not seen this on more modern Macs. My PowerBook G4
has one and this FW-Card-port works greatly.
SoftWare
• Delete iMovie pref. file may help sometimes. I rather start a new account, log into this and have a re-try.
• Any strange Plug-ins into QuickTime as Perian etc ? Remove and try again.
• FileVault is off ? (hopefully)
• Screen Saver - OFF
• Energy Saver - OFF
Using WHAT versions ? .
• Mac OS - X.5.4 ?
• QuickTime version ? (This is the heart in both iMovie and FinalCut)
• iMovie’08 (7.1.?), 09 or 11 ?
• iMovie HD 6 (6.0.4/3) ?
Other ways to import Your miniDV tape
• Use another Camera. There where tape play-back stations from SONY
but they costed about 2-4 times a normal miniDV Camera.
• If Your Camera works on another Mac. Make an iMovie movie project here and move it
over to Your Mac via an external hard disk.
(HAS TO BE Mac OS Extended formatted - USB/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange WILL NOT DO)
(Should be a FireWire one - USB/USB2 performs badly)
from LKN 1935.
Hi Bengt W, I tried it all, but nothing worked. Your answer has been helpful insofar as all the different trials led to the conclusion that there was something wrong with my iMovie software. I therefore threw everything away and reinstalled iMovie from the HD. After that the exportation of DV videos (there has not been any problem with HDV videos) to my Sony camcorders worked properly as it did before. Thank you. LKN 1935
from Karsten.
in addition to Bengt's excellent '9 yards of advice' ..
camera set to 'Play' , not rec/computer/etc.?
camera not on battery, but power-line?
did your Mac 'recognize' this camera before...?
a technical check.
connect camera, on, playback, fw-connected...
click on the Blue Apple, upper left of your screen ..
choose 'About . . / More . .
under Firewire.. what do you read . . ?
More
• FileVault - Secure that it’s turned off
• Network storage - DOESN’T WORK
• Where did You store/capture/import Your project ?
External USB hard disk = Bad Choice / FireWire = Good
If so it has to be Mac OS Extended formatted
----> UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange is NOT Working for VIDEO !
mbolander
Thanks for all your suggestions. What I learned is that I had a software problem. I had something called "Nikon Transfer" on my Mac that was recognizing my Canon camcorder as a still camera and was preventing iMovie from working properly. After un-installing Nikon Transfer and doing a reboot, everything worked great.
I never liked the Nikon Transfer software anyway--I guess I'll get a cheap card reader and use that to transfer photos in the future.
No Camera or bad import
• USB hard disk
• Network storage
• File Vault is on
jiggaman15dg wrote
if you have adobe cs3 or 4 and have the adobe bridge on close that
or no firewire will work
see if that helps
DJ1249 wrote
The problem was the external backup hard drive that is connected, you need to disconnect the external drive before the mac can see the video camera.
MaryBoog wrote
Maybe your problems is solved in the meantime, but for all others this might help as I had the same problem, also have the Sony HDR-HC7, but the 7e (Europe, PAL). I found this link today and it works perfectly
//support.sony-europe.com/tutorials/dime/videotransfer/vtransfer.aspx site=odw_en_GB&sec=DVH&m=HDR-HC7E
What I exactly did.- put camera in play mode - open guide - choose connection guide - choose comp./printer (where to transfer movie to) - select connection.- i-link (on my camera) but equal to firewire - OK - choose HDV - choose NO for conversion of i.link.
Settings are shown then (VCR HDV/DV.- HDV and i.link-conv..- OFF), press OK, OK, END.
Switch camera off. Connect firewire cable to camera & Mac. Switch camera on, in play/edit mode.
Open i-movie, choose import from camera. On screen below the camera connection is shown.- DV (HDV). Now you can import, automatically or manually.
This worked perfectly for me. Took me 2 days to find out. Could not find any clear thread explaining what I had to do on the camera and the manual was not clear either.
Yours Bengt W

Why does Final Cut Express 4 quit automatically when I open Log and Transfer window?

I'm using a Sony NXCAM and I am editing on a Mac OS X. The clips I have recorded are in MTS format so I understand I must use the Log and Transfer setting to import my clips. I plug the camera into my computer, go into Final Cut Express 4, turn the camera on, and then go into the Log and Transfer window. Once I open that, Final Cut quits and an error message pops up that reads, "Final Cut Express quit unexpectedly." Final Cut quits too fast for me to even click on anything in the Log and Transfer window. I really don't understand why it does this. The only thing I can think of why Final Cut is quitting is because I have over 100 clips on the camera, so maybe that is too much for Final Cut Express 4 to handle. However, I wouldn't think that would be the case. If anyone knows of anything I could do to fix this problem, then please send me a reply. I've looked around the internet to see if anyone else has had this problem, but I haven't found anything. Thank you, any responses will be greatly appreciated!
-Snowconedxx39

Shooted videos directly saved to the SD memory card is no problem, the log and transfer window immediately recognizes the sd card and I was able to convert the videos. I will check later today if this were 25p, 50i or 50p footages.
Strangely enough is that transferring the .mts files from the internal memory to the sd card (using the Mac finder, I don't know if it is possible within the camera itself) won’t help, the log and transfer window doesn't the recognizes the transferred files, strange!
I hope that this problem will not occur using Final Cut Pro X, which I will start using soon.
I'm curious what the exact problem will be.

