SD to Prores?

I have a bunch of footage shot in SD DV.
Is it beneficial to go to prores during capture?
Or should I just capture at DV?
Final output will be web and/or dvd. (not going back to DV)
Thanks.

The only benefit would be better control over the image during color correction. Other than that, there is no quality gain. But the control isn't SPECTACULAR, as you already shot 4:1:1...even though you are now in a 4:2:2 color space, the information is still gone. BUT, it is better than color correcting 4:1:1. But you really only see the difference when you PUSH the limits.
The file size increase is pretty big...
Shane

Similar Messages

How many times can you "Export - Quicktime movie" the same ProRes 422 file until it starts to lose quality?

Lets say you are done with your project & you want an uncompressed copy of it as your master. If you keep importing it back into Final Cut Pro, & keep exporting (Quicktime movie), will it ever start to lose quality?

I've never seen a number given, but would think it is very high.
Apple describes ProRes here:
About Apple ProRes
And in that document says:
"while remaining visually lossless through many generations of decoding and reencoding."
I don't think I've ever seen degradation caused by recompression or multiple compassion, but as a workflow if you output a master file, then re-import it to add graphics and export that, you would only be 1 generation down from the master file. If you wanted to make multiple versions, you can always go back to, and re-import, the master file and make the changes, then export, so all you exports stay only 1 generation down from the master file.
MtD

Can't make a workable custom codec with ProRes 422 (HQ)

I've only just now found that there is a Support Community for Compressor. Wish I'd known sooner.
I see my version of Compressor is 3.5.3.
I've been on a little saga.
I started out with the challenge of converting some MP4 files from a Blackberry Playbook into ProRes 422 (HQ) for editing in Final Cut. I used Compressor and the task looked fairly straight forward. I used the ProRes setting in the Compressor, converted my files and imported them into Final Cut. Video was fine but I soon found out that the audio needed rendering every time I put a clip into the Timeline. I went on-line to various chat rooms with this problem. Pretty soon a fellow was telling me that the ProRes 422 (HQ) setting in Compressor had "Audio Pass-through" as default and that this was the cause of my problem. Change it, he said, to "Linear PCM".
It took me a fair while to figure out that the ProRes setting in Compressor did not allow itself to be modified and that I'd have to create a custom preset if I was to make these changes. I set about to do that. I was able to select "QuickTime Movie" and then in "Video/Settings" choose "ProRes 422 (HQ)", in "Audio", "Linear PCM". This did solve the audio problem. Now files imported into Final Cut did not need rendering. But another problem became evident.
Whereas the ProRes 422 setting that came with Compressor in its summary page listed: "Width" and "Height" as "(100% of source)", the custom ProRes 422 (HQ) setting I'd just created has "Width" and "Height" as "320" and "240". In short the 19:9 aspect ratio of the original footage was lost. What I got both in the conversion and in Final Cut was a squished SD image.
I've played like heck with Compressor trying to see if there was some place I could get this custom version of ProRes to correspond to the aspect ratio seen in the Audio Pass-through version that came loaded in Compressor. No luck. All very mysterious.
My next step was to look to create another custom codec that would have the proper 1280 X 720 ratio. Turns out "HDV 720p 30fps" does, so now I've been converting to that. Looks fine in Final Cut - proper picture and sound.
I've been playing around a bit more and see now that I can create a custom setting using "Apple Intermediate Codec". I've tried it and it works too.
So after all this, my question: Should I be using that codec instead? Or does it really matter what codec I use for editing? Is the only real issue what codec I decide to use to output?
And while I'm at it: Does anybody have ideas why trying to create a custom setting with ProRes 422 (HQ) does not work - for my purposes at least.
I must admit this converting codecs is pretty new to me. Hopefully with time this experience will get easier and clearer.
John

