Importing HD footage to Final Cut Express?

I am going to edit my own wedding video and I am hiring a professional to shoot the raw footage in HD. I have a small, hand held Panasonic PV-GS300 that shoots in SD on Mini DV tapes. I understand that I cannot effectively upload HD footage through this small camera and still maintain the HD quality from the original footage. My conclusion is that I am going to have the HD footage converted into Quicktime files and loaded onto my external hard drive that I can import into Final Cut Express. Will somoene just confirm that this will work? Is there anything I am missing? I just don't want to pay for professional footage and ultimately not be able to edit it, so if you think I'm forgetting something or if there's a specific type of footage or setting that is optimal for Final Cut Express, please let me know and I can pass this on to my videographer. Thank you for your help!

Hi there,
Yeah, it should work fine to get the videographer to give you the files. Make sure he/she shoots in a frame-size of *1280x720, 1440x1080, or 1920x1080* at a frame-rate of 29.97fps.
Ask him or her if it is possible to give you the files in the *Apple Intermediate Codec* with *uncompressed audio* at 48kHz.
Sasha

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Trouble capturing footage to final cut express

hey this is quite urgent....
i am trying to upload footage to final cut express from my sony DCR-HC52E. it sais VTR OK and plays and pauses and stuff but i cannot see anything it just stayed on those coloured bars.
i can see it playing on the camera though...
i got it working once with this camera, just cant remember how
any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi
My table for this was once for iMovie - BUT it's more General than that so You might find help here.
*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
• Toogle 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 eg recording and playback to TV)
A/D-box
• Is the dip-switches set right ?
• Set to same standard as recorded/editing eg 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
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 minmum 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.
• 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 helpfull 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 Choise / 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 uninstalling 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 halps
DJ1249 wrote
The problem was the external backup hard drive that is connected, you need to disconect 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=odwenGB&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

Best export method of footage from Final Cut Express to DVD?

I'm exporting footage from Final Cut Express using Quicktime Player and then burning the footage to DVD using iDVD.
The end result on DVD has very jagged interlacing (or noise) on objects in motion which aren't present when viewing the footage on FC. I don't think the problem is with iDVD (I assume I'm burning a pristine copy of an already reduced-quality clip).
Are there any changes I can make to the system preferences either on FC or Quicktime Player to reduce or prevent loss of digital information, or can anyone suggest better methods of export from Final Cut Express to DVD?

Hello
I'm not sure if this is relevant:
I've been using the Quicktime Conversion settings;
http://www.locationstudio.net/Settings.jpg
29.97 Frame Rate
Highest Quality
NTSC/PRO
I was under the impression that this was usually best - haven't had any problems with iDVD
Mike

How to Import WMV's into Final Cut Express WithOUT Flip4Mac

How can I import a .wmv into Final Cut Express v.1.0 without using Flip4Mac? I am doing a video for a friend who gave me a .wmv file and it throws up a "Flip4Mac Free Trial" watermark. So lame. Is there a free version of something I can use? I googled but couldn't find. Any suggestions? Thanks SO much in advance.

There aren't any free import/export components for WMV content. F4M is the best, since it's integrated into FC, but, as you've found out, without paying the $49., the free version limits the clip to 1/2 it's duration up to 30 seconds, and puts the watermark on.
The other software that converts is Visual Hub, but it doesn't have the FC integration...it's slightly cheaper.
There's one other option HERE, that I have not tried. Supposedly they will convert video to other formats for you.

