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method for transcoding XDCam EX to DVCPRO50?
a client of mine is only willing to rent my f3 if i can transcode to the house format (DVCPRO50). i’ve been told that Clipwrap can do this and i downloaded the trial version to test, but apparently it requires additional software for specific codec support. FCPX, maybe? i don’t know, and don’t really want to start paying for software until i have a better idea of a proven path.
i’d appreciate input from anyone who may have experience performing such a transcode.
Michael
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11 Replies
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not DVCPRO50. 😉
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I’m not a FCP X user but there should be a way of transcoding to DVCPRO50 during the export process. If not then my second choice would be Apple’s own Compressor 4. It’s only $49.99 at the Mac App Store and in my humble opinion at that price point it’s a steal considering what it’s capable of. It will transcode from whatever format your F3 footage is in now (either the native XDCAM EX codec or any flavour of Pro Res) into DVCPRO50 which is an excellent standard def. codec.
https://www.apple.com/finalcutpro/compressor/
Update: it will transcode to DVCPRO HD as well.
– Don
Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com -
that sounds like a great solution, Don. do you know if Compressor is a stand-alone app?
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Yes it’s a stand alone but I just checked and I can’t find any DVCPRO codecs in there. But Quicktime 7 will do it and you probably already have that anyway.
Start QT 7, open your final exported movie from FCP X and choose Export from the Quicktime 7 file menu. The dialogue box will give you choices on how to export so choose: Export to Quicktime movie. Then click on Options to the right of your choice and the next dialogue box that opens up will have
Settings
Filter
Size.Click on settings and another window opens and at the top of that window you’ll see Compression Type. Choose DVCRO HD from the list. The rest should be easy for you to figure out.
– Don
Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com -
i do have QT7, but i don’t show a DVCPROHD option under settings. only DV/DVCPRO, which defaults to a 4:3 aspect ratio at 1280×720.
does your QT7 have a full HD output option?
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[Michael Pruitt-Bruun] “does your QT7 have a full HD output option?”
Yeah, there’s everything in there: all the flavours of DVCPRO HD. I do have FCP 7.0.3 on my system so maybe that’s the reason. I’ll bet it’s available through the Quicktime section of the Apple web site or from Panasonic. The DVCPRO codecs were originally for those cameras.
……and I thought I had this problem solved for you. It seems to be getting more complicated. The problem is that the DVCPro codecs aren’t used a lot anymore because of more efficient and lighter weight codecs like Pro Res and DNxHD.
– Don
Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com -
i know. the client is a station that got on the Panasonic/P2 horse years ago and they pretty much refuse to entertain other codecs. or if you bring them another codec they charge each unit, in house, a transcoding fee to take everything to DVCPROHD before they let them edit. whaddya gonna do, it’s a large public television station and they move at the speed of a glacier.
i’ll see if i can get the full HD version into QT7. thanks a lot for your help!
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[Michael Pruitt-Bruun] “i’ll see if i can get the full HD version into QT7. thanks a lot for your help!”
Sorry for the run around. I would for sure though post your query in the panasonic forum right here on the COW. There has to be someone there like Shane Ross who would know where to get those DVCPRO codecs for QT 7. Shane was editing with DVCPRO for years.
Don
Don Greening
A Vancouver Video Production Company
Reeltime Videoworks
http://www.reeltimevideoworks.com -
thank you, Don. i’ll try the panny forum.
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so, i wasn’t able to figure out a way to do this without FCP. after having installed a trial version of FCPX (and then downloading a few extra codecs), QT7 has access to dozens of codecs that it can open as well as transcode to. but the QT7 interface isn’t ideally designed for batch transcoding. i had a look at Clipwrap, which had been recommended to me specifically for this transcode, but Clipwrap won’t open XDCam. i found another called Pavtube, which also needs some full version of FCP to provide the codecs, and it allows you to queue files. Pavtube is only $35, but i couldn’t figure out a way around the few hun’ert bucks for FCPX. Premiere Pro (which i already have) just doesn’t seem to provide the same foundation for transcoding.
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