Setting a Compressor ProRes Custom Setting:
1) Pick Apple ProRes 422...
2) Drag the PreRes 422 setting to the Bach Window. You can only make a custom setting from the Batch Window...
3) Select enable for the audio. Click on setting to make sure it is set right. Uncheck Allow Job Segmenting... Make sure Streaming is set to none*....
4) Select the Geomenty tab... Pick Custom (16:9):
5) Click Save As and name your custom setting...
6) You new custom setting will show up in the Custum folder for later use:
Another thing you can do is make Droplet of this custom setting. Menu... File... Create Droplet... Save the Droplet into a folder somewhere on your computer.
A Droplet will start the transcoding automatically. Drag the Droplet onto a video icon and let it do it's job.
* ProRes doesn't need the Fast Start setting. If this is set it will take almost twice as long to do the encoding. Same with Allow Job Segmenting using Qmaster.
I did the above on the fly and hope everything is clear for you to understand.

Finalcut lag ProRes 422 HD

This is not a question about how to fix this issue, this is a question about why, in terms of software, this lag occurs.
I experienced some serious lag on a brand new macbook pro and I found the reason why.
When I playback at 51% of the HD video size -> lag.
When I playback at 50% of the HD video size -> no lag.
Do FinalCut re-compress each frame when a video playback is needed? The reason behind the 51% seems odd. Someone can clear my mind about that?

ProRes HD is a very huge file size, and can be very system intensive. Only needed if you're working with stuff from a RED, Arri, or other such high end camera. DSLR's should use ProRes LT, no image quality loss at all, smaller files sizes.
No, FCP does not recompress each frame for playback. You're simply hitting a performance threashold for your total system abilities (CPU, GPU, RAM, Hard Drives, etc).
What Mac are you on, how much RAM, what is your hard drive config?

Choppy video playback with FCP 6 and 5D footage already converted to Apple ProRes 422

I am trying to edit a film I shot on the Canon 5D using FCP 6. I converted my raw files from the Canon 5D to Apple ProRes (HQ) .
But as I try to work on the timeline everything is super choppy and drops frames constantly. I am trying to sync audio as well and it's been impossible since the video in not playing properly.
I have read many post and did everything you say to do, but no luck.
I have chosen the unlimited RT and still dosent wanna play right.
I'm editing off a 1TB G-RAID drive. It currently has 200GB left of free space, so that shouldn't slow things down. My computer has a 500GB Internal Hard Drive and I currently have 250GB of internal free space. Here are the specification of my computer:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          Mac Pro
Model Identifier:          MacPro3,1
Processor Name:          Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:          3.2 GHz
Number Of Processors:          2
Total Number Of Cores:          8
L2 Cache (per processor):          12 MB
Memory:          18 GB
Bus Speed:          1.6 GHz
THis should be a powerful computer, at least thats what I tough when i got it. There has to be a solution to my frustration..please help!!!

Try transcoding to garden variety Pro Res for great quality, much smaller files, and less strain on your system.
Russ

Choppy video playback with FCP 6 and 5D footage already converted to Aplle ProRes 422

I am trying to edit a film I shot on the Canon 5D using FCP 6. I converted my raw files from the Canon 5D to Apple ProRes (HQ) .
But as I try to work on the timeline everything is super choppy and drops frames constantly. I am trying to sync audio as well and it's been impossible since the video in not playing properly.
I have read many post and did everything you say to do, but no luck.
I have chosen the unlimited RT and still dosent wanna play right.
I'm editing off a 1TB G-RAID drive. It currently has 200GB left of free space, so that shouldn't slow things down. My computer has a 500GB Internal Hard Drive and I currently have 250GB of internal free space. Here are the specification of my computer:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name:          Mac Pro
Model Identifier:          MacPro3,1
Processor Name:          Quad-Core Intel Xeon
Processor Speed:          3.2 GHz
Number Of Processors:          2
Total Number Of Cores:          8
L2 Cache (per processor):          12 MB
Memory:          18 GB
Bus Speed:          1.6 GHz
THis should be a powerful computer, at least thats what I tough when i got it. There has to be a solution to my frustration..please help!!!

