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Funky frames from Flip footage
Hi folks,
I am a long time lurker but I love me some Bessie Cow. There is so much wisdom and practical knowledge here. I looked for an answer, but haven’t come across my scenario yet in the forums. Here is a clip for reference:
https://www.viddyou.com/viddstream?videoid=37848
I am the technologist for a magnet school. Part of my job is to use video to document what we are doing. I have a Flip Ultra camera that I use for little things like the summer program short videos that go on our blog. That’s what this was shot with. (We have a really nice Canon HD 3CCD camera coming this fall. 🙂 I am editing with FCE.
The part of the video where there are two clips playing at opposing angles is what is driving me nuts. What could be causing that? Watching it frame by frame on the timeline, there appears to be a pattern of sorts when it drops the frame and shows what is on the other layer. The same thing happens with dissolves.
The Flip is so easy to use, no moving parts, and inexpensive that I want to get a few for our students to use. But if I am going to have this problem, I’m not sure I want any more of them. I’ve gotten around it by just cutting from shot to shot, but it is limiting.
Is it the cheap camera? A setting in FCE? A strange aura surrounding the editor that causes random things like this to happen? Any ideas or pointers in the right direction are greatly appreciated!
Anthony Gettig
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7 Replies
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Hi Anthony,
I’ve never heard before about the Flip. I just had a look to their website. Amazing.
I see two things that could be producing that strange behave.
First, the format (.mp4) is not the most appropriate for editing. Is mostly a delivery format and no Intraframe.
The other possible reason is that I guess that you don’t get TC on capture.
You may try to recapture using other codec, or export with QT to other codec the clips which you want to apply effects. Then reimport the clips to FC.
rafael -
Thanks for your reply. Sorry, I should have included this info in my original post:
There is no capturing. The Flip records to AVI which I can drop right onto the timeline. The codec is also on the Flip, as it shows up as an external drive when you plug it in.
The mp4 file is what I sent to viddyou.com for conversion because it is smaller. I have a full quality QT .mov that exhibits the same behavior.
I will look into TC more. Thanks!
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AVI is not real popular in FCP. I’d convert your footage a format that FCP likes a bit better. ANything from the easy setup list that matches the format/frame rate that you shoot in will be fine.
Jeremy
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Hi Anthony,
As you say the files are AVI, but not the DV-AVI that we are used to. Up to the specs is MP4-AVI.
So you put together two thinks not much loved by FC (as Jeremy points), and no TC (I guess).
Rafael -
“I love me some Bessie Cow.” …classic!!
I’d have to guess it’s a problem with the codec in the AVI’s. FCE is not properly understanding the frames between the key frames in the mp4 stream and gets confused at those points. A conversion to a normal editing codec in which all frames are basically key frames would probably solve it. MPEG Streamclip is a program that could do a nice batch conversion for you since you may not have Apple’s Compressor. -
Success! I used MPEG Streamclip and converted my footage to QT .mov files, max quality, Apple DV/DVCPRO NTSC and the problem is resolved.
So much for just dropping the footage on the timeline! I haven’t tried this on a Windows editing system yet, but the MP4 issue is probably relevant there too.
Short story: Flip cameras require conversion to a more native/friendly format for the editing software being used. But hey, at $150, I guess you get what you pay for. 🙂
Thanks a ton to everyone for helping me resolve this! My school thanks you too!
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[Anthony Gettig] “Success! I used MPEG Streamclip and converted my footage to QT .mov files, max quality, Apple DV/DVCPRO NTSC and the problem is resolved. “
And you could get something better if exported as DVCpro50 or, better, as 8b Unc.
[Anthony Gettig] “Short story: Flip cameras require conversion to a more native/friendly format for the editing software being used. But hey, at $150, I guess you get what you pay for. :)”
But you can really carry this camera everywhere.
rafael
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