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Avid MXF files and FCP X questions (long)
Hello Cows!
Calling all Avid savvy FCP people. Kind of a complicated question, so please bear with me.
I’m about to start a bunch of sales reels that I’ve previously done on Avid. Lots of flying iPads with video inside them, lots of graphics, etc. I do the rough mockup and the motion graphics people take the assets and do a fancy version. When I say “rough,” I mean as close to the real thing as I can do in an Avid. If you’ve ever tried compositing on an Avid, you know how painful it is. I can do this stuff much faster and better in FCPX. Now that FCP reads MXF, I can easily use the footage that is already in the Avid as well as import footage from the server that is in MXF format.
Still with me?
So I’m doing some tests to see if this will really work. Copied over a couple of MXF files from the ISIS to an external drive. Also copied over some graphics of the type I would normally use. Everything imports into FCP X without a problem. Yay! All works as expected.
Here’s the weird part. On the Avid, all our projects are 1920×1080 59.94 interlaced. DNXhd145. Standard Avid settings. Now, some shows, like half-hour comedies, master at 1080 29.97 (59.94) and thats what we would digitize from. Dramas are typically 1080 23.98. We also digitize those tapes. The project itself is 1080 29.97 (59.94) interlaced, and everything plays fine.
So the clip I copied from the ISIS was digitized last year for a sales reel. When I import these MXF files into FCP, the inspector shows a 1080p 23.98 clip. Which is likely what the original source tape was. But I expected to see a 1080i 29.97 clip, as that was the setting for the Avid project when it was originally digitized. At amy rate, the clip plays back with an obvious field order problem and is jerky a well. My T-Tap is set for 1080i 29.97. Lots of fiddling around with different settings. Finally, I find that setting up for a 1080 psF 23.98 output and the same setting for the timeline works, as long as I’ve flipped the field order flag on the clip from progressive to top or bottom field dominance.
At this point I’m thoroughly confused.
1. The Avid MXF clip is clearly interlaced, even though FCP thinks it’s progressive.
2. The clip was digitized into a 29.97i project, so I don’t understand why it is flagged as 23.98p.
3. I don’t think I’ve ever dealt with a 23.98 interlaced clip. Didn’t think there was such a thing!
4. Converting the clip in Compressor doesn’t seem to help.Yikes. Any thoughts from the commentariat? Oliver? Jeremy? Beuller? Thanks in advance.
MacBook Pro Retina, FCP X 10.1.4, AJA T-Tap, various broadcast monitors
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21 Replies
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When you open the same clip in Media Composer in the 29.97i project, what does Avid ID it as? Is there any motion adaptor button on that clip in the MC timeline?
I’m presuming that this is 23.98 with added 3:2 pulldown cadence during capture for a 29.97i file. Maybe that is being IDed as 23.98 in FCP X, even though it isn’t.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
It could very well be a bug.
Do you have a short test clip that’s uploadable?
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Hi Oliver.
I may have misspoken. FCP sees the clip as 1080p 29.97. It sets the file as progressive. But is plays with an obvious interlacing problem which is fixed when I toggle the clip to one or the other field dominance. The jerkiness remains unless I set my timeline (project) to 23.98.
If I understand you correctly, you’re suggesting that Media Composer added the pulldown when it was digitized in the 29.97 project. I guess that makes sense. Not sure where the flags are getting set wrong.
I can’t open or import this file on Media Composer on this system. Not sure why. Even if I put the video and audio XMF files in the Avid MediaFiles folder at the root, Avid doesn’t see them. And they won’t AMA link when they’re split apart,I guess.
I’ll have to see what the file looks like on the Avid at work (from whence they came).
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Hi Jeremy. It’s a 2.6 gig file. I could export a small part of it from FCP, but I don’t know if it would be an accurate copy of the original since FCP seems to be misinterpreting it.
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If the files are 29.97 just being misinterpreted as progressive, this is a very easy fix with the field override option in fcpx.
This does feel a bit like a bug, I’d report it to Apple.
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Yes. Could be a bug.
In your experience, should a 23.98 clip play smoothly in a 29.97 timeline in FCP? I don’t have much experience with mixing frame rates in FCP, and Avid won’t even let you do it at all.
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[Jeff Markgraf] “Hi Jeremy. It’s a 2.6 gig file.”
FWIW, if you’re on Yosemite with iCloud Drive enabled, you can email a file up to 5GB in size. Just sent a 3.9 GB file the other day. It works great, but there’s very little indication in Mail as to the progress so just let it do it’s thing. If you have relatively fast internet though it’s pretty cool, and didn’t take too long at all.
Just a thought if you want to try it…
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~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~ -
If the timeline is 1080i, a 23.98 file will have proper 3:2 pull down added. It’s glorious compared to the fcp7 days.
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Not sure how to post that to the board. Is iCloud sharing only via email?
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[Jeff Markgraf] “Not sure how to post that to the board. Is iCloud sharing only via email?”
Yeah…basically, if you wanted to email it to Jeremy or someone, you just attach it to an email as you would any file, and it does the rest. It will show attached to the email for folks who have iCloud, or as a link to download it for anyone else. Just an easy way to transfer fairly large files…
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~ My FCPX Babbling blog ~
~”It is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”~
~”The function you just attempted is not yet implemented”~
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