Workflow that maintains clip handles going from FCP to Motion & back

I have a 25 minute Final Cut Pro sequence that consists of about 200 clips each about 7 seconds long. Each clip has a different linear speed change applied to it. I've already run the project through Media Manager, adding 5 second handles to each clip. I've been told by my color corrector that before sending the project to him I should send all the clips to Motion and apply optical flow for the speed changes there. The short version of my question is: Can I trouble anyone to suggest an efficient workflow in which I can send the entire sequence to Motion and have it make the round trip back to FCP as a sequence in which the motion files have been swapped in for the original clips and the handles of the original clips have been maintained on those Motion files?
What I've been doing is selecting the sequence in FCP and sending it to Motion. Once the sequence is in Motion I seem to have to apply optical flow to each of the 200 clips individually rather than to the group a whole, because with multiple clips selected Motion seems to want to apply the same averaged-out time remap to all of them. So I apply optical flow to the 200 clips one-by-one and Motion inevitably crashes several times during that process. After I've finally set all the clips individually to optical flow I then select the clips and choose export selection. I then have to wait by my computer for several hours while Motion asks me over and over again "Some optical flow files are outdated. What do you want to do?" I assume these prompts are the result of the Motion having crashed while the clip was still being analyzed for optical flow. Finally when this process is done, I have a series of clips without handles that I have to tediously re-import back into the original FCP sequence.
I'm using FCP 7.03 and Motion 4.0.3.
Any thoughts anyone might have would be HUGELY appreciated!!! Thanks in advance for the help!
Best,
Neil

Hi Neil,
About the handles: What do you need them for?
If the edit is not too complicated and almost all on V1, you can think of a workaround which is very tedious, and I doubt whether it will make you happy.
On V1 the original cuts. So you will always be able to find them back.
Then Copy everything to V2. And from there put every other clip on V3. (So clip A on V2, clip B on V3 , clip C on V2, etc. And now by selecting the cuts and type +500 or -500, you can extend the clips.
Like in the picture below.
Again V1 is the original edit and is there to repair the cuts on V2 and V3 later on.
(I used slug and Generators for this exemple. Off course they all stand for normal clips.)
After that you do your Motion Magic, like Patrick explained.
And back in FCP cut V2 and V3 back like V1 is.
Delete V1, and done.
Well, that's the theorethical part. I hope it somehow can help you in practice, because I assume your edit will be more complicated then the example...
I once did this trick with
Also: When you send your normal clip to Motion (So from track V1, then in Motion you can increase the value in the duration Tab (Timeline, top right, then extend the clip and then save. You know can use the handle in FCP. Not sure how to achieve that for the beginning of the clip. You should try that yourself....
Rienk

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Roundtripping from FCP to Motion back to FCP

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I want to send a clip from FCP to Motion

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Thanks for your reply Patrick,
No the clip has no speed alterations, the only thing bout it that i can see altered is that it a subclip from the original file that i captured in the same project.
Guess it might be a weird one then ay, there will probably be someone out there that knows whats up with it though,
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The normal process in FCP is the same whether you're eventually going to iDVD or to Compressor then DVD-SP.
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Help...! Importing a clip from FCP to Motion?

I'm using FCS 5.1 and I'm totally new to it. I simply want to take a video clip from FCP and work with it on Motion. The said video clip is on a timeline, with in and out points already set. I simply want to take this small segment and add a cool effect to it on Motion. Since I have no idea how this is suppose to be done, I tried dragging the clip from the FCP timeline to the Motion window. This does not work.

Hi:
I think you'll get best answers posting this question in the Motion Forum:
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=656
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Quality loss from FCP to Motion

Hi there!
I'm getting a quality loss in the form of compression-based square artifacting when I send a piece of lossless footage to Motion from FCP. If there's a loss everytime one sends files, why would anyone use it? Does anyone know how to keep the footage lossless while sending between apps?
Thanks!

Patrick, thanks so much for your help. You're all really helpful on here!
Exporting in prores still displays artifacts and they show up when I bring it into FCP (regardless of whether I import the clip fresh or have it saved back from a "send").
Here's what I tried:
importing clip directly into a new motion file (not sent from FCP) - movie displays with artifacting - upon rendering, rendered clip still has issue - imported into FCP - still shows artifacting
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Assuming the problem is with the transcode, is this just an issue with this video format working with motion? If so, I assume this means our video team needs to use a different codec. We're shooting a lot of green screen for HD video - any recommendations for a better codec?
Also, is this an issue that Apple can address with future versions of Motion?
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Am i overlooking something,
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http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1375867&#1375867
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Problem with luactivate going from S10 x86 u6 back to S10 x86 u5 ...