You could have a problem with your external drive. Run diskutility: diskrepair and diskwarrior (if you've got it) on it Is it formatted macosextended?   You might run a drive speed test and see if the drive is running up to spec.
Try copying one file to your internal drive and see if that plays any better.
Have you tried deleting your fcp preferences? (get preference manager from www.digitalrebellion.com)
Are you just monitoring the video on the computer screen?
You might try resetting your window arrangement in fcp; window: arrange: standard and see if that makes a difference.
Is playback uneven on both viewer and canvas in fcp?
I'd go out and buy a 7200 Sata drive and install it internally and try playing off of that. MacPro's have 4 internal drive bays and it's extremely easy to install another drive.

To save time, could I get away with just using ProRes Proxy?

Might be a dumb question. But please play along with me...
I've been battling with FCP-X since it first came out. Beach balls, crashes, failed auto saves, you name it. Sluggishness is my middle name. But I think it might be because I'm trying to force too much quality through my older, less powerful machines and my little firewire 400 hard drive. All three of my Mac are 3-4 years old, all are from the old "Core 2 Duo" era (not quad core processors), and are all maxed out at 4GB of RAM. While I've read that many people are having performance problems with FCP-X even on brand spankin' new suped-up Mac Pros with lots more horsepower than I'm running, I've long thought that my machines and their lack of power by today's standards may be at the heart of my sluggishness problem, especially given that most of the material I work with is shot in 1080 HD. (I've never actually tested it in FCP-X, but I'm assuming that things would speed along more like I've been used to in the past if I would just do everything in Standard Definition 480, but that ain't gonna happen.)
Like many, I shoot most everything in 1080 HD (usually 24p, sometimes 30), unless I'm occasionally shooting 720 HD at 60i for later slowing down to slo-mo.
Here's my question: Most everything I edit is for web delivery, and 99 percent of it is for my own use (not clients). Mostly podcast-like stuff, although occasionally I'll create something for my business website. Most of what I do is talking head type stuff, not a lot of motion (except for the 720/60i slo-mo stuff, which usually has some motion, which is why I shoot it at 60i for slowing down). Most of what I shoot is green screen talking heads, intended to be keyed in front of some innocuous background like some of the generators in FCP-X. I want it to look good. Even great. But given the limitations of power on my machines, I also don't want to invest an eternity in rendering and processing time. The work I'm doing with video just isn't that important. It's mostly for grins.
Until last night, I had been working exclusively in ProRes422 (aka "Optimized"). But last night I shot some footage and imported it into FCP-X, encoding it ONLY in ProRes Proxy. And frankly, I couldn't discern any difference. It looked every bit as good as the 422 stuff I'd shot before. There was absolutely no difference to my naked eye. That said, the footage I shot last night to test this out was not shot in front of the green screen (I'll test that out today or tonight), so maybe the Proxy footage won't key as well. (I've been stunned at how good the keyer is in FCP-X, but up to this point I've only been keying ProRes422 footage, not Proxy.) But really, based on just eyeballing the footage, I couldn't tell the difference between the Proxy footage and all the other footage I'd shot previously that had been imported and converted to "Optimized" ProRes422.
I'm not looking to deliver anything for broadcast television (if I were, I'd for sure use 422). I'm not doing any feature film type stuff. My video work consists mainly of stuff just for me, for my own personal amusement (and for the amusement of anyone who might watch it on the web). It's intended for YouTube, Vimeo, or occasionally (in smaller dimensions than 1920x1080) for deployment on my company website. Mostly, it's just me doing podcast-type stuff. Occasionally I'll shoot and edit something for church, or for friends. I like to think the production values of my stuff tend to be higher than, say, the footage Aunt Delores shot at Uncle Ralph's birthday party (okay, A LOT higher than that!). But my stuff isn't going to air on "Good Morning Flatbush" either (unless, on the off chance it should happen to go viral).
So let me make my question as clear as possible: Could I not get away with just using ProRes Proxy throughout my entire work flow, end to end, never switching over to ProRes 422 even when exporting? Honestly, it has taken hours just to render the keyed green screen footage on a 15 minute video, and just the other night, it took the better part of 4 hours (after it was already rendered) to export a 15 minute ProRes422 sequence to YouTube (and then the darn thing timed out, essentially wasting all my time). I'd rather just stay in Proxy the whole way through if doing so would streamline my workflow without compromising too much quality in the "look" of the video. Based on my very limited use of Proxy (just testing it out last night for the first time), I couldn't tell the difference. Maybe for web deployment, Proxy is all I really need.
Have any of you just stayed in Proxy the whole way through, never switching to 422 even when exporting? Might this be an acceptable work flow for some of us, especially those of us on older, less powerful machines? Is this a viable solution? Do any of you work this way? What's your level of satisfaction?
Thoughts?