Iphone footage into Final Cut Express

I left a question earlier in this forum and would like to update (hopefully that's proper process!). I'll repeat the question, in case:
I'm trying to get footage from iPhone 4 to Final Cut Express. I'm using MPEG Streamclip 1.9.2. In the tutorial I found, they did an export to Quicktime, selecting the Apple Intermediate Codec as the compression, 29.97 as the Frame, and "1280 x 720 (unscaled)" as the frame size option (I'm also selecting frame blending and better downscaling, and turning off interlaced scaling; the rest are Streamclip defaults). My version of Streamclip doesn't have a 1280x720 (unscaled), so I've been forced to select 1280x720 (HDTV 720P). Not sure if this is my problem.
On recent attempts, I've managed to get the clip into a QuickTime format (using the settings above) in a way that doesn't look stretched (can't tell whether it is or not). When I import the clip into FCE, it comes in without having to be rendered, and looks as if it's not stretched there either. But as soon as I drop the clip into the sequence and try to play it, I get the "Dropped Frames" warning. I'm already operating in RT Safe mode, and rarely/never have problems w/ dropped frames with clips that were captured from my Sony camera/tape. Is the AIC codec more demanding of faster drives? (I'm using a 200Gig external Apple drive at the moment). Or is it because I have been forced to export as a 1280x720 HDTV 720p as opposed to unscaled?
In FCE I've set easy set up to:
Apple Intermediate Codec, 29.97, and HDV AIC 720 p30; Is this a match with the Export QT version?
And if so, would the clip be coming into my sequence without having to be rendered? Since I haven't had to upgrade my hardware for my other camera, I'd be reluctant to go out and buy more external disk power, in the event it doesn't do me any good.
I know there are several posts on people trying to get iphone footage into FCE already, but they don't seem to apply and, after hours on the internet looking for a solution, I'm at my wits end. PLEASE HELP
Thanks in advance!!

The 4s records video as MPEG4/AVC (H.264)/1080p/30fps in a .mov filetype. Final Cut Express is NOT designed to edit this kind of video. You need to convert the 4s video clips to QuickTime/Apple Intermediate Codec/1080i before importing them into FCE. You can use MPEG Streamclip to do the conversion. In FCE you also need to select a matching Easy Setup (should be AVCHD Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i60 for converted 4s clips) and create a new Sequence to edit your video. This should eliminate the constant re-rendering problem.
ps. Final Cut Express was discontinued in 2011 even before OS X Lion was released. It is no longer supported by Apple and there is no guarantee it will run properly on Yosemite. Just so you know. Final Cut Pro X is the currently supported app.

IMPORTING MEDIA FILES in FINAL CUT EXPRESS PLEASE HELP!!!!

I recently purchased a sony handycam that uses a hard drive instead of DV tapes. I'm trying to use final cut express to edit my footage but when I try to import the files from my camera, the files are unrecognized. I've tried to view them on the quicktime player and that also doesn't recognize them. I believe the files are MPEG2. Im a student and I have to finish this video project by next week and I was hoping to at least have gotten started tonight but have been spending hours just trying to import files. I'm terribly confused!!! If anyone knows what I should do PLEASE HELP. I don't want to have to do my editing on my dell laptop using a windows movie maker.

Those type of files are not directly supported by FCE. You will have to convert them to DV at the Sequence setting you use. eg. PAL 48 kHz.
Software or hardware based solutions are available.
Search this Forum for "Streamclip". This is one software solution.
Al

Is it possible to transfer stored (b-roll) video footage from Final Cut Express to Final Cut Pro event library? Is so, what do I need?

I have been editing in final cut express and now that I'm working in Pro X I would like to transfer my b-roll footage from FCX to Pro X. I read that there is an app. that you can buy that does this for Final Cut Pro 7, is this possible with Final Cut Express?

Any media used in FCE can be used in FCP. No third party software is required.
You cannot take an FCE project to FCP. 7toX will not help as FCE has no XML export.

Importing video files into final cut express

I am a pro tools engineer and have just dove into final cut express 4.0 to do some simple video editing.I have a cannon camera with a sd card.I archived the video to a hard drive so I could free up the card.I can not find a single piece of evidence that explains how I can import those files from my hard drive.Everything that is mentioned is comming from a camera.I also tried by the book importing a Imovie to start simple.No luck.It shows up in the directory but there is no video.Needless to say I am lost!!!!

