Rendering problme with Kodak Zi8 clip into FCE

Greetings: I am trying to import a Kodak Zi8 clip into Final Cut Express. I run it through Mpeg Streamclip to transcode it from h264 into Apple Intermediate Codec and set the frame size in Streamclip to 848X480. I open a sequence in FCE, making sure the Sequence Preset is set to Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i50. But when I try to lay the clip into the timeline I get the red line of doom that the video is unrendered (although the audio is not). What am I doing wrong? I have also set the Easy Set-up to Apple Intermediate Codec.
Douglas

Open the file in the QT player and report exactly what it says in the movie inspector. There is no such video frame size.
If that is the size, then it's standard definition. You need to convert to QuickTime using the DV PAL codec (if you're in Europe) at 720x576. In the Options box set it to 16:9 because it sounds like it's supposed to be anamorphic.

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Editing with Kodak zi8 footage for air - VGA setting

Hello. I shot with a Kodak zi8. I used the VGA setting. I couldn't use the HD settings b/c my Mac is old and doesn't handle HD. My FCP is 5.0.4.
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MPEG Streamclip download link and my tutorial [here|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2070861&tstart=0].

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Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

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SCENARIO:
I’m completely new to FC and only have amateur experience in iMovie 06 and somehow managed to use the “new” iMovie. I only did basic stuff, family videos and nothing more (not that the new iMovie is really much more powerful). But I have some work to do now and have access to a workstation with Final Cut Express 4.01. I understand the basics of FCE and have seen Apple tutorials which are pretty basic. With all this in mind I decided to give FCE a try.
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!http://dl.dropbox.com/u/262054/forumpic/SouceProperties.png!
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skalicki` wrote:
I don't pretend to know how iMovie works (I've hardly ever used it), but I very much doubt it allows you to edit 1024x768 video natively without any "behind-the-scenes" conversion.
I’m hardly an expert in iMovie (if such title exists), all I can tell you, is that the H.264 1024x768 videos that i “Drag”, slice, cut, move and finally export (in the same size), look exactly the same.
Are they being converted “behind-the-scenes”? Perhaps.
Do I see or notice any difference on my screens? None at all. They really look identical.
I’d have expected FCE to *at least* be able to perform this very basic task. Evidently, FCE is targeted at something different, which then leads to the question that every iMovie 06 user asked… Why cripple iMovie in the latest releases? Where’s our “not quite FCE” but easy to use editor?
The answer has been the same: there’s no such thing anymore. I thought it was FCE (plus more) but clearly, there’s a huge market FCE can’t really touch. FCE (and Pro) might be very good products for what they do, but they are clearly not even able to touch iMovie marketshare. Which is a pity, cuz iMovie (whether you hate it or love it), is limited in a lot of things
Thanks.
P.S.: I’m not a fan of iMovie nor a FCE basher. But I love Logic Express/Pro

Importing clips from Imovie into FCE - Clips don't match

Hi
OK I have been successfully importing Imovie clips into FCE, but have recently hit a problem. I make a rough edit in IMovie but when I open the imported file in FCE I get different footage to that which sits in the IMovie project.
Yes I am opening the right clips

nothing?
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Imovie locks up/crashes every time I drop a film clip into the project

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You could try converting the clips to DV using MPEG Streamclip, then import the resulting QT DV clips into FCE. In MPEG Streamclip, select Export to QuickTime, then select Compression = "Apple DV/DVCPRO NTSC" with a 720x480 frame size. I don't think that selecting "Other" frame size will work, I suspect it would still require rendering once in FCE.
Alternatives
You could also try using MPEG Streamclip to convert the video to Apple Intermediate Codec, selecting the 1280x720 (HDTV 720p) frame size .
You might look into whether your camcorder can downconvert the video to DV during playback, and recapture the video in FCE using the DV-NTSC easy setup.
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Compressor + Kodak Zi8 files = pinwheel and slowdown

As soon as I drop Kodak Zi8 files into Compressor, I get the pinwheel and all kinds of other slowdowns. Even a 1-minute clip does this. Has anyone else seen this with these files? I would love to use different cameras, but the campaign I am working on is limited to these cameras.
Temp solution: I just use MPEGStreamClip to transcode those files to ProRes 422. For some reason MPGSC does not complain at all with the Kodak files.
Any ideas?
Other video files do not do this
I have deleted pref files, uninstalled, reinstalled, etc
Compressor 3.5.1

Last night I created four short videos using each format available on
the Zi8:
1080 p at 30 fps
720 p at 60 fps
720 p at 30 fps
and WVGA
I uploaded them to vista computer described in my earlier texts and found something a bit surprising (or maybe not).
I tried to view them several ways: the mediaimpressions Arcsoft app that came with the camera; the most current version of Quicktime; and PE4.
All of them suffered a bit of choppiness, pixelation, stuttering, etc. when I tried to view them in the above methods.
Strange...
Would this indicate something wrong with the drivers, codecs, etc. on the computer? or the way the videocamera stored and saved the movies?
I have chatted with the kodak support and need to continue along this today.
I see a similar post with the kodak videocamera (Zi6, another pocket videocamera): http://forums.adobe.com/message/1990668#1990668
From what I read, it appears that one may need to convert the movies to another format (AVI for example).

Spliting clips in FCE.