A lot of what I'm shooting is being shot on a Canon XA-10. Some (and certainly all of the 720 footage, but some of the 1080) is shot on a 7D. And still more is shot on either an iPhone 4S, or even on a Flip Ultra (720p, 30fps).
Most is shot on the XA-10.
What I'm trying to avoid is the excessive render times (doesn't the ProRes 422 footage have to render as well?), and the ridiculously long times it takes to export. Would all that not be reduced significantly by sticking to Proxy the whole way? And what would the trade-off be? I mean, I honestly can't see any discernible difference. Maybe I will when I try to pull a decent key. (Haven't gotten that far yet in my Proxy experimentation.)
Of course, editing in Proxy and outputting using 422 requires that FCP-X encode to BOTH when importing, right? Doesn't that add yet another bit of time to the overall process?
I'm trying to streamline, and to reduce the overall amount of time I'm spending doing this stuff.

Jumpy playback from image sequences rendered in Apple Prores and then exported to h264

I will start by saying I have been using FCP since 1.0 and am in no way new to this software, but this issue has me going crazy.
First the Specs:
MacPro 2 x 2.66 Quad cor Intel Xeon
16 gig Ram
OS 10.9.2
FCP 7.0.3 (sorry but I am not a fan of FCP10 at all)
In other words, a beast of a system that has played back everything I have ever built on it for years until now. So now for the issue: I work with an amazing 3D Max builder and we have created a building animation exported from that program into and image sequence ( we have tried JPG, TGA and PNG still all with the same effect). I open Quicktime 7 Pro, build the image sequence, save as .mov, import into FCP and drop it into my 1080p30 Apple Prores (HQ ... we also tried SQ) timelines. The timeline renders perfectly and I can play the video perfectly through my system out of Firewire 800 to my Motu V4HD device which then converts the signal to HDMI to my 55" LED TV. The video and playback is perfect.... until:
If I try to play back the same exact time line into an exported video file, the file will play back with random jumpyness in it. I say random since you can play it back 10 times and it will hiccup during playback at different spots in the video. If you review every frame in the file though using Quicktime 10, 7 or VLC viewer, every frame is perfect. So, it must be the data rate right? Wrong. I have exported now to H264 MP4, M4V, MOV , ect, etc at different data rates from 4mb to 40 mb per second. They all have the same randow jumpyness to it. So it must be my computer right? Nope. I have a Macbook pro that is more powerful than this machine and I rebuild the file using the same method (something I have done a thousand times before) and the exported file does the same thing on that machine. I had my friend do it on his machine... same thing. ERRRR....
We have even tried using After Effects and Premier to the same result. Rendered it straight from Quicktime Pro, same. Rendered it to 720p30, same. Render it to 24fps, same. I had another editor render it using whatever methods he wanted to use... same. Tried Compressor, SAME. Tried Adobe Media Encoder, SAME......We even, god forbid, used a PC running Premier and built the image sequence and rendered to h264 at 30fps, 5mbs.... @#$@#$ SAME!
We just remade the 3D Studio Max export into a 60fps animation since I thought that the individual frames we appearing too far apart and thus causing the jumpyness. That was causing the playback of the upclose objects flying across the screen fast to appear jittery, but not the random playback jumps. The 60fps did smooth out the animation greatly during fast flybys, but the playback jumps are still there in all players, QT, VLC, the web, etc.
I was starting to think this issue is realted to Mavericks, but since the PC did the same thing that is not it either. I have linked a sample of the clip below exported to 720p30, 25mbs... something that is much smaller than the original and should playback smooth very easily on any of my systems.
FYI: I have now opened numerous projects I have edited over the last few years and noticed that all of them are now jumpy, so this isn't just an image sequence issue. While the other projects don't use image sequences and instead are shot footage edited together, there is still the random jump (far less than the image sequence as you will see) but they are now there... ***? I have cleared preferences in FCP which helps for a short period of time, but once exported I get the same glitch.
As I said... I am stumped... ANYONE have ideas for me to try?
Here is a sample file for you all to see and please tell me if anyone does not see the issue after playing it several times in a row.
www.media3lv.com/switch/NORTH-sample-720p30_25mb-sec.zip
One last thing to note... my main goal for these videos is YouTube or Vimeo playback via our company website. I have a few other animations online right now using YouTube and the problem is also showing there. At first I thought it was just my videos, but I have looked at numerous YouTube videos now showing 3D animation and alot of them are jumpy.
www.supernap.com/supernap-building-design.html
www.supernap.com/supernap-tscif-exchange.html
These don't show the issue as bad since the camera fly is much slower, but why is this occuring and is it coming from my source, or is this a known youtube issue? I can program this using out own modules, but YouTube and Vimeo allow for multiple resolutions and a checker script which makes it easier to share over all devices at all quality up to 1080p.
Advice is welcome and appreciated?

