HDV Footage Captured in Final Cut Pro does not work in Avid MC for Windows

[Shane Ross]

With Automatic Duck Pro Export 4.0.

Or download the Avid Codecs and convert by exporting from Quicktime. I don’t see my Avid codecs showing up in Compressor nor FCP’s media manager, so that might be out.

Hand them all the tapes and have them recapture.

Have them cut on your FCP system.

Shane

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[Michael Gissing]

Actually Mandi, that isn’t a common story in my experience. Rarely is footage captured in one system and then expected to be transferable to a different edit system on a different OS.

It is bad enough with captures within FCP and various versions of Quicktime, but no, I consider it unusual to change to AVID after capture.

Recapture off tape is probably most reliable way in case you need to recapture for online and must have timecode and reel numbers all correct. Unless that info can be maintained within a file transfer, I wouldn’t attempt converting to AVID codecs.

[Dan Monro]

Hey Shane,

The Avid codecs show up in compressor for me. I sometimes use compressor to re-compress graphics that get delivered in animation codec, just to speed up avid import times.

But Mandi, I agree with Michael that recapturing might be your safest bet, especially if you’re going to work low-rez and then conform it. There’s really no way to do that with quicktimes in Avid without creating hi-rez files in the first place. If you’re working hi-rez from the beginning, then you could probably get away with batch converting to the avid codec and then importing into Avid.

But are you also trying to bring metadata across? Have you edited anything yet, or would this just be bringing in the footage? Because translating project information is an an entirely different set of issues.

Good Luck,
D

Dan Monro
FCP, Avid, AfterFX, Atlanta
MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB ram
Mac OS X 10.5.7
GeForce 8600M GT Final Cut Pro 6.0.5 Quicktime 7.6
– OR –
2 x 3.2 Quad Xeon; 16 GB ram
Mac OS X 10.5.8
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 Final Cut Pro 7 Quicktime 7.6.4

[Mandi Vernoy]

Thanks for the response!

Dan – This is a very low tech production so we don’t have any metadata and we haven’t edited anything yet, we only have the footage.

We shot our movie on a Canon HV20 but the capture function no longer works on our camera (the computer doesn’t see the camera when it’s plugged in). The place I used to rent a Hv20 from so I could capture recently replaced their Hv20 with a hard drive camera so it’s super hard for me to get anything re-captured.

Where would I go to get the HDV quicktime codecs for Avid? Do they come with Avid?

[Dan Monro]

Try here:

https://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=263545

I found it by searching “avid codecs for macintosh” in google. Google is your friend. You’ll need to install them on your mac; there should be a readme file about how to do that. Make sure the ones you’re installing match the kind of mac you’re using.Once they’re installed, you can batch convert them in compressor, assuming compressor sees the avid codecs. Now you’ll have a set of avid codec quicktimes that should work in media composer.

Shane made a good point; why not edit in FCP? The media is already captured. Nothing against Avid; I still do about 40% of my work in Avid. But if you’ve got FCP, you’ve got a great tool to work with.

Figure out why your computer doesn’t recognize your camera. Sounds like it once did. Have you restarted everything? Tried other firewire devices? Looked up troubleshooting tips on the Canon website? Don’t give up on that issue, because it means you’ll have to rent a camera for every other production you shoot just to capture.

The best tool for a “low tech” production is the web. Find this stuff out. Search these forums. There is a Final Cut basics forum here, too. It covers a lot of stuff that this one doesn’t. There is also a compressor forum, which you might need once you start batch converting.

Don’t be offended if I sound like I’m lecturing. I think its great that you’re here seeking help. But do your research so you can do the job right from the start, and get way ahead.

And on that note: why aren’t you cutting this piece…..?

Best of luck,
D

Dan Monro
FCP, Avid, AfterFX, Atlanta
MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GB ram
Mac OS X 10.5.8
GeForce 8600M GT Final Cut Pro 6.0.6 Quicktime 7.6.4
– OR –
2 x 3.2 Quad Xeon; 16 GB ram
Mac OS X 10.5.8
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 Final Cut Pro 7 Quicktime 7.6.4