Solaris wizards:
I recently used Live Upgrade to migrate from Solaris 10 x86 u5 (May 08) to Solaris 10 x86 u6 (Oct 08).
That seemed to work without a hitch .... but now I'd like to go back to the other boot environment and am encountering problems.
While I'm using the s10Oct08 boot environment, lustatus returns:
Boot Environment Is Active Active Can Copy
Name Complete Now On Reboot Delete Status
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s10Oct08 yes yes yes no -
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luactivate s10May08
I get:
System has findroot enabled GRUB
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WARNING: <3> packages failed to install properly on boot environment <s10May08>.INFORMATION: </var/sadm/system/data/upgrade_failed_pkgadds> on boot
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/dev/rdks/c3t2d0s0: No such file or directory
Unknown_fstyp (no matches)
ERROR: Failed to get fstype for BE <s10May08>. Cannot operate on file </etc/bootsign>
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/dev/rdks/c3t2d0s0: No such file or directory
Unknown_fstyp (no matches)
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ERROR: Cannot generate boot signature for ABE <s10May08>
ERROR: Unable to determine the configuration of the target boot environment <s10May08>.
It seems clear that the problem is that it is looking for /dev/rdks/c3t2d0s0 as the new boot environment
and I'm guessing that it should be /dev/rdsk/c3t2d0s0 ...
While that was likely a typo of mine in during the original 'lucreate' or 'luupgrade' commands .... I can't find the file where that is stored.
The closest that I can determine by myself is looking in the luactivate script ...
It appears to me that I am getting the wrong value of gac_beMntpt when I try to determine the new mount points. The relevant portion (I think) of the luactivate script is:
# Get the BE block boot device for the ABE.
forceFlag=""
[ -n "${flag_u}" ] && forceFlag="-f"
gac_beMntpt="`LU_OUTPUT_FORMAT=text ${LUBIN}/lumount ${forceFlag} \"${gac_beName}\" 2>${TMP_RESULT_FILE}`"
if [ "$?" -ne "0" -o -z "${gac_beMntpt}" ] ; then
[ -s "${TMP_RESULT_FILE}" ] && ${LUPRINTF} -elp2 '%R' < "${TMP_RESULT_FILE}"
/bin/rm -f "${TMP_RESULT_FILE}"
return 1
fi
/bin/rm -f "${TMP_RESULT_FILE}"
${LUPRINTF} -lp2D - "`gettext 'Mounted ABE <%s> at <%s>.'`" "${gac_beName}" "${gac_beMntpt}"
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but I can't seem to get further than that.
Does anyone know where I should look to find where luactivate looks to find the mount point of the alternate boot environment because, I think, it has /dev/rdks/something instead of /dev/rdsk/something ....
Thanks for any insights or suggestions ...
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Sun Solaris Community:
I believe that I have found my ow problem, but thought that I'd share what I learned that was preventing my "luactivate" from working.
It turns out that I had put an entry in /etc/vfstab that mounted my Alternate Boot Environment as /ABE. It was that entry in /etc/vfstab that had the typo .... but apparently also confused the luactivate script.
My erroneous entry was:
/dev/dsk/c3/t2d0s0 /dev/rdks/c3t2d0s0 /ABE ....
So, while I couldn't actually mount that partition as my alternate boot environment on /ABE (because /dev/rdks/... doesn't exist) I had failed to notice this error on this machine.
In any event, correcting that entry both allows me to mount the alternative boot environment on the running system as /ABE if I wish ...
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Thanks,
John

How does a 1.6-gig clip become an 11-gig clip when exported from FCP?

I captured some video and had to do it in two sessions because my camera kept dropping frames. My first clip was 600 megs, my second was 1 gig. I put them into the timeline and synced them up at the break spot. I wanted to have just one file to work on in Shake, so I exported the two clips as a Quick Time movie -- no compression, self-contained -- a 720 X 480 NTSC file.
Even with no compression, I expected to get a 1.6-gig movie out of the export, but it was 11 gigs. Where did the extra data come from? And what is the extra data? It cannot get any more resolution than there was to begin with in the original two clips, right?
Any tips on a more efficient way to handle this situation much appreciated.
JimBe

The two segments were each about three and a half minutes long. The camera was a Sony Handycam DV. I did not have any special settings when I captured, I made one choice, to capture both video and audio. Yes, I did select uncompressed when I exported.
So the camera is acquiring with a codec, it sounds like, but if I select uncompressed on export does that mean FCP will uncompress the compressed footage captured by the camera? I did not think that was possible. Isn't all the information thrown away by the camera when it acquires the footage with its codec?
I was thinking that "uncompressed" export would just give me back what I put in, a 1.6-gig file. I did not want to compress a second time.
Is there an export format choice that just gives you what you had without any manipulation of the original data?

