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Loading SD card footage into Final Cut Pro
Hello,
I recently bought a Panasonic HMC150 and I’m having trouble getting the footage from the SD card into Final Cut Pro. I’ve read some posts on this forum regarding the matter (i.e. using log and transfer rather than log and capture), but I can’t seem to get Final Cut to recognize the files. I’ve shot footage in both 1080/60i and 720/60p, but none of the footage in either format seems to be recognized by Final Cut. I have my audio/video settings as follows: Sequence Preset – DV NTSC 48kHz, Capture Preset – DV NTSC 48 kHz, Device Control Preset – FireWire NTSC. Do I need to have a different Device Control Preset since I’m not using FireWire?
Thanks,
Aaron
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8 Replies
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If the card contains BOTH 1080i60 and 720p60…then FCP will not recognize the card. Mixing formats like that confuses FCP for some reason. You need to shoot one format to the card at a time. So if you need to shoot both formats, have two cards.
The only option now is third party converters, like ClipWrap2, or Toast 10.
In the future, one format per card, and then this is the Log and Transfer workflow: Tapeless Workflow for FCP 7 Tutorial
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
So, I watched the tutorial, but it doesn’t address how to fox my problem. I went onto the SD card and deleted the 720p/60 clip so that all the clips on the card would be the same. And I was actually incorrect in my previous post, the rest of the clips were shot in 1080/24p not the 1080i/60 I previously mentioned. Anyway, I still can’t get FCP to recognize the files when I try to import them. All it gives me is an error message saying the files I want to bring in “have an invalid directory structure”. Do my capture settings need to be different or should I be shooting in a different format?
Aaron
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Are you choosing the root level of the card, or backup file? Not digging into the file structure, but choosing the card itself, or the folder that you backed it up to?
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
I’m choosing the actual card files not the back up. Do I need to copy them to a hard drive first and then choose the backed up files? Thanks.
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YOu shouldn’t need to copy first, but I always do. Backup is the first priority.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
OK, so I backed up the files and tried to open them from the hard drive rather than the SD card directly and I’m still getting the “invalid directory structure” message. All the file clips on the SD card were shot in the same setting 1080/24p. Is there any other settings in FCP that could be causing this? Or do you think it has something to do with the clips themselves?
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I don’t know if this will be any help, but I shoot pretty much exclusively on one or both of a pair of HMC150s these days. I cannot recall having ever mixed either frame rates or resoultions on a single card as yet, so this may be a complete non-starter. Your mileage may vary.
That said, when archiving raw footage, here’s my SOP:
1) I have a designated directory on my archive drive specifically called “Raw Footage”
2) Under this directory, I create an individual directory for each separate card I’m archiving, usually with a very descriptive name, for example, “20110531_ProjectName_HelpfulDetail_Camera_ReelNum”. I’m a bit of an old school geek, so I use underscores to separate. A lot of our stuff is simple standups, so the “HelpfulDetail” is usually the talent name or something similar
3) Into said directory, I copy the entire “PRIVATE” directory straight off the card. Not one level below or above, just the big folder labelled “PRIVATE” gets pulled over and copied.
4) In FCP, once I recheck that my logging bin is designated, I then pull up L&T
5) In L&T, I hit the “Add Diretory” button and navigate to my Raw Footage directory and the appropriate subdirectory there, then select the entire “PRIVATE” directory I just archived and open that “PRIVATE” directory in L&T.
6) From there, it’s logging/labeling, “Add to Queue” and watch the magic happen. I recommend verifying the usability of an ingested clip before blanking the card, but I’m known to be… careful with my source media.
It’s worked for me. I may have to run a lab test with mixed resolution and/or rates, but I haven’t had cause to shoot that way as yet.
I hope this was some help. If not, maybe someone can use it.
Best of Luck,
Brian Wells
Media Services
Walt Disney Travel Company
Anaheim, CAObligatory Disclaimer:
1) I work for a company. A not-so-small company. Any opinions I may express ought not to be assumed to be those of said company.2) The content I create and the tools I use to create it are generally the property of said company, meaning it is highly unlikely I will be able to publicly share said content. In the event that I do share said content, any failure on my part to remove or obscure proprietary elements of said content shall not be construed as permission to do anything whatsoever with said elements or with said content as a whole.
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Thanks to everyone for their responses. This forum has been a great help to me over the years. However, I finally figured out that all I had to do was update FCP. Apparently I was running FCP 6 and I just needed to update to the latest version. It would be nice if FCP had some site that would specifically tell you what each error message means and whether it could be fixed by a simple update. Oh, well thanks again.
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