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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy Please help with a multi-cam workflow

  • Please help with a multi-cam workflow

    Posted by Tom Duncan on January 12, 2009 at 10:32 pm

    I am hoping somebody could lay out the steps to create and edit this multicam project. I’ve done this before, but this particular project is present challenges because…

    cam 1-3 are Apple Pro Res 422 (1440×1080), 29.97 fps, shot with Canon
    cam 4 is DVCPROHD (1280×1080), 23.98 fps (24PA) shot with HVX.

    What I did was sync all 4 cams in a seq, insert slugs, then individually export each of the 4 to SD NTSC for offline editing. (system wont play 4 cams in HD without stuttering) I assume I should create the multicam seq, cut it, then afterwards replace each cams with the original HD clips to bring online (though I haven’t gotten that far yet). If this assumption is incorrect, please let me know because I have not done offline / online editing before.

    Problem I have right now is after exporting each camera to SD then import them and create the multiclip seq, the dVCPRO cam (4) is off by a couple of seconds. All 4 clps show the timecode as starting at 01:00:00:00 but they won’t line up. If I simply make a multi-clip they all appear to be sync’d fine until I bring them into a multi-clip sequence (use overlapping timecode) which insists on de-syncing them.

    If I create the mcs “use starting timecode”, then it insists on placing cam 4 in a separate clip from the others which means it is no longer a multi sync clip. Is this somehow editable like a single multi-clip would be?

    I suppose I need step by step outline to offline, create, edit and online again, the whole process, and I could probably figure that out if I can just get my multi-seq to stay sync’d. Any help is greatly appreciated.

    td

    Éamon Little replied 17 years, 1 month ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • John Pale

    January 13, 2009 at 7:12 am

    [Tom Duncan] “cam 1-3 are Apple Pro Res 422 (1440×1080), 29.97 fps, shot with Canon
    cam 4 is DVCPROHD (1280×1080), 23.98 fps (24PA) shot with HVX. “

    You really should not be mixing frame rates and formats with this….and offlining in SD only makes it worse.

    From page 242 of the FCP Manual

    Multiclips have the following limitations and requirements:
    Clips in a multiclip are not required to have the same duration, but they must all use
    the same codec, image dimensions, and frame rate.
    Important: The same capture preset should be used for all footage you plan to make
    into a multiclip.

  • Éamon Little Create COW Profile Image

    Éamon Little

    March 26, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    Hi,

    This problem is not the same but those who helped Tom Duncan may be able to help me.

    I’m just about to start an edit of a dance show shot on three Sony EX1 cameras at the 1080i50 setting. I have used multicam editing on five or six shows before, all shot on DV and it all went very smoothly. For this project, I upgraded to Final Cut Studio 2 and all applications are updated to the latest versions (FCP = v.6.0.5)

    I am using a Dual 2.7GHz Power PC G5 with 4.5GB DDR SDRAM, OS 10.4.11 and the media is on an external drive connected by Firewire 800. I have an JVC broadcast monitor with SDI interface via BlackMagic Declink Extreme card.

    For the current project, I have done the import to FCP using the XDCAM Transfer tool and have started to play with a six minute retake we did at the end of the shoot on the three cameras before deciding on my ultimate workflow. I dropped a multicam clip onto the timeline and allowed FCP to alter the sequence settings to match the footage. I am a bit shocked to find my machine (or is it my settings?) struggling to handle the footage. I have had to reduce playback video quality to Low and switch off external video altogether to prevent frames being dropped. And still, after I have set the sync to open in the viewer window, it won’t playback the multiclip live but instead plays the active angle and then jumps back to multiclip viewing when playback is stopped. This clearly will not work for me. I do not like having to view playback quality at Low, especially on days when the client comes to sit at my shoulder.

    Can anyone suggest a workflow which will not reduce the finished quality? I want to keep the project at a quality where I can master out to HD tape, even though at present the budget only allows for a playout to DigiBeta.

    Thank you,

    Éamon Little

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