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Importing HDV into FCPX
I have a supplier who has shot some HDV (1080/50i) and wants to supply it to me as files rather than tapes. He only has FCPX and not much idea what he’s doing. I don’t have FCPX and haven’t used it, but I need to tell him how to import the tapes, then find the native HDV imported footage in his Finder in order to copy it to an external HDD to send to me. I would really appreciate it if anyone with FCPX could walk me through the menu options etc I need to pass on to this guy so that I don’t get a folder full of H.264 or something…
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14 Replies
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Robin, are right that the client needs to copy the HDV media in the Finder to the hard disk drive (or thumb drive) the client plans to give you. If it is possible, you could walk the client through the steps just by referring to the Help file. There’s no real manual yet, but when you load this link below in your web browser, in the upper right corner, you’ll see a printer icon—click that and it will load the entire PDF in the browser ready for printing. Then you can save it to your desktop (Save as PDF) rather than physically printing the file.
Here’s the link to the FCP X Help screens:
https://help.apple.com/finalcutpro/mac/10.0/?lang=enImport Steps:
- Launch FCP X;
- Connect the camera to the computer with the Firewire cable;
- Turn on the camera in playback mode with the tape rewound to the beginning of the clips he wants to send to you;
- In FCP X, select menu item Import from Camera;
- Chose when prompted to Create New Event—could call it Robin or something meaningful to the client;
- Make sure the option Create Optimized Media is not selected (so FCP X will store only the HDV media); all other options can also be deselected;
- Click Import and FCP X will import the HDV media until you Stop Import or run out of clips on the tape.
If there is more than one tape, the second and subsequent tape imports will not be to a new event presumably; the client will tick the selection Add to Existing event “Robin” and then carry on…
In Finder, search for the name of the unique Event that was used to store the media, such as “Robin”;
Drag the Event folder “Robin” to the external hard disk or thumb drive to copy all the media for you;
Drag the external disk to the Trash in order to eject it safely.Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Have you played “telephone?”
Conveying information to someone with no FCPX experience to someone else who doesn’t know how to use FCPX is a recipe for disaster.
There are many great and inexpensive tutorial resources. Ripple Training for $40, Larry Jordan $99, Izzy Video FREE, the FCPX help manual also explains camera import.
Since FCPX does media optimization if enabled, it can be transcoded to ProRes in the background.
One doesn’t need to own FCPX to look at it’s Tape import instructions since the Help in online at Apple’s site. I could cut and paste that section of the Help but really all you or your need do is read it. THEN if there’s a problem, come back and ask for troubleshooting help.
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Rick, thank you so much! That was exactly what I needed and very much appreciated!
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Hello Rick
1st–Sorry to bother you.. I’ve searched the net trying to find an answer to this question–(I was just about to buy FCPX when I saw the post about capture issues)—Does anyone know if the Sony HVR-V1U (tape based) will work with FCPX? The Apple site does not list this camera as compatible.
Thanks again for any help-
Tom -
I believe the list of certified cameras refers to cameras that Apple has verified. They do mention that most HDV/DV cameras that transfer data to the computer via Firewire will work. Since this Sony HVR-V1U camera does work with Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express, I think it should work. Can’t guarantee it but you might research on Apple Discussions or other online forums. If you are buying this from a third-party perhaps you can strike an arrangement where you are allowed to verify it will work with FCP X before completing the purchase.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Thanks for your comment. Craig is right though, best to walk the client through the process over the phone if possible.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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Thanks Rick!
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Hello everybody… I have a problem importing HDV footage on Fcpx.
I have a MBP 15 inches, late 2010, 4GB Ram, FCP X and a CANON HV30.
When I try to import from HV30 via Firewire, I can see the video playback scoring on the interface of FCPX, then I click “Import”. When the job is done (I’ve tried several footage lengths, from a few seconds to an hour), I close the importing interface. Here’s the problem: on the Event containing the imported footage, I can find the file but it appears to be OFFLINE (I mean visually there is the the Red stripe with the exclamation mark meaning that the file is not available.)
So I checked the folder on the Hard Disc and the mov file created IS THERE where it should be! (Final Cut Pro Events/Event/Original media)
So it sounds like FCPX can’t link to the imported file even though the file has been imported….
I’ve tried to generate a proxy file, and it works: I can see the footage on the Events track list and I can work with it, but I don’t want to convert every time in proxy resolution.
Anyone can help me?PS. I have no problems importing with FCP7 on the same MBP .
Thank you very very much…
Jordan -
[Rick Lang] “Make sure the option Create Optimized Media is not selected (so FCP X will store only the HDV media); all other options can also be deselected;”
hi Rick – i was just reading this thread, and figured you might be able to shed some light on this question I have – I have a HMC150 that records AVCHD onto SDHC cards –
i noticed in this thread you mention not to check “create optimized media” –
I am trying to figure out the best way to import/store this AVCHD footage – but don’t really fully understand what all of these options are –
I tried selecting “create optimized media” for 2 imports so far (and the time it takes is unbelievable for it to do the transcoding (i assume thats what its doing?) – the background task after initially importing was like almost 5 hours for a one hour clip of 720 footage!
but i read somewhere that if you don’t check either “proxy” or “optimized” then the import is native (not really sure what that means either)…
best way to import/store footage?
any help or insight is much appreciated! thanks!
– Vince
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[Vincent D'Angelis] “I tried selecting “create optimized media” for 2 imports so far (and the time it takes is unbelievable for it to do the transcoding (i assume thats what its doing?) – the background task after initially importing was like almost 5 hours for a one hour clip of 720 footage!”
If you’re doing this on your 2011 iMac with 16 GB of RAM, that does seem too long. The experts hopefully will correct me if I have any errors in this response to you. When you create optimized media, FCPX is going to create ProRes 4:2:2 files I believe even though your input may be AVCHD from your camera or SDHC memory card. It does this because it can quickly process your frames when you are applying effects for example in your timeline. But you do not have to do that initial conversion when you ingest your media. You can leave it as AVCHD format if you wish. If FCPX needs to transcode it to ProRes or anything else you specify, that can occur later as needed. Still I would think that the optimize step on ingest is likely desirable and should occur pretty much in real time, an hour’s worth of video should take an hour or so to import.
There’s a chance it is taking a long time analyzing your video for tagging metacode in the Event library (where it can create smart entries for the type of shot and number of people in the shot), colour or image stabilization and so on. You can turn all the analysis steps off and do analysis later as needed such as it you see a particular clip would benefit from image stabilization). Try turning everything off when you import some few minutes of video as a test and see how quickly it goes.
Let us know what you find, good luck.
Rick Lang
iMac 27” 2.8GHz i7 16GB
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