Apple Final Cut Express 3.5 on Lion doesn' t work

Hello everyone,
My Lion runs great, but I've now bought Apple Final Cut Express 3.5 andwhen I try to install it it says: "You can use the" FinalCutExpress.mpkg "not open, because the PowerPC programs will no longer be supported." Cansomeone help me and does anyone know how to Lion "uninstall" again?
Sorry for my bad English

I know this babowa has had their question answered, but I thought this could be helpful to others.
If you have just one hard drive in your computer (12 steps - total time: about an hour):
1. Go to Disk Utilities and select your hard drive.
2. Click the partition tab, click and drag the current partition smaller by about 20 GB (if you have it to spare)
3. Click the + at the bottom (it should fill the blank space remaining), select the new partition, name it "New_Snow", set the format of the new partition to Mac OS Extended, and then click "apply".
4. Insert your Snow Leopard disc, and reboot holding down the C key (this should boot to the installer).
5. In the installer, select the "New_Snow" partition that you created (NOT THE BIG ONE WITH ALL YOUR STUFF ON IT), click the customize button when you see it and deselect everything - this installs just the base operating system and will be the quickest.
6. When the computer reboots, hold down the "Option" key, and select the "New_Snow" partition to boot to.
7. Once in the Snow Leopard OS (can check by seeing if Launch Pad is in the dock), insert the Final Cut Express disc, and install it and whatever else you want to your "New_Snow" Partition.
8. Open the apps, register them, and enter in the CD key.
9. Use the software updater (found in the apple menu) and choose to update anything associated with Pro Apps and Final Cut Express.
10. Reboot. Hold down the Option key again, and select the Lion partition this time.
11. After you have booted into Lion, go to Applications>Utilities>Migration Assistant, and select the following settings:
a. From another Mac, PC, Time Machine Backup...
b. From a TimeMachine backup or another disk.
c. Make sure your "New_Snow" disk is selected.
d. Deselect everything but Applications, and continue with install.
12. If you want, keep the other partition as a backup (it has FCE on it already and everything) or use DiskUtility to remove the 2nd partition, and resize your Lion partition back to full size.
Here is the short version of this method for people who know how to partition hard drives and do reboots, etc:
1. Create a new partition on your hard drive
2. Install just the base SL OS to the new partition
3. Boot into your new SL installation, install FCE, open it and register it, and run the FCE-associated updates
4. Boot back into Lion, and use the Migration Assistant to transfer only Applications from the SL partition to the Lion partition.
Total time spent using this method is about 1 hr + (including FCE updates).
5 mins to set up the new partition
20-25 mins for the base OS install
10-15 mins for the FCE install
10 mins for updates
5 minutes to transfer apps from the SL partition
Notes:
I bet the "install Rosetta Stone" method would have worked too, but I didn't try it. I already had a second partition set up on my computer with Snow Leopard; so, all I had to do was boot to it, do the FCE install, then transfer it to my Lion install with the migration assistant.
Hope that helps someone else who doesn't want Final Cut Pro X or doesn't/can't afford the upgrade for $400. I figure even if it took you 4 hours to do, you're still likely saving $100 per hour.
FCP X download - 3 hrs
Installation - 15 minutes
Immediate learning curve issues, etc. - a few more hours
Updates - 30 mins
total alternative cost about 8 hrs and $400.
Good luck to all.

Does Final Cut Express Support Other Formats (Avi, MPEG, flv, etc)?

I'm relatively new to Final Cut and I'm pretty excited to give this baby a try. Anyway, I've got some videos to edit and I know this software supports Quicktime videos but what about other formats such as Avi, MPEG, FLV, etc.? Do I need to get a third party software to convert these videos or can Final Cut Express handle them automatically?
Also, when I want to edit a video and viewing it on the viewer (The screen next to the Canvas), the screen is all white when it's being paused or when I want to scroll it with the dial thingy. Why is that?

Hi,
Final Cut Express 4 supports only DV, HDV and AVCHD (last one only on Intel CPUs) using the Apple Intermediate Codec.
On other than these formats, you can use Mpegstreamclip (www.squared5.com) to convert your files into one of those supported formats, DV or Apple Intermediate Codec (when using HD material).
Regards,
Armando.

Final Cut Express, suddenly the application doesn't let me save project

Final Cut Express, suddenly the application doesn't let me save project

Do you have available space on the disk drive you are storing on?
When FCE begins to act in unexpected ways, the usual first step is to delete the FCE preferences:
Final Cut Express: Troubleshooting Basics - Apple Support
The easiest way to do this is to download Preference Manager from Digital Rebellion (free):
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/
Your preference will be reset to default the next time you launch FCE.
MtD

Why is Final Cut Express adding 5 minutes of black to the end of my .dv export? I've marked it out, there are no additional clips at the end, it's doing this consistantly.

I'm using Final Cut Express 4.0 and when I export to .dv it adds 5 minutes of black to the end of my export. Any ideas on why this is happening? I have it marked out and there are no additional clips at the end that it's trying to capture.

According to previous posts in this forum, Apple does not support FCE with Lion, no less Mountain Lion. Nonetheless some people report no problems using FCE with Lion, depending upon upgrade protocols from Leopard etc. You list FEC 4.0, but FCE has an update to 4.01 free download from software update.

Final Cut Express 4 - why doesn't it support HD?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for