Can someone just spell it out for me? Going from FCP HD to DVD SD :-(

Hey folks. I hate to come here and ask a gargantuan number of questions, but this has been driving me out of my mind. I've tried asking specific question in hopes of simply finding one little problem that will fix my woes, but now it has come to this:
Can someone just spell it out for me?
How do I get my DVD going? I'll fill you in with all the knowlege I think you need.
I shot with Sony's HDR-FX1 and edited in Final Cut. That means I'm working with High defintion. The movie is set and solid, and runs One hour and twenty mintues. I'm trying to get it, the commentary track, the subtitle track, and a slew of video files (also shot in high def) onto one dvd. This goes beyond the 4.8 gig limit. Hence, i have a Dual layer burner, and have been burning onto DVD-R DL disks.
I've tried downgrading to SD format through steps from this website:
http://www3.telus.net/bonsai/Step-by-Step.html
I do all the steps to all of my files, and then start putting them into my DVD STUDIO PRO project. I have a recorded commentary which I add in, and I have written all the subtitles. The disk is in SD mode, and everything fits onto the dual layer disk. I've tried literally a dozen different ways, and something keeps going wrong. Either the menus won't come up, and just the film will play upon inserting, or the subtitle stream doesn't pick up- problem after problem. So, now I ask: Can someone simply spell out to me what steps I need to take to get my HD film onto a Dual Layer SD disk?
I apologize for how general this question is and how many directions it can go, but I'm at a breaking point after four months of failures. Thank you very much.

Hi man.
I don't really know which ways you've taken to put
the video into dvd studio, but since you're asking
for a step by step process, then here's what i do:
- export the entire hour out of FCP to a qt file
- take that QT file to compressor. the only audio you
really need is dolby 2.0. this would also reduce the
file size of video to make things fit in a single
layer dvd
I have always found that the 'Dolby 2.0' and '5.1' AC3 settings in Compressor badly affect your audio mix...it collapses the soundstage, takes away a lot of depth and imaging, and smudges the frequency range, so I usually output a 16-bit 48kHz, which holds things together much more nicely when working with a stereo mix. Problem is, for a feature-length films, the resulting output from compressor makes it too big to fit on standard DVD-R's with the M2V picture file. My workaround was to actually take take the original exported FCP QT movie (which has a 48kHz aiff soundtrack to begin with), and only lay the audio part of it in the track timeline in DVD studio pro, then lay the compressed M2V video on top of it. They're both still in sync, unless you picked different in/out points in Compressor. When you 'build' your Video/Audio TS in 'advanced burn' it somehow makes it small enough to all fit onto a DVD, while still maintaining the audio quality of the AIFF, instead of the crappy-sounding 2.0 AC3. Then you just use Toast to burn your disc. The difference in sound quality is night and day. So basically I do the picture in Compressor, but let DVD Studio Pro prepare the audio in the Advanced Burn stage.
It will be very difficult to get a good-sounding AC3 (what they call 'dolby' 2.0 or the wierd 5.1 encoding they use) unless you mix/master/encode your soundtrack professionally like regular studio films do. Just encoding it in compressor straight out of FCP or ProTools isn't enough. You lose too much.

I can't "send" a clip to Color from FCP because it's not an option.....

I have FCP Studio w/ Color loaded, as well as Soundtrack and Motion, however when I right click on the clip and choose the "send" to option Color is not part of the drop down menu where Motion and Soundtrack both are.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Bill

You can either send the whole sequence to Color or create a new sequence (command+N) copy and paste your desired clip/s and send that new sequence by either control/right clicking the new sequence in the browser>send to> Color or go to File send to>Color.
You can still send your highlighted clip to Color and the application will open keeping your clip highlighted but the rest of the sequence will show up too.
Please note that communication between FCP and Color is handled thanks to XML transfer.
G.

Trouble Going From FCP to Color

Every time I send my FCP file to Color I get a red X and cannot see or play the clip back. I am new to this program and am unsure of what I am doing wrong. I have looked in the manual and haven't found anything mentioned at all about a red X. If you could help me that would be great. However, if you are going to be a douche bag in your answer, please don't respond. I know that this is probably a simple question but I need help and this IS a help forum. Like I said, if you are honestly wanting to help, please reply. If you are a jerk, go somewhere else as your response is not wanted here.

pointing out that I'm a jerk before I even get a chance to be a jerk is a bit over the top, don't you think?
Yeah remember the John Lennon Song "all we are saying is give jerks a chance."
I guess this is exactly the kid of response Ecarlso was trying to avoid..oh well at least Zeb gave you your answer. Maybe you could reward him

Simple, basic issue - Sending a few clips at once from FCP to STP and back.

Hi,
I'm working on a 20 minute video, already cut, hoping to do some simple sound reduction on a few clips.
One scene has two video clips from the same camera shot, wind noise on the audio.
Can I send two or more clips to STP at the same time?
When I try that, the whole 1 hour tape (I did a batch capture) appears in the STP timeline.
Is there a way to send the clips so only those clips go to STP, not the whole original clip in the browser?
Once I do the noise reduction, why can't I get it to automatically apply to the clips in FCP?
I must be doing something wrong, but I don't know what.
Any ideas, anyone?
Thanks!

Multi-track projects won't behave like audio file projects, with automatic updates in FCP. Once you have saved the project, export a mix, and you can send it back to your FCP timeline in the dialog box.

Workflow that maintains clip handles going from FCP to Motion & back

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