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Canon 5D Workflow documentary: h.264 -> hdv to edit in
Hello!
I am about to begin editing my first feature-length documentary in FCP, and am concerned that I’m going to make crucial mistakes in setting up our workflow because I’m so inexperienced. If you guys can have a look at my proposed workflow, and throw out any advice, that would be immensely helpful.
This is a low-budget film shot on a Canon 5D. We currently have about 40 hours of footage, I’d estimate 1/3 of it is usable. More footage will be shot and added to what we have, we’ll be shooting and editing simutaineously. I have been given harddrives of footage, in it’s native H.264. I know that it’s most often recommended to transcode this footage directly to Apple Pro Res, but that is impractical for us both space and time-wise (did I mention low budget?)
Instead, it was suggested that we transcode the footage into Apple HDV (mpeg2), which cuts the file size almost in half and edit in that. Once the project is complete, we’d relink it back to H.264, and then transcode that final piece to Apple Pro Res. Our goal is to submit this to festivals.
Is this the best route to go?
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4 Replies
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[Hypatia Porter] “Instead, it was suggested that we transcode the footage into Apple HDV (mpeg2)”
Must have been advised by another inexperienced editor. Go out and buy the book “From Still to Motion”
This book will explain everything you will need to know from pre to post production.Even on tight budgets, you need to follow the correct workflow.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
Edit in Premier Pro. No transcoding. If you can’t afford hard drives to use ProRes422 in FCP then don’t use FCP. Transcoding to HDV and linking back to ProRes is potentially a nightmare.
Also if you haven’t backed up the card structure properly FCP will be a nightmare if you use the proper tapeless workflow that Shane Ross outlines in his excellent tutorials.
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No. If you want small file sizes, use Log and Transfer to transcode to ProRes Proxy. Then use this workflow to online your final:
https://library.creativecow.net/ross_shane/tapeless_online/1
This ONLY works if you use Log and Transfer.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
40hours of ProRes Proxy footage will fit on a 1tb firewire drive with 300gb to spare. You can pick one up for £100 /$150. Definitely worth it. If you are shooting on card media you must invest in hard drives – thats like having a camcorder and saying you cant afford the tapes.
best wishes
nick
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