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1080p30 back from Color as ProRez HQ needs RT rendering??
After using the send to Color menu in FCP, a clip is rendered in Color to the ProRez HQ codec (without changing size or anything else). The “de-interlace” option is left unchecked in the Color project setup. After rendering I use the Send to FinalCut menu in Color and accept the “Change Sequence Settings..” option so the rendered sequence arrives back in FCP as a ProRez Sequence with Upper(Odd) field dominance – but the unlimited RT orange bar tells me that the sequence needs to be rendered before it will play smoothly – why?
I can take the rendered file referenced by the imported ProRez sequence and drag it into a new, empty sequence. Up pops the dialog suggesting that the new sequence properties should be changed to match the file. I say yes, and the clip comes in without an orange bar. It plays without stuttering – no need to render. Inspecting the Sequence options for the sent-to-fcp sequence versus the newly created sequence (both referencing the same clip file), I can’t spot any difference!
If I perform the same experiment, but instead of rendering in Color with the “de-interlace” option un-checked, I change to checked – then again the “send to fcp” gives me a sequence that must be rendered in FCP for unlimited RT (orange bar). But this time, the create a new sequence trick doesn’t help – it also requires rendering for unlimited RT.
If I use compressor instead of Color to create the ProRez file (from the same source sequence, XDCAM 1080p30) , then I can use either the ProRez progressive or interlaced output option from Compressor. Either option results in a file that can be brought into FCP and used to create a new Sequence that does not require rendering.
The behavior of files created by Compressor seems understandable to me – neither the interlaced nor progresive file demands any further rendering in order to play smoothly.The rendering requirement for sequences sent from Color seems like a bug, right?
I don’t understand the different behavior of the “de-interlaced” rendering created by Color versus the “progressive” rendering created by Compressor. What is the difference between these two files? And what does “Deinterlace renders” actually mean when the input file is not interlaced in the first place – its XDCAM EX1080p30 ?
Tests above were run using FCP 6.0.6 and Color 1.0.4.
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2 Replies
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I am on 7.0.1 and Color 1.5.1 and this behaviour has not been noted. So far I have been using ProRes (not HQ) and ProRes4444.
It may be a known issue with earlier version of Color and FCP. Did you search the Color forums as well?
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I didn’t find anything in the Color form that seemed relevant.
The work around seems to be:
1) Render in Color with ” de-interlace ” unchecked.
2) Send back to FCP using the export codec (ProRez HQ) for the new sequence. (The imported sequence shows an orange bar – needs rendering for playback.)
3) Make a new sequence and drag in the render file that was created by Color (drag from the video from the imported sequence).
4) accept the “change sequence settings to match clip” dialog that is displayed when dragging in the asset.This seems like not too obnoxious a work-around, even if I am mystified by why it is necessary.
The more important question though is why the work-around doesn’t help when the encoding in Color is set with the de-interlace option checked ON. Or perhaps more to the point:
what does Color actually do when configured to create a de-interlaced ProRez file from a progressive source?
and why is this different from Compressor creating a progressive ProRez file from the same progressive source file?
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