I have tried at actual, full screen, using 1080p30 size from the original compressed to 4mbs (something my system can handle without blinking), 720p30, etc. etc. etc. Nothing stops the jumps. Even the activity monitor shows only 5%-15% processing being used by QT and/or FCP.
I plan to pull my old G5 out of the closet, it runs 10.6.8 and is still rock solid for video editing in FCP7. If it plays smooth on that 8 year old system then I know it's Mavericks. I'll try that tonight. It floors me though why the original 1080p30 will playback perfect via FCP and Motu, but once I turn of external monitoring and just try to play it via the preview monitor it is jumpy as **** and then the exported file does the same thing. So strange. I even deleted prefences of FCP and that does help with screen playback initially, but it always gets jumps in it after playing for a while.
I knew I should not have started using Mavericks and I HATE FCP10.

How do I set up stereo audio tracks as default in Premiere using the ProRes 422 codec?

Forgive me if this has been asked many times before. I have searched but can't find anything that explains it in language that doesn't require an advanced degree in computer engineering.
I am a recent convert for our beloved FCP 7. I am learning to love Premiere dearly - but the audio part of it drives me nuts.
I have exported from FCP a series of files as ProRes 422 movies with stereo audio tracks. I want to bring them into Premiere in the same way. But when I do it squashed everything into a single audio file.
This plays havoc with the panning - especially in mixes that have stereo music mixes. Apart from that it just confuses me.
Also. when I create a new project from scratch in Premiere and I select the custom ProRes 422 setting it only allows ProRes 422 mono audio. I don't see a codec for anything else (ie. stereo).
Am I missing something?
I have looked in all the preferences areas and can't find anywhere to change this. I just want to be able to import simple, basic two track audio (and have it show up the same) as I would in FCP, ProTools and the myriad other editing programs I use.
I also want to be able to set up a basic two track stereo timeline/sequence without having to reinvent the wheel.
Many thanks for any help and your patience. I am slowly tearing my hair out and spending long periods sitting in the corner hugging my knees and weeping.
My specs. Preferred editing codec: ProRes 422
Premiere pro version CS6 (6.05)
Thanks again.

Go to the Project Panel, select all clips and rightclick/modify/audio channels.
Set it to 2 tack and mono.
When you drop the clip onto the timeline the stereo will come in on two tracks.
You can also set this to default in the Preferences under Audio (before importing the clips) (Stereo set to mono).

Need to put HD clips in SD sequence without aliasing, any way to do this without converting clips to ProRes?

