-
FCP settings for HDV
I’m using Final Cut 6, and am editing a piece recoreded in HDV 1080i. The sequence info seems right:
Frame size 1440×1080 Pixel aspect in HD but as I make an edit the rendering time is very slow and I am
getting the following message: “Conforming HDV Video” while rendering.
Why so slow?
Is it my set up? Under Easy Setup I’ve set Format to: All Formats and Use: DV-NTSC Firewire Basic.
Should I have started with HDV settings? Would this make rendering faster?
But I intend to use SD as well in this project.
I’m editing on a MacBook Pro (2.93 Ghz Intel Core Duo/4 GB memory)
Thought it would be alot faster than this. Do I need the extra 4 GB of memory for HD?
Any advice would help. -
4 Replies
-
Hi Joseph,
I’ve avoided editing with HDV, but do keep in mind that FCP (or most editing apps) have to ‘conform’ the HDV codec to edit. It can be a VERY processor intensive process. Your best bet is to get the footage into a format like ProRes, DVCPro, or AIC to edit with, then I’m sure you’ll see FCP speed up a lot.
I once saw a demo between DVCPro codec and HDV, and FCP render the DVCPro transition in less than a minute, and the HDV codec in 20 minutes! -it’s a very slow codec to edit with.Good Luck,
Todd at UCSB
Television Production -
Hi Joseph,
I just read a good primer on editing with HDV from a past issue of CC magazine.
https://magazine.creativecow.net/article/working-with-hdv-in-final-cut-pro
The article explains the “conforming” issues well and give the options (none of them sound great to me.)
good luck,
gerry -
Todd,
Thanks much. I did find working with Pro Res a lot faster. As for HDV footage,
would Compressor be able to convert the HDV footage into a Pro Res Codec
I can work with?
Can that be done during a Log and Capture?
Thanks again,
Joe -
Hi Joseph,
Yes, you can use Compressor to transcode the HDV footage. There are a bunch of different ways people deal with changing the codec of their footage. You can’t transcode while you’re capturing via HDV. The fastest and easiest way to get out of HDV is to use a capture device/card. So rather than using capture HDV through the Firewire, you’d connect your deck/camera to a AJA, Blackmagic, etc., and play through that capture the footage to a ‘better’ codec in the process.
FWIW,
Good Luck,
Todd at UCSB
Television Production
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up