Importing mpeg 4 into FCP

[Tom Wolsky]

Is it HD material? Use MPEG Streamclip to convert it to ProRes.

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop”

[Thomas Morter-laing]

Just to jump in here, but is there a “batch” way of doing this? Because I have gigs of mp4 hd material I just started working with and I don’t have the money to buy the software from calibratedx :s also don’t you lose quality when transcoding in mpeg streamclip?

😀
Tom Morter-Laing
Certified Apple Product Proffessional, 2010
Production Assistant, Grace Productions
Degree; TV Production

[Tom Wolsky]

Streamclip has a batch function.

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop”

[Thomas Morter-laing]

Ok thanks forth batch function info, but if you have loads of
Mp4 footage in folders this is not ideal, also mpeg streamclip transcoding loses quality which is not ideal, especially when you wait hours for it to all work at set quality- I was asking about a native plugin or some clever workaround allowing one to import mp4 files straight into final cut:s

😀
Tom Morter-Laing
Certified Apple Product Proffessional, 2010
Production Assistant, Grace Productions
Degree; TV Production

[Alex Elkins]

Hi Thomas,

If you transcode to Apple ProRes 422 you will not reduce the quality at all.
Regarding the MP4 files being held in individual folders, try using Spotlight on the master folder and searching for .MP4 then arrange the results by type. That way you can drag just the MP4 files in MPEG Streamclip.

By the way, what were these files recorded with? If these are from an EX camera then you will either need Calibrated to play the MP4 files, or you can batch convert using either Sony XDCAM Transfer or Sony Log & Transfer plugin, both free downloads. Neither of these degrade the image either, they simply re-wrap the files as .MOV and maintain the XDCAM EX codec. This is quicker than converting to ProRes.

All the best,
Alex

Salad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
Check out my latest addition to the Creative Cow Reels Section

[Brad Elliott]

Is there any reason you don’t use Compressor’s H264 preset that just copies size, fps, etc?

[Guy Crossman]

Thanks Tom,

Its not HD material, but when I used Streamclip, the resulting sequence was very jerky when I brought it into FCP

Best

Guy

[Tom Wolsky]

Then convert to QuickTime using DV50, or ProRes LT, or some other codec. Without knowing the exact specifications of the original media everyone’s guessing. Just stay away from H.264 or any other non-I-frame codec.

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop”