Canon EOS 7D Editing

[John Davidson]

I use cinema tools to change the frame rate from 60p to 24p (when shooting 720), to get the slow mo look. Then I convert via compressor to 1080i prores. You may need to convert to Prores HQ to keep 1080p.
h264 is the codec used to record these files, which is keeps sizes low, but sucks for editing.

[Marcel Franck]

Many of us are using MPEG streamclip to convert to prores for editing in FCP…the native h.264 files that the 7d records to should not be used for editing…I’ve had better results using mpeg streamclip than compressor..mpeg streamclip software is easily found online…hopes this helps.

PRODUCER – DIRECTOR – EDITOR
CANON 7D 3.0 MBP 4GIGS RAM 1TB SONNET FUSION F2 ESATA
PPC G5 DUAL 2GIG, 6 GIGS RAM, AJA IO, 2TB SATA2
OS 10.4.11
FCP 7 & 6.0.5
Ae 6.5 CS3 Ps,Ai,Ae

[Richard Dolesh]

Marcel,
Interesting about Squared 5… Did you try Neoscene at all? I’d be interested to know which one is better…as I need to edit 7D files!

I’ve tried Neoscene (trial version) but can’t convert to a PPro ‘friendly file’ that doesn’t have to be re-rendered once droped in my timeline…
(I’m using CS3 / Intensity Pro and would love to be able to monitor my timeline on my HDMI client monitor…)

Richard Dolesh

[Marcel Franck]

Richard…i have not tried neoscene…others have…with mixed results…
mpeg streamclip lets you convert to many different formats…since i’m a fcp edit house i use what works for me…when i convert to prores the files play without render in a fcp timeline…there is a good 5d/7d site
that may yield some answers for you…search for “phillip bloom” and poke around there…he has a new dvd tutorial for sale…a little pricey
but lot’s of info….

PRODUCER – DIRECTOR – EDITOR
CANON 7D 3.0 MBP 4GIGS RAM 1TB SONNET FUSION F2 ESATA
PPC G5 DUAL 2GIG, 6 GIGS RAM, AJA IO, 2TB SATA2
OS 10.4.11
FCP 7 & 6.0.5
Ae 6.5 CS3 Ps,Ai,Ae

[Richard Dolesh]

Marcel,
Thanks for your reply. That’s great to hear about not having to re-render when you drop your media into the FCP timeline, using mpeg streamclip–even though I usually am on windows, I have to use a mac at times.

I have seen Blooms site, It’s a great site–and you got me thinking about purchasing his DVD… For anybody else who stumbles upon this thread, working in CS3 PPro and the Canon 7D it looks like transcoding to a PPro codec like XDcam is the way to go as Magbanua did:
https://jasonmagbanua.com/blog/2009/09/10/perya-a-canon-7d-short/

I am going to give it a try… Now if I could only preview my timeline on a HDMI client monitor I’d be thrilled!
Richard

Richard Dolesh

[Beren Hall]

i’ve been using mpeg streamclip to convert 7D 720/60fps files into 24fps for FCP but when i play them back after conversion they play at normal speed instead of slow mo. does anyone know how to convert a 7d 60fps movie into a 24fps or 30fps slow mo movie? any help would be greatly appreciated

[Aaron Stewart]

To convert to 23.98 from 59.94 (60fps)… first copy the files to a separate folder on their own….

if you’ve got Cinema Tools as part of Final Cut Studio, open that, look for Batch Conform under the file menu. Select the file with the copied H264’s (or converted 720p files), and then select the framerate to conform them to. Takes about 2 seconds a clip (not even). Changes the metadata on the clips in that file, then places them in a 24 fps conform file. Now they are all slowed by 50%.

Aaron R. Stewart
arstewart@gmail.com

[Marc Schreibman]

I just got a Canon T2i and I’m trying to edit the 1080P files it saves to the card. After trying to edit the h.264 files directly i FCP, and seeing the major frame dropage, I did some research and saw that it is better to convert to Apple Prores422. So I did this and it works great in FCP. However, when zooming in on the footage and comparing it to the original h.264, it look much softer and more compressed looking. I thought prores was supposed to be less compressed. I used Mpeg streamclip to convert the files.
Have you or anyone had this problem?

[Richard Dolesh]

Marc,
From what I have heard, mpeg streamclip ‘works’ but your footage takes a quality hit. I have done this workaround for the time being. (Maybe you can do something similar on your mac?) I import all my 7D clips into an ‘XC Cam’ project ( I am on a PC and use CS3) then render the whole timeline. Then I go to the ‘preview files’ folder–pull all those out and drop them into my project. Premiere Pro sees the ‘preview files’ all as native XD Cam files and I can apply instances of them infinitely without as much rendering because PPro was designed to work with XDcam codec!

For the mac, I am not sure…maybe somebody else can respond?? for older systems…a good product to look into is: NEO HD for $500. It addresses the ‘mathmatical coding’ that is such a strain on most current editing systems. But I wouldn’t puchase Neo HD if you are going to do a big upgrade soon, as that function may be improved in the latest (or soon upcoming) mac releases. Again, maybe a mac expert can reply : )

For my own 7D editing, I didn’t have HD the work to justify the expense, (especially considering I can do short edits with the workaround described above) so I will just wait till I build my windows 7 machine when CS5 comes out, hopefully later this year.

Richard Dolesh

[David Keslick]

There is now a third option when editing in Vegas. DVFilm EPIC I. EPIC allows you to edit your H.264 files in realtime.

EPIC I

Dave Keslick
DVFilm.com