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Converting/replacing source media in an existing project
Hi,
I’m experimenting with Final Cut Pro after having worked mostly with Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows.
My source media for this project was captured in 720p30 H.264 MP4 files (from Flip Mino HD cameras).Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not doing enough research in terms of FCP’s video format compatibility before I got started… I’ve been editing these unconverted H.264 clips without rendering in real time, getting more and more frustrated with the long render times necessary after every little edit. After a few weeks of this, I finally got fed up with it, did some research and discovered that FCP cannot handle H.264 files in real time, and I should be converting my source media to something else before I work with it. Oops.
Needless to say, I’ll be converting my media first next time. But here I am with a FCP project I’ve invested a ton of time in (even excluding the constant long renders), with a lot of editing progress that I don’t want to throw away (including lots of finely tuned filters).
Is there any way for me to scrap all of my render files, convert my original H.264 media to a more appropriate format, and reimport it in place of the old media without having to edit it all again? If so, a) how should I go about it, and b) what format should I be using instead?
Thanks so much,
Mike -
5 Replies
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I’d use media manager in FCP to recompress your current edit/sequence and use compressor to recompress your H264 files. Recompress to Pro Res.
Go fly fishing.
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Media Manager expects files to have reel numbers. So you need to check and make sure that you have valid reel numbers.
A short cut would be to use Media Manager to make a new project and convert all the media and the project to ProRes 422.
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Ok, so I went into Media Manager and duplicated my project, recompressing into ProRes 422. I can now edit in RT (thanks!) but only at about a frame per second. Out of curiosity, I examined the media files that Media Manager created– they are still MP4s, and Final Cut still identifies them in Item Properties as having H.264 for a compressor. So I went back and grabbed one of my original MP4s, threw it in Compressor and recompressed it as a ProRes MOV. Then I reimported this into Final Cut and threw some filters on it, and it was able to play back at full framerate.
I’m not sure what Compressor did differently than Media Manager, but it certainly works better. If I just convert all my MP4s with Compressor, should I be able to easily take my old media offline and reconnect it to the converted files? Or is there a way to get more control over Media Manager’s recompression?
Thanks for the help!
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To get more control over how Media Manager re compresses your files, go to…
Final Cut Pro > Audio/Video Settings > Sequence Presets Tab > Choose a preset that best matches your settings > Duplicate > Change the settings > Click OK…
Media Manager > Media: Recompress > Recompress media using: choose the new sequence settings you created…
Hope that helps.
Go fly fishing.
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I’ve run into the same problem after using clipwrap to convert .mts files.
Is it possible to use clipwrap on the prores setting to just convert the files and then reconnect them with the edits in my timeline.
This would be much faster for me than running media manager, but would this work?
Thanks
Derek
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