Editing a 1080p project shot with Canon 5DMkii.
Have a 1080p H.264 sequence that I planned to change to ProRes when all finished, before exporting to make a DVD.
Many shots have problems, and the only way to get around them is to reframe.
I figured, no problem, DVD video is SD, so I have 600+ pixels of frame-height to play with.
Now I have a rough cut and I have put some clips into a sequence preset to 720x405.
Unfortunately, when the original clips are anything other than 100% of their 1920x1080 size, it’s aliased as heck.
EXCEPT when you convert the original clip to ProRes.
I didn’t convert to ProRes before editing because it quintuples the size (the project has 45GB of footage and my internal 1TB HD has limited space), plus on this project the small difference in final-product quality that converting before editing brings wouldn’t matter.
I really do need to reframe many of the shots, and I wouldn’t terribly terribly mind converting to ProRes now, except that when you do, Compressor adds “ProRes…” to the new clip name, so you couldn’t just reconnect the already-edited sequence with the newly converted clips (or could you)?
So,
Can the downsizing of HD clips in an SD sequence be done without aliasing?
If not, can a whole sequence (15 minutes) be reconnected to clips to clips that
have the “Apple prores 444 hq” added to their name? (I tried and the converted clip is grayed out, can’t select it)
3. If not, can the whole 45GB of footage be converted to ProRes, but keep original names unchanged?
If none of the above is possible, any other solution?
Thank you very much

That is a non-standard sequence setting. SD in NTSC land isn't 16:9. It is 4:3 anamorphic. 720x486...anamorphic (squeezed).
Editing H.264 straight from the camera is wrought with errors. Besides the sluggishness of it, the non-RT playback...exporting has all sorts of issues. Not exporting proper sections of footage, not exporting the full sequence (the tail might get cut off), loss of sync upon export...much more. All of those issues have been mentioned on various FCP forums. H.264 is not a codec FCP 7 deals with well at all.
Converting to ProRes before editing is your only way to ensure vary little issues. And converting to ProRes 422 is recommended. Not HQ...not 4444. Your footage will not see any benefit from those formats, even though they sound more impressive. All you will get is larger files. Heck, since you are going to DVD, ProRes LT would be the optimal choice. Even if you went to BluRay, ProRes LT would be fine for that format. H.264 is an 8-bit format...ProRes LT or 422 will get it to 10-bit, and allow for better grading. But ZERO benefit will be had with HQ or 4444...those are for other uses...with higher end formats.
Not enough space? Get another drive. Internal SATA, if you have a MacPro...are 2TB for under $150. You can get an external 2TB for $200-$300.
3. Yes...use MPEG STREAMCLIP to convert the footage to ProRes. 422 or LT are recommended. Then you can reconnect, but you will need to make a new sequence that is ProRes...not H.264.

Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder - Both types say I have "a newer version installed", but I can't view Pro-Res files on either type of machine.

I'm trying to view a Pro-Res file from Final Cut Pro on machines that have Quicktime Pro, but having no luck. I've tried installing the "
Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder " for both Windows and Mac (on the correct machines), but I keep getting "You already have a newer version of this installed" on each machine, and can't finish. Needless to say, the Pro-Res file will not play on either machine, and there seems to be no way to remove a "newer version" and install this one. Thanks for any suggestions.

Rob,
There is no quicktime folder there. And no quicktime program is installed when I try to install iTunes. The only reason I tried installing quicktime in standalone was because the itunes install was not actively going to the quicktime part of its installation.
I've tried removing everything and only installing iTunes. But even after deleting the physical files, using the WIndows Install cleanup tool, and cleaning up my registry, the quicktime portion of the iTunes install doesn't complete, and I keep getting "unknown" errors from the crash prevention program, and from what I can see it's because there's no physical Quicktime program installed.
As for other accounts, no I cannot start it up with other accounts, I keep getting the "Unknown" error and there is no physical files for quicktime anywhere.
And selective startup doesn't seem to work as there is NO qttask option when I run selective startup.
So, I seem to be out of options, and thing else I could try?
~Jay