Dear members:
How can a clip be split in two or more clips using FCE ?
I have just recently moved to FCE from iMovie and this was a rather simple procedure to accomplish in iMovie. I have searched but haven't been able to find instructions on how to do it.
Thank you in advance,
Joseph Chamberlain

Hi, Piero:
Thank for the many pointers and helpful tips you shared. I have found them extremely helpful. I do have some other questions:
I understand your point about the lack of ability to free up unused disk
space in FCE, while in iMovie it is standard and easy practice. I think this is
the result of the FCE design approach: a cut down version of FCP where the
FCP Media Manager (that to my knowledge addresses this issue) is
completely removed... while a simpler iMovie-like subset of its functions
should have been left in FCE.
I would be willing to consider an upgrade to FCP if this will address the limitations I have found in FCE. However, it would be important for me to be able to import all the footage I have already captured in FCE into FCP. Is it possible for FCP to import projects directly from FCE in a simple manner ? Do you know if Apple offers an upgrade path for FCE owners to move up to FCP or Final Cut Studio ?
Anyway, the answer to your question: would it be possible to capture the
footage in iMovie and then transfer it to FCE ? is yes, as long as you accept
some limits and take some precautions.
Limits:
- no time code is recorded by iMovie; as a result FCE won't be able to
recapture project in the future, if this is a point for you;
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all audio before any editing.
In order to avoid audio rendering you must first convert the .dv clips (as
imported from iMovie) into the .mov format that is native to FCE: you can
do it with QuickTime Pro, MPEG Streamclip or iMovie itself using the
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correct compression (DV-PAL or DV-DVCPRO/NTSC), frame rate (25 or
29,97) and audio options (uncompressed/linear PCM, stereo, 48 kHz, 16
bit).
Piero
The solution above sounds very time consuming and I would prefer to maintain the timecode in the captured footage. From your explanation it seems FCP with its media manager would be the perfect solution to address my individual needs.
Thanks again for your help and suggestions.
Joseph

AVCHD ingestion into FCE

Recently bought a Panasonic HDC-HS300 video camera. Attempts to ingest HD video clips into FCE 4.0.1 using the Log and Transfer method described in the FCE manual (beginning pg 220) failed. When moving clips from the preview pane to the queue, they start but then go idle. Tried deleting them and starting over as the manual suggests, but further attempts still fail.
Suggestions anyone?
Teddi

Tom, I'm hoping you can help me with this same problem. The configuration details are:
= Camera JVC Everio GZ-HD300SAA
= Footage shot at XP setting, and displaying in the Log and Transfer browser at format 1080i50 (25fps), PAL format
= iMac details as per my signature
= Easy Setup settings set to HDV - Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i50
= One minor concern is that the device control description in that setting still shows HDV FireWire PAL; but I figure this is unlikely to be a problem since the clips all play just fine with the playback controls in the Log and Transfer viewer (but I can't find where to modify that device control setting if I need to).
= In the context menu on the clip, the Preferences pop-up is set to transcode to Apple Intermediate Codec and audio to Plain Stereo (changed following your hint earlier in this thread).
= The drive is an external WD MyBook 2TB (new, still has 1.96TB free), formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
I already have some other clips imported into this project from the hard disk, where they had been previously captured from a different camera using iMovie. These other clips are also in the Apple Intermediate Codec, in HD (1440 x 1080). They can also be previewed in the FCE viewer with no problems. They are on the same drive.
Observed behavior:
= When I connected the camera, all the clips appeared automatically in the Log and Transfer (L&T) browser, as expected.
= Every clip can be selected in the L&T browser, and then appears in the L&T preview area. They respond completely normally to the viewing controls, scrubbing (as per manual, only updating when you stop etc), play, jumps etc for all buttons working as normal)
= The correct bin is selected, and confirmed with the Reveal Logging Bin button. Up to here, everything is good and normal.
= When any clip is dropped into the Queue (by either button or drag&drop), the Status column shows a spinning icon for about 12 seconds, then stops. The status message above the Queue now says "1 clip queued - Idle". The progress bar has never illuminated. And if I click on that item, the status icon changes to a red shriek error icon, with the tool tip "Error: No Data".
I've run out of manual references, help, and online searches to solve this one.
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I can't drag clips into my timeline - HELP!

I am working on a project at the moment and I am having issues with dragging imported clips into my timeline. I click on them to drag them down but they go grey and stay put! What is going on, can anyone help me as this is quite an urgent project.

What happens if you drag them to the clips viewer instead of the timeline? (Click on the small film frame next to the small clock at lower left before you drag.)

My current os x is 10.9.5, using final cut express vers. 4.0.1. I have imported .mov clips created with a older mac os x (lion) and converted them to import into fce. after doing this as well as putting clips on the fce timeline when playing back t.h

My current os x is 10.9.5, using final cut express vers. 4.0.1. I have imported .mov clips created on a older mac os x (lion) and when I wanted to import them into fce, a quicktime conversion window opened up and converted them (I haven't experienced this in the past). I then imported the converted quicktime clips into my fce project. After doing this I took selected clips and put those edited clips on the fce timeline. When playing the video back in the fce timeline,I noticed
1) the video wasn't playing back smoothly like the original content
2) when looking at the timecode reading of the timeline, the timecode was sputtering as well as the video and audio. I exported to quicktime just to see if that was consistent, it was.
When I play the converted quicktime content independently of fce, it plays normally (no sputtering of timecode, video and audio. Need help to resolve the sputtering playback of converted video content in the fce timeline. I've never experienced this before. Any suggestions?

When you say you converted the clips before importing them into FCE, did you convert to AIC or DV and do the converted clips match your FCE Sequence settings exactly? If not, go back and convert the original files again, using the intended Sequence settings as a guide.
-DH

Rendering problme with Kodak Zi8 clip into FCE

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