-
HDV Basic Question
I’ve recently embarked on my first HDV project using FCP 5.0.4 on a PowerBook G4. Got roughly 8 hours of gorgeous footage digitized and ready to start cutting.
The docs say that editing native HDV is nearly the same as editing SD, and that FCP pretty much hides its dealing with long GOP issues.
But the moment I add my first clip to the timeline, it shows up with a red line showing that it needs to be rendered. And with a 28-second clip, when I tell it to start rendering, it starts predicting nearly a half-hour render (this is a 1.67 GHz PB).
Is there something I’m missing about cutting native HDV? At that rate, cutting a one-hour show is going to require…er…and awful lot of rendering time.
Thanks,
McQ
-
6 Replies
-
Go to your sequence window. Just underneath the tab that shows the name of your sequence look for the “RT” tab. Click on that and in the pop-up window set it to “Unlimited RT” from “Safe RT.” Then set the playback video quality and the playback frame rate both to “Dynamic.”
Also make sure that your sequence settings match your clip properties exactly. For example if your HDV clip properties are HDV 1080i with a pixel aspect ratio of 1440×1080 anamorphic then you must create your sequence with those same settings, otherwise you’ll be asking FCP to play back your clips using a different setting. This can be problematic with less powerful processors such as those in your G4 Powerbook. Also, turn off the warning that pops up if your system drops frames during playback by going to the user preferences within FCP. Uncheck the box next to “Report dropped frames during playback.”
See if you can now play back your video clips without having to render first.
– Don
-
Lon,
Don knows what he’s talking about, but I’m going to make this even simpler. It’s obvious that your sequence settings do not match your media, and that almost always comes from not using one of Easy Setups when starting a project. So, now you need to open a new sequence, set the sequence preset to HDV 1080i60 and start again.
I highly suggest that you watch the following brief tutorial and always start your projects using precisely the technique that Walter describes. If you follow the instructions you will go on to fame and fortune.
https://library.creativecow.net/articles/biscardi_walter/realtime_sequences.php
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
-
Don,
That was a big help! Thanks very much!
McQ
-
David,
Watched and save the tutorial. As usual this forum is awesome. Yes, I had changed my sequence to match the source, but wasn’t aware of the “gotchas” that the tutorial points out regarding global settings in FCP.
Thanks!
McQ
-
Glad to help Lon. Following that tutorial gets you off to the right start every time, which is about 98% of the battle in FCP.
So, fame and fortune will now be yours…
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.
-
David,
The suggestions and tutorial worked like a charm.
I’m an old Avid and Media 100 editor (and long ago a Premiere 1.0 beta tester) just easing into FCP. My biggest gripe is with the docs, which often seem to tell you what to do, without telling you how to do it. (The next time I see Randy Ubillos, I’ll give him a piece of my mind!)
This has always been an outstanding forum and an invaluable resource.
Thanks again!
McQ
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up