Import settings for Canon XH A1 footage at 25fps into Final Cut Pro

Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy

Import settings for Canon XH A1 footage at 25fps into Final Cut Pro

Posted by Carolyn Dekkers on June 10, 2013 at 12:58 pm

Hi there, I’m about to import footage from a Canon XH A1 into Final Cut Pro 6.0.6 at 25 fps, and am hoping someone can set me straight on the correct settings to use for optimum quality.

I’ve noticed some people write about using ‘ProRes 422 HQ’ in order to get the best results, whether others say ‘Do not capture HDV material to HQ.’

I’m also wondering if I should go with HDV-108050i or 108025p, and about HDV Firewire or Firewire Basic.

I guess what I’m asking is: In Audio/Video Settings, what should my Sequence Preset, Capture Preset, and Device Control Preset be? And in Sequence Settings, what should my Frame Size, Pixel Aspect Ratio (Anamorphic?), Field Dominance, and Compressor settings be?

I would like to, in the near future, have the option of combining this footage with either that from a Sony a99 Full Frame DSLR camera, or with Canon 5D Mark 2 footage, and the end result needs an online life as well as a hardcopy existence.

Can anyone please help me out with this? I would love to get it right from the start this time, rather than having to backtrack under stress.

Cheers,
Carolyn

Carolyn Dekkers replied 13 years, 1 month ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
2 Replies

Neil Patience
June 10, 2013 at 10:10 pm

Hi Carolyn

As far as I remember the Canon shoots 1080i HDV and is a 4:2:0 recording so using ProRes HQ is not going to give you any quality advantage over ProRes 422. It will just create larger files for no quality gain. I would use 422 or even LT if space is at a premium. You can then quite happily use the same setting for your DSLR material.

I think if you capture via firewire you can capture HDV to ProRes – this article shows you the settings for 1080p 24 so you want 1080i 25, the device control; is HDV Firewire Basic, the capture preset is HDV to ProRes (no need for HQ) Video playback setting depends if you have an I/O card or not.

Have a look at this it may help you https://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/capture_hdv_prores_fw_balis.html

best wishes
Neil
http://www.patience.tv

8 Core MacPro, Kona 3, Tangent Wave, Mackie Universal Symphony 6.5 FCP7
i7 2.7 Gig MBP (non retina) 16Gigs Ram Blackmagic Monitor Mini Symphony 6.5 FCP7
Carolyn Dekkers
June 11, 2013 at 6:06 am

Hi Neill,

Thank you so much for your very helpful response and the useful link as well. I’ll definitely be sticking with Pro Res 422.

My problem is that the ‘HDV – 1080i 25’ setting (that is ‘i’ not ‘p’) you recommended, doesn’t seem to come up as an option in ‘Audio/Video Settings’ under ‘Sequence Preset’.

The only choices are:
HDV – 1080i50 or HDV – 1080i60, and HDV – 1080p24, HDV – 1080p25, or HDV – 1080p30.

Or did you mean I should be picking one of the Apple Pro Res options such as:
Apple Pro Res 1440×1080 24p 48kHz / 25p / 30p and Apple Pro Res 1440×1080 50i / 60i

OR: the same as above except a frame rate of 1920×1080.

I’m hoping all the details make answering my question easier, not harder!!

Eternally grateful for your tolerance,
Carolyn

(No I/O card by the way)

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