ProRes files act crazy and transcoding to Animation codec gets ugly

So, allegedly, the Animation codec is lossless. However, when I take something encoded with Apple ProRes 422 HQ and transcode to Animation within the Quicktime Pro software, I see noticeable differences. Including: color change and increased aliasing.
The same is true when attempting to export stills from ProRes, even in the highest, most lossless formats. I am wondering if ProRes for PC is actually not quite ready for prime time? When I import a ProRes file into After Effects, I notice the same quality drop associated with trying to transcode it to a lossless format. It seems as though ONLY QT Pro has the capability to display ProRes files properly. If this is the case, this is largely useless, since I can't then USE these ProRes files for anything. What the heck guys? I wouldn't have had clients deliver me ProRes encoded stuff if I knew that it didn't actually maintain its integrity.
Please help out as soon as possible. Clients with deadlines are waiting on a solution that doesn't involve me spending 4000 grand on a new machine and FCP.

As a test, try nesting the problem sequence in a new empty sequence then export that new sequence using QuickTime. Let us know whether or not that succeeds.
Cheers
Eddie
PremiereProPedia (RSS feed)
- Over 350 frequently answered questions
- Over 300 free tutorials
- Maintained by editors like you
Forum FAQ

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

I am importing and dropping in scanned images from the storyboard into FCP and then importting and placing on the timeline some digital animated images which have been done in the format 1920x1080 24fps. They have been put through shake and we chose the setting Apple PRORES 422 (HQ) which I have then set the FCP settings to match that. Everything works fine in Final Cut but then when I export the timeline to make it into a Quicktime movie, the digital animated shots dont play properly, they like skip frames. Do you know anything about this and how I get it to play smoothly? I have tried everything I can think of and nothing is working!

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.
Second, 640x432 is a non-standard frame size. 640x480 is more like it, but really, FCP would like to see 720x480. ProRes doesn't really work in RT with the dimensions you have.
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

FCPX Project Render Settings - Can you edit in h.264 and Transcode/render only used clips on timeline to Prores during render?

I have a question on the PROJECT RENDER settings in FCP X. It’s seems to me that one could theoretically import and edit entirely with original h.264 video files without needing to Transcode to ProRes422. Once you’re done with your edit and want to get the added benefits of COLOR GRADING in ProRes422 color space, it seems that FCPX will automatically render your edit in ProRes422 according to these preferences. In that case, a color grade could be applied to the whole edit, and be automatically transcoded/rendered into ProRes 422 during the render process. After rendering, what would show up on the viewer and what would EXPORT would be the rendered Prores files and not the original h.264 files. This saves a lot of time and space of transcoding ALL your media, and in theory should enable you to edit NATIVE video formats like h.264, with automatic benefits of ProRes during render. I'm assuming the render may take longer because FCPX is having to convert h.264 video files to ProRes422 while rendering. This may be one drawback. But will you your color grade actually use the 4:2:0 color space of the h.264 native media, or will it utilize 4:2:2 color space, since the render files are set to render to ProRes422 ? Can anyone please confirm that this theory is correct and optimal for certain work flows?? Thanks!

Thanks Wild. That's what I thought - in that the render files would be converted to ProRes422 codec. So do you or anyone else think that there is an advantage to having the 4:2:0 original file be processed in a 4:2:2 color space?
Yes there is an advantage, any effects and grading will look better than in a 4:2:0 space.
Most professionals online seem to think so. Also - will rendering of heavy effects and color grading take longer using this method because it's having to convert h.264 media to ProRes during render?
Yes, it will definitely take longer.
Can anyone verify from a technical standpoint whether editing and color grading in this workflow will see the same benefits as having transcoded the h.264 media to ProRes in the first place?
Same benefits from a final product view point, you lose on rendering time though and if you have lots of effects things will seem slow as it will have render everytime from the h264 file rather than a Pro Res file for every change you make. This may be fine on a higher end mac but I'm sure just pummels an older lower end mac as to being almost useless.

