H.264 as editing format in FCP?

[Roli Rivelino]

No problem, what I meant by that is; as long as when I’m handed over footage, or footage that I shoot myself, can be edited straight away, without having to transcode to pro res, then I’m happy as transcoding takes time. Time is the commodity I sell to my clients; ergo anything that wastes time is a bad thing.

The short answer to your question about transcoding is no. However it depends what you’re doing to the footage, if you’re just cutting it together, then great.

But if you’re colour correcting, motion graphics, green screening or any other post production method then transcoding to pro res is advisable; as this will give you the best results as far as final quality is concerned.

Think of it this way, if you had a photograph in your digital camera and you wanted to put a picture of a night out with friends onto facebook, then the Jpeg would be fine. However if you wanted to blow up a 10 foot by 20 foot poster, then not only would you use a great camera and lens, but you would use the RAW files as that would give you the best quality.

https://www.rolirivelino.com/

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1x 1Tb external WD ‘My Book’ eSata

Equipment
Panasonic AG-HVX 200
Firestore FS-100

[Mohammed Naseer]

thanks once again, and if I may ask a dum question : if a camera shoots footage in h.264 or MPEG2 format then is that what we are referring to as the cameras ‘RAW footage’. Or is the raw footage, the footage that is extracted before it is encoded/compressed to h.264 or MPEG2 by the camera, i.e. uncompressed SDI, HDMI or component output directly from the camera’s optics and imager, before compression, captured by hardware such as MOTU HDX-SDI-EXPRESS or the Multibridge Eclipse by BlackMagic.

[Shane Ross]

[Mohammed Naseer] ” Or is the raw footage, the footage that is extracted before it is encoded/compressed to h.264 or MPEG2 by the camera, i.e. uncompressed SDI, HDMI or component output directly from the camera’s optics and imager, before compression, captured by hardware “

Yes, THAT is the raw image. But then you need to capture to a compressed format on the NLE side. ProRes, DNxHD…even UNCOMPRESSED is a compressed format. But FAR SUPERIOR to MPEG-2 and H.264. That’s why the NINJA and KiPro and other recording devices are good. They take the SDI/HDMI signal and record to superior codecs

Shane
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[Harry Hanbury]

I had been using FCP for 10 years when FCP X came out, but the bad reviews led me to switch to Adobe Premiere — one big attraction being the ability to edit h264 without transcoding to a format like ProRes422, which eats up way too much hard drive space. I mostly shoot on Canon DLSRs, so having a good, fast workflow for h264 was critical. BUT, and this is my question, someone told me they heard a rumor that around the same time FCPX came out, some 3rd party developer also came out with a plugin that allows you to work with h264 natively in FCP without a lot of trouble. Have any of you heard of such a thing? I still have the need to edit in FCP7 for some projects and it would still be a big help not to have to transcode.

Failing that, can anyone recommend a process for transcoding from h264 that is FAST and a codec that doesn’t take up so much space as ProRes. I’ve tried XDCAM 35mbps, and that’s looked pretty good.

Thanks,
Harry

[Shane Ross]

[Harry Hanbury] “some 3rd party developer also came out with a plugin that allows you to work with h264 natively in FCP without a lot of trouble. Have any of you heard of such a thing?”

FCP Legacy? (6, 7). Nope…never heard of such a thing. FCX is reputed to work with H.264 native…but really prefers to transcode. If you MUST have native editing capabilities, Premiere is the way to go.

[Harry Hanbury] “can anyone recommend a process for transcoding from h264 that is FAST and a codec that doesn’t take up so much space as ProRes.”

FAST? But not a high data rate codec like ProRes? Possibly, but it won’t look good. DVCPRO HD is a possibility, but you lose resolution (going from full raster 1920×1080 to thin raster 1280×1080). Apple Intermediate Codec…which is pretty noisy.

[Harry Hanbury] “I’ve tried XDCAM 35mbps, and that’s looked pretty good.”

Converting from one GOP format to a different GOP format? Ick. But, if you like it…go for it. I can see some quality issues come from that…due to the GOP structure. But…up to you. For broadcast quality, ProRes is the way to go. But lesser options can be had for FCP. But if you want true native…Adobe Premiere is the way to go.

Shane
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Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Mark Suszko]

I think you’re talking about a plug-in called ClipWrap, that is supposed to “re-wrap” the metadata of an .h264 clip so you can work with it in FCP without further translation.

[Roli Rivelino]

Will we ever see the day of one universal codec for all?

No, I didn’t think so *sigh*

https://www.rolirivelino.com/

System
Mac Pro 2.8Gb quad core
8Gb RAM
1x 320Gb 7200 hardrive
1x 1Tb 7200 hardrive
Nvidia Geforce 8800 512mb Graphics card
1x 1Tb external WD ‘My Book’ eSata

Equipment
Panasonic AG-HVX 200
Firestore FS-100

[Michael Gissing]

Mark, Clipwrap is for MXF files, not H264 quicktimes

[Mark Suszko]

“Doh!”

[Andrew Dutton]

H264 CODEC DOES NOT WORK AS AN EDITING CODEC FORMAT.

Here is how I do it using FCP5.
Sony nex5n shoots .MTS files, otherwise know as AVCHD codec.
Final Cut Pro 5 does not natively edit this footage.
I use .MTS converter and convert footage to 1920×1080 Apple intermediate codec.
I also use cinema tools to conform the frame rates to whatever I shot it at, 24fps, 60fps.
After converting and conforming, I can drag and drop into my FCP5 timeline using the correct timeline setting and render settings. I don’t have to do any rendering after I drop into timeline, just edit away.
The .MTS converter cost like $49.00. Working in this manner does not slow my workflow down much at all.
I can actually convert all of my footage in .MTS converter overnight when I am sleeping. In the morning I conform all my framerates, then I start editing.

My sequence timeline is setup pretty simple:
Apple intermediate codec, 1920×1080, square pixels, 23.976 framerate, no anamorphic
44khz audio at 16 bit, two channels

Using the converter allows me to edit in a 4:2:0 color space which is equal to or greater than Avchd natively, this is why I choose Apple intermediate codec, over apple 422 or apple 4444 , because avchd does not need the additional bit depth apple offers up in prores codecs.
I have found by using this setup, I can edit effortlessly on my g5 dual 1.8 or my 2.33ghz apple MBP running the same software.
I hope you found my post helpful.
Drew Dutton
IATSE LOCAL 600 FIRST AC