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keeping QT not MXF
Hello!
i’ve been reading info about the P2 workflow when transfering the material to FCP. I found out something that it’s worrying me since we haven’t been doing it, that is, it’s said that the MXF files are “the tapes” that are gonna be kept forever, kind of. Well, we’ve been transferring directly the MXFs to Quicktimes with FCP and not keeping the MXFs, only the QT. I’m wondering the downsides/problems that doing this will bring us in the future.
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7 Replies
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Say you want to use this footage on another edit system. You can’t. The imported QTs are ONLY viewable on machines with FCP installed. Not even a regular Mac will see these…only ones with FCP. SO you are locked to one system. Updated versions of FCP are known to have issues reading QTs imported with earlier versions of FCP. (FCP 5.0.4 to 5.1 caused this).
Shane
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Yes I’m with Shane. Think of shooting film stills- you wouldn’t just keep your prints you’d hang onto your negative rolls too. Get a few extra hard drives or buy a DLT backup system. Depends on the budget and how much you shoot but it’s a really wise idea to back up each P2 card and consider the QuickTimes a print.
Noah
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did we lose quality when converting to QTs that we might not be able to get back? I forgot to add that we’ll be blowing-up these material, and previously taking it through the whole process of color correction and digital/visual effects. Are we gonna face some problems during these process by not having the original source to rely on? This also makes me ask if the person doing these processes will have problems working with the QTs in other programs that are not editing related, like AE or Color, etc?
thanks guys, i’ll definitely remember the film stills analogy -
[Andrea Mino] “did we lose quality when converting to QTs that we might not be able to get back?”
No…not at all. But do you toss your DV tapes after you capture them? No…I doubt you do.
[Andrea Mino] “Are we gonna face some problems during these process by not having the original source to rely on?”
Well, if they become corrupt, or if you lose the imports somehow…these are your backups. Baby them…keep them…store them in a nice place just in case. Because Just In Case does rear it’s ugly head when you least expect it.
[Andrea Mino] “This also makes me ask if the person doing these processes will have problems working with the QTs in other programs that are not editing related, like AE or Color, etc?”
Yes…if the computer doesn’t have FCP installed on it, then those applications will not be able to see the image. The codec you imported as is only visible on machines that have FCP installed…period. IF you want another person to work on it, then you’ll have to export it out using something like the Animation codec.
Shane
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http://www.LFHD.net
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In the line of what you should do now.
You really should back up your entire project, QT clips and all, on a separate HD asap. If you are living with a single copy of all your footage you are on dangerous ground back up immediately. Having the original P2 files are better for reasons outlined by Shane but you can at least get a safety net spread out.
Then on future project archive the P2 files.
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Ditto to what everyone has said. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the cost of keeping all these extra hard drives full of stuff that they don’t access on a regular basis. I don’t get it! Even backing up both the P2 mxf files and the QT show files on a raid 1 it is still cheaper than tape. We need to view hard drives as expandable and simply the cost of doing business.
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thanks a lot!! at least on that side, having a back up of the imports and the project sequences, we were smart enough. Definitely from now on i’ll store the p2 as well.
Now, my last question…i hope, since all this MXF talk is becoming a whole new world now. Let’s say that the project i’m working on for some reason can’t be worked on my system anymore and the system we’ll work on can’t open the QT’s, and let’s say i do have the MXFs. Would we have to import those MXF into this new system and re-edit? or is there some sort of “reconnecting” media that would read the in and outs of the edits? Does that make sense?
thanks for your time, i know experience on the field will teach me but the less i could screw up on the field the better 🙂
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