Does FCP support QuickTime movs with multiple video tracks?

[Jeremy Garchow]

Not that I know of, no.

This is a really interesting idea, though, Alex.

It certainly doesn’t cut down on file size, but I guess it might be easier to keep track of?

It seems that the general framework might be there, but FCP is so old that it won’t take advantage of something like this. Awesome idea, though.

Jeremy

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Alex,
You can put many things inside a QT file, but for a video editor (and on a video editing application) I don’t see big advantages on that feature.
In real life I don’t see much need of packing together many Video tracks (security cameras?).
Is possible that something like AE or Combustion can tell and use more than one video track.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Rafael Amador] “In real life I don’t see much need of packing together many Video tracks (security cameras?).”

Delivering a multicam edit with ISOs as well as a the switched edit?

Delivering a master as Alex has said, one clean, one with GFX, one with subtitles in one file?

Handing over footage to compositors in one file, giving them shot options?

Having different versions/languages of an edit inside of one file?

The list can go on and on.

[Alex Elkins]

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for your input. It does increase the file size. I’m testing on a 720/25p ProRes 4444 file. The total file size of the multi-track QuickTime is slightly larger that the sum of the individual layers.
However, this being ProRes the file size is variable, so for instance, the graphics layer is much smaller than the programme layer (like, 5 times smaller) despite it being the same length. It works out smaller in size compared to keeping one dirty version and one clean version of a finished programme on file.

Hi Rafael,

Thanks for your input as well. To answer your question about the usefulness of this…
[Rafael Amador] “I don’t see big advantages on that feature.
In real life I don’t see much need of packing together many Video tracks (security cameras?).”

We do a lot of sports broadcasting, so all of our finished programmes tend to have score graphics up pretty much throughout. Months later we might want to cut a montage of action from the pre-edited programme, but we don’t want to have graphics burned in to the images. This is fine if we still have the source files on our system, but usually they will be archived onto LTO tapes and deleted from the scratch disk once the programme is delivered. We keep a master file of the finished programme on a local disk.
It would be very useful in this situation to be able to extract the clean images from a single master file (and if needed we could include the graphics, but at least we’d have the option not to). Seems more organised than keeping multiple versions – one clean, one dirty.
It would also be a handy addition to files with burnt-in-timecode in that you could turn off or on the TC burn at any point without re-rendering.

FCP has this support for audio tracks. I think, as Jeremy says, the infrastructure is there given that it all works perfectly in QuickTime player. Would be a very nice addition in my opinion.

Thanks,
Alex

Twitter: @postbluetv
http://www.PostBlue.tv
Shot on RED, Post on FCP/Color: Short Capoeira Film

[Alex Elkins]

Good list Jeremy – much more concise than my example too!

BTW I tested this in After Effects and it doesn’t recognise the multiple tracks. After Effects also seemed to have issues correctly interpreting the existence of the alpha channel from the GFX when I extracted the layer from the QT master. This was solved with a roundtrip from FCP to After Effects.

Alex

Twitter: @postbluetv
http://www.PostBlue.tv
Shot on RED, Post on FCP/Color: Short Capoeira Film

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Alex Elkins] “FCP has this support for audio tracks. I think, as Jeremy says, the infrastructure is there given that it all works perfectly in QuickTime player. Would be a very nice addition in my opinion.”

Exactly and I agree.

In the tracks column, it’d be 2V,4A or whatever. It’d be pretty slick.

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Alex Elkins] “BTW I tested this in After Effects and it doesn’t recognise the multiple tracks. After Effects also seemed to have issues correctly interpreting the existence of the alpha channel from the GFX when I extracted the layer from the QT master. This was solved with a roundtrip from FCP to After Effects.”

All this doesn’t surprise me. I bet no application supports it, except Quicktime! 🙂

Jeremy

[Rafael Amador]

Jeremy,
You are proposing QT as a media-storage-managing-format.I prefer something that focus on video editing.
The idea is interesting for media sharing and storing, but doesn’t add much for the video editor.
You are thinking of a super-QT-file that behaves almost like a project, but to pair together and manage different elements (graphics, sound, many video tracks) we already have the “FC Project”.

I may be old-fashioned, but I will never feel safe with a 1 hour Prores-QT file with 7 video tracks and 14 audio tracks. That sounds a nightmare to me.
What about file corruption?
You want to lose your 7 tracks at once?
I prefer one at a time:-)
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Alex Elkins]

Hi Rafael

It’s not a question of whether we’d like to use QT in this way as we already can (and I will). I just wondered if FCP could read all of the video layers and therefore automate the process a bit more. It seems not, but personally I’d love the option for the reasons I’ve stated.

Thanks,
Alex

Twitter: @postbluetv
http://www.PostBlue.tv
Shot on RED, Post on FCP/Color: Short Capoeira Film

[Rafael Amador]

Alex,
Sorry if did sounds as I dismissed your Idea.
First because I love this kind of tests and experiments.
You can put whatever you want inside a QT file. you can have video layers and masks, audio, stills, text,..
The issue is that no QT based application have the tools to manage all that contents.
I suspect that the very QT structure neither allow to easily sync and manage it.

I think that that all-in-one-file, is the file of the future, but that have to come with a new generation of NLEs.
With the actual FC, that feature would simply complicate things. If FC doesn’t shine on MM, imagine with those files.
Keep digging on the QT files. Is full of interesting things, and I think that most of us, including my self, we don’t know enough about.
Cheers,
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com