If you still have the original video on the memory card, put it back in the camcorder. (Don't try to copy it back from your Mac to the card, however.) Connect the camcorder to your Mac via USB and try capturing the video via FCE's Log & Transfer function.
In most cases when people merely copy video files from a camcorder's memory stick or hard drive (usually AVCHD video) to the Mac desktop or a folder, they don't copy the full directory structure on the card, which is essential. Is that what you did when you 'archived' the video? Can you provide more specific info?

Import of AVCHD causes Final Cut Express to crash

Hi
I am trying to import clips from AVCHD (Canon HG10). I go to file>log and transfer and select the clip. When I click on Add lip to queue it starts and then Final Cut Express crashes. Is there an update? Am I doing something wrong?
Please help.
I have a 2 x 2.66 dual core intel Xeon computer with 5 gig of RAM.
Thanks

Hello
I'm not sure if this is relevant:
I've been using the Quicktime Conversion settings;
http://www.locationstudio.net/Settings.jpg
29.97 Frame Rate
Highest Quality
NTSC/PRO
I was under the impression that this was usually best - haven't had any problems with iDVD
Mike

Imported slide shows in Final Cut Express are poor quality

I just bought Final Cut Express (so it's the latest). I know this problem isn't unique to Final Cut, but when I import a slide show created in iPhoto or Fotomagico into Final Cut (or into iMovie HD, for that matter), the quality is poor. What I am trying to do is to create a movie that integrates a slide show with video, and output it to a DVD. The slide show uses "Ken Burns Effect."
I have tried outputting the finished slide show in various formats (m4v, dv) to try to improve quality, to no avail. This is even before the movie is outputted to a DVD- it's just viewing the rendered product on-screen. I'm guessing that the output from the slide show apps is compressed, then recompressed when rendered in Final Cut.
For a small upgrade price, Fotomagico has an HD output option. Would that improve things or is that the wrong tack to take? How do professionals do this sort of thing? How might I do it?

Slides never look as good on TV because you are drastically reducing the original size of probably 1920x1200 to around 720x576 which ruins the quality.
Furthermore, the fine detail is likely to jitter and shimmer due to interlacing artifacts.
You can reduce the jitter with the De-interlace filter but it will do nothing for the sharpness.
The only way you can get high quality is to produce your video in high definition and play it back on an HDTV.
Having said that, I routinely apply the de-interlace filter to all my slides and when played back on my HDTV the standard definition looks remarkably good. (But they look much worse on a CRT TV.)

How can I import DVD footage in Final Cut Pro X

I want to edit a showreel of my own work in Final Cut Pro X (version 10.1.4). A lot of my old footage is only available on DVD. I need to get this footage into Final Cut Pro X but don't know how to do this. There are programs to convert DVD to DV but I don't know which one to use, and how to use them.

The script provided by MPEG Streamclip worked for me.
But there is an alternate way, which is basically doing by hand what the script does.
The actual component that is needed is stored inside an archive file in the inside the package. This file needs to be copied to a place where the system can see it.
Here are detailed instructions. Be sure you fully understand before putting any files in the Library folders, as described below. No guarantees, but if followed correctly I believe this works.
1) Double-click the .dmg file.
2) Inside there are two folders. Open the one that says "For Quicktime 6.4 or later..."
3) Control-click the QuickTimeMPEG32.pkg and choose "Show Package Contents".
4) Copy the file "Archive.pax.gz" somewhere else on your mac - I will use the Desktop as an example.
5) Double click the copy of "Archive.pax.gz" on your desktop. It will expand and create a folder on the desktop called "System".
6) Inside the folder called "System" is a folder "Library" and then "Quicktime", with a single file called "QuickTimeMPEG2.component".
This is the file that MPEG Streamclip needs!
7) I suggest you place this file in your own user's Library. To do this, hold down the option key and select Library from the Go menu in the Finder. There, if it does not exist already, create a folder "QuickTime" and copy the component there. This should work.
Note: the script actually places the component in a different location - one which I think should not be messed with (inside /System/Library).
I think it should work in the user's Library, but if not I would put in /Library (the Library at the root of the drive) before trying the location above.

