Frustration with FCP and Canon MOV transcoding

[Rafael Amador]

[Alf Hanna] ” After copying them to my fast internal drive, I had Neoscene convert them to AVI. It took 33 MINUTES.”
So, why you haven’t converted the H264 to Prores for working on FC?
Don’t you know that you shouldn’t put any H264 in a FC sequence?
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Jiri Fiala]

Transcode to Prores in MPEGstreamclip or Compressor first. It’s kind of a hassle, but FCP is super stable and fast with Prores. Way more than Premiere with H264.

[Michael Sacci]

As others has said, you need to learn the proper workflow, this has been gone over time and time again on every FCP forum out there.

But even with that, FCP is not the best tool for every job. Right now Vegas and Premiere are fast to work with on certain projects. If you have them and they are faster and they do the job use them. You don’t have to use FCP for every project.

[Gary Askham]

If you prefer the performance of your brand new PC with modern software to a slightly dated Mac with older software you should stick to your PC. No-one will stop you. You also didn’t mention which graphics card you were using in each system – this can make a big difference.

I would say though that 13 hours sounds a little strange, even on a Quad-core Mac. Compressor can be set up to better use multicore systems – but it isn’t set up like this as standard. I am also curious as to what you were converting your footage to? Were you doing any resizing? Which ProRes codec did you choose? I personally use the EOS E1 L&T plugin in FCP as it adds timecode support – something Compressor doesn’t do.

————————
FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[Al Bergstein]

Well, it seems that either I didn’t write clearly or some folks jumped to conclusions. part of the selling points of manufacturers using MOV file wrappers is *because* they can drag and drop into FCP. That’s a marketing issue, JVC and Canon both use it, and Yes, I’ve read the files that have been posted here in the past. However, I thought I would try it to see how bad it is. obviously, it’s far worse than I thought.

The graphics card doesn’t make a difference. The transcoding doesn’t have anything to do with the graphics card, does it? That’s all CPU intensive from what I’ve seen. And not GPU intensive.

As to your thoughts about “use what I prefer”, which I read as “don’t bother us with details, get lost”, I don’t *prefer* either computer, I’m technology neutral. These are all tools, not religious artifacts, though I must say that many people on this board, and others would have you think that these tools are made by divine spirit and not programmers and marketing people making cold hard calculations…

I wasn’t doing any resizing, as I said, it was simple short documenting of an event. Nothing at all other than typical flat titles and lower thirds. I thought I made that clear in my first post.

I have downloaded the EOS plug in for L&T and now that I’m home, will put that to use tomorrow, and see if it helps. They say it does.

While it seemed odd to me also at 3 hours, I shared this both to ask if I did something wrong, like maybe get the answer about the EOS utility, but also to share with folks because I don’t think that people are aware of just how slow compressor is vs. the competition. This is hourly wages money we are talking here, unless everything you do is for free.

Anyway, there is much to like about FCP. No slams intended. Well, I asked what I might have done wrong, and got “learn your workflow”. I know my workflow, so please don’t be condescending. I know people who bought JVC professional cameras because they are drag and drop MOV files. Read my post again. *I transcoded on Windows and completed my job in the time it took to transcode on my Mac…” So if the answer is ‘transcode on the Mac” the answer is, ” I don’t think so..” But I will try the EOS utility and see if it improves this process dramatically. Parity with my Vegas machine with Neoscene will keep me on the Mac, as I have some others in town I sometimes work with that don’t have both machines.

sheesh…

Alf

[Jiri Fiala]

Well, you HAVE to transcode on Mac if you expect decent performance and full quality. It”s as simple as that. And. You really can’t go about accusing people of not being helpful if you fail to provide clear information in the first place. .

[Rafael Amador]

[Alf Hanna] “some folks jumped to conclusions. part of the selling points of manufacturers using MOV file wrappers is *because* they can drag and drop into FCP. That’s a marketing issue, JVC and Canon both use”
I think you have some “understanding” problems.

[Alf Hanna] “Yes, I’ve read the files that have been posted here in the past. However, I thought I would try it to see how bad it is. obviously, it’s far worse than I thought. “
Can you explain what is worst?

[Alf Hanna] “As to your thoughts about “use what I prefer”, which I read as “don’t bother us with details, “
Here you start to show that, apart of technical help, you need some other kind of help.
Many brands, but they need prescription.

[Alf Hanna] “Anyway, there is much to like about FCP. No slams intended. Well, I asked what I might have done wrong, and got “learn your workflow”. I know my workflow, so please don’t be condescending. I know people who bought JVC professional cameras because they are drag and drop MOV files. Read my post again. *I transcoded on Windows and completed my job in the time it took to transcode on my Mac…” So if the answer is ‘transcode on the Mac” the answer is, ” I don’t think so..” But I will try the EOS utility and see if it improves this process dramatically. Parity with my Vegas machine with Neoscene will keep me on the Mac, as I have some others in town I sometimes work with that don’t have both machines. “
Again, learn your workflow.
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Al Bergstein]

You know, given the answers I’ve gotten from some of you folks like Raphael, I’m going to leave this forum and find answers elsewhere. It’s really amazing that you feel that you can insult people that are simply trying to better understand this very complicated and frustrating product.

I’m very clear in my understanding that FCP needs transcoding, as I said in my original post, though the marketing literature of many major camera manufacturers would have you think otherwise. Go look at JVC’s *professional* web site (yes I am aware this is often marketing BS, but it *says* “no transcoding needed” for example. And yes, I understand that this is MOV wrapped MPEG.

https://pro.jvc.com/prof/attributes/features.jsp?model_id=MDL101860

What I meant by “far worse” was that the rendering time of non transcoded video was far worse than I anticipated.

I have been working in FCP for over a year, almost daily. I do know workflows, but your attitude towards someone who is on this board trying to comprehend this stuff is quite pathetic. Your dismissive attitude says more about you than you might imagine. CU Later.

Alf

[Gary Askham]

That’s a JVC pro camera that shoots XDCAM EX which is supported in Final Cut Pro not a Canon stills camera that shoots h.264 QuickTimes.

If you think you should know everything about FCP after working with it for a year then you are a little disillusioned. I have been working with it professioanlly for 8 years (since FCP 3) and I still learn something new every day.

————————
FCP and Avid Technical Support
Air Post Production
Shoreditch – London

[David Roth weiss]

Alf,

Your frustration is obvious, but don’t let it cloud your judgement. this is the best place on Earth for the technical assistance you need with FCP, and by cutting and running you’re going to lose out on a terrific resource that would undoubtedly benefit you in the long run.

The guys here have no way of knowing what you know and don’t know, and I can assure you, they get just as frustrated as you. When someone like you who’s extremely frustrated writes us here to vent their frustration, we can get frustrated too, because we’re dealing with all kinds of people, with all types of personalities, with all kinds of issues.

We all know rendering and transcoding time is time we could all use for more creative endeavors, and that bothers each and every one of us from time to time, and it can be incredibly frustrating to find out that there’s still no solution that makes it avoidable at this point, no matter what the marketing may say. However, those of us who do this for a living are constantly searching for the best solutions available, and we all occasionally put up with the arrogance, insensitivity, or stupidity of our peers from time to time, because it’s ultimately a small price to pay for the of inside information that’s dispensed here by professionals around the globe all day every day on a purely voluntary basis.

So, my advice to you is, thicken-up that skin just a bit and hang in there and keep learning.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.