Why doesn't iMovie use ProRes 422 or native instead of AIC

Does anybody know why apple still uses AIC to transcode all captured video streams instead of ProRes 422? And why does it transcode in the first place? Why can't they use the native HDV or AVCHD streams?
I know that using native HDV, and especially AVCHD, loads the processor with all the decoding, but it should at least be an option for high-end machines. HDV editing on FCP works fine and the storage requirements go down to between 1/3 and 1/8 of what it is with AIC and ProRes.
I think the ideal workflow would be to capture in the native format, edit in the native format when no re-compression is necessary and only render to ProRes when effects/titles/filters are applied.
Is it just too much development work or is there an architectural consideration from the development group to force everything through AIC for some reason?
Is it a licensing issue? Does Apple pay royalties for ProRes for every FCP sale? Would it be prohibitively expensive to distribute ProRes with iLife?
Obviously only someone from the iMovie group would be able to answer all of these questions but we may be able to gather some insights from the community to get a better picture.

I understand that the iMovie and FCP teams at Apple have been, hitherto, completely independent.
FCP was bought in - under a different original name - and tweaked from its original incarnation before being offered as 'Final Cut Pro' by Apple. See the section marked "History" in this Wikipedia article.
iMovie, however, was written long ago to Steve Jobs' specifications by Glenn Reid as a simple video editor for amateurs.
The ProRes codec appears to have been created separately from the Apple Intermediate Codec of iMovie ..probably because of different programmers' responsibilities for the separate programs ..although, under the 'Terms of Use', we're not supposed to speculate here in Apple Discussions.
HDV and AVCHD, being extremely 'compressed' methods of storing video, similar to the MPEG-2 format used for squeezing long movies onto small DVDs, cannot be edited 'frame-accurately' directly, as most of the video frames rely on data stored in other frames for their content. In other words, the 1st frame of fifteen frames contains a whole frame's worth of data, but the next 14 contain only differences between the first frame of a group and the subsequent frames.
So there needs to be a method to 'unscramble' or extract the data from the next few frames after the first of each group, in order to reconstitute the rest of the frames for editing them.
AIC is the method used in iMovie. ProRes is the method chosen for FCP.
It's interesting, though, that Randy Ubillos, now 'Chief Architect - Video Applications' at Apple, and the "onlie true begetter" of what later became Final Cut Pro, was the man who demonstrated iMovie '09 at last month's MacWorld Keynote. So if Randy's on hand to explain how to use iMovie, and created the new-style iMovie, then maybe we'll see some more convergence occur. (..iMovie has already taken on board FCP's "instant rendering", so that we no longer have to wait for transitions to be rendered within iMovie, but can see the results immediately. iMovie's real "behind the scenes" rendering now takes place during export, after after editing's finished..)

ProRes missing from FCP 6 - heeeelp

hi
i just installed FCP6 on my new macbook pro and the ProRes codec is missing. i can't setup a sequence with it or edit existing projects that use ProRes.
does anyone know why it wouldn't have installed the codec or know where i can get it from if its just a case of putting it in a folder? i've re-installed FCP6 3 times now and it still doesn't show up.
i tried a file created on another computer that is encoded with ProRes and i can view it perfectly.
I took a couple of screen-grabs to show what FCP6 says when trying to create a sequence using ProRes as the codec, and to show that there is no codec in the list.
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/6...00218at213.png
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/7...00218at212.png
the other projects i have tried to open and use were created on FCP 6.06 and i have updated my FCP to the same version.
I did another clean install today and it's still missing. I can't believe i am the only person to ever have this problem. started to get a bit annoyed now, haha,
any help will be greatly appreciated.
cheers

Same problem here. After a fresh reinstall and update of FCP 6.0.6, all ProRes codecs are missing.
Some of the error codes I'm seeing suggest that it's a hardware issue, but that doesn't make sense to me, since my machine is new enough to run Color. It seems like the codecs just weren't installed correctly.
I finally ordered FCS3, which should correct this, but if there is an outstanding computer issue I would like to know about it before I upgrade.
Thanks for your help.

SD to Prores?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for