AVCHD footage and Final Cut Express 4

Can somebody tell me how to transfer 1080/60i footage recorded with a Panasonic AG-HMC40P in Final Cut Exptess? Please try to explain step by step in easy language because I'm a bit of a moron when it comes to computers I'll also mix this footage with the SD video recorded in DVCAM format on cassette with a SonyDVCAM. What kind of setup would you think is the best for minimum hassle? My MacBook Pro is one of the first ones with only 2GB of RAM! Cheers

Hello, later versions of FCP can do it, but see this maybe...
http://www.bigasoft.com/articles/how-to-import-avchd-to-imovie.html

Importing TV footage into Final Cut

I imported video from a tv show into final cut. When it plays it like stutters... I thought this was just a play back issue and that once I exported it the video ticking would go away but it doesn't. Any ideas on how to fix this?

What format is this TV show? What CODEC? And don't say "It's a Quicktime Movie..." That says nothing. We need to know what TYPE of QT movie. FCP doesn't work with any format you decide to throw at it. It requires that the footage be converted to a few specific Quicktime codecs. And that list can be found in the EASY SETUP menu (in the Final Cut Pro menu).

Rendering imported iMovie clips in Final Cut Express

I'm learning FCExpress with a previous iMovie project as my footage. The clips/edited sequences dragged/dropped to the browser from an iMovie need to be rendered, but when I click "render all" a menu appears with a list of checkmarked and uncheckmarked options that I cannot find explained in either the Help window or the hardcopy manual. Maybe there somewhere, but haven't found it. Is it detailed somewhere? Or can you briefly explain the menu options and what the checks mean? Thanks. This has gotta be a dumb question, but I'm stuck there.
ibook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6) LaCie hard drive

Dear Tom,
I did the exact thing of importing iMovie Clips to FCE HD and I had to render the clips before I could add any effects to them.
1) I did this because I had problem with capturing clips from my DV camera using FCE. I had error message like "bad source tape". Any advice for this?
2) After importing and rendered from iMovie, FCE HD could not work Real time with my rendered clips. Every transition or video effects had to be rendered. Shucks, I'm perplexed.

Importing WMV files to final cut express

Starting out on FC ex and have been given a memory stick with footage to edit. It's stored as a WMV file and so I can't import it. Anybody got any ideas????

Is that a typo error ?
Could be.
Here's quote from Streamclip UG:
MPEG Streamclip is a converter, an exporter, a player, an editor, a downloader.
It can open many file formats: muxed files MPEG, MPG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD, VRO, DAT, DCM, VDR, PVR; transport streams TS, M2T, MTS, MMV, REC, VID, AUD, AVR, TP, TP0, TRP, TOD; demuxed files M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, AIF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3; QuickTime-compatible files MOV, DV, AVI, MP4, DIVX, WMV, FLV; pictures TIFF, JPEG.
MPEG Streamclip supports MPEG-1 video, MPEG layer 1/2 audio, AC3/A52 audio and PCM audio. MPEG-2 video is supported in conversions, but for playback and export you have to buy the MPEG-2 Playback Component ($19.99) from Apple.
To open DivX files, you have to install one of the free DivX-compatible codecs (DivX 5 or 6, 3ivx, XviD).
To open WMV files, you can install the free Flip4Mac WMV Player from http://www.flip4mac.com/ . Export to WMV is supported if you buy Flip4Mac WMV Studio.
To open FLV files you have to install Perian, a free codec pack, from http://www.perian.org/. But note that currently, Perian does not "obsolete" or replace other codecs so you still have to install 3ivx, DivX, XviD when required.

Importing HD footage to Final Cut Express?

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