MKV Rewrap for use in FCPX

[Noah Kadner]

ProRes is the way to go- whst is the original footage anyway?

Noah

FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
FCP Exchange – FCPX Workshops
XinTwo – FCPX Training

[Jeremy Garchow]

First, try setting your viewer to 100%.

I find some variants of mp4, especially from DJI products, will produce very pixelated previews in the Event Browser if it is set to less than 100% (or “Higher Performance” playback setting). But upon looking through a broadcast output device from AJA or similar, and a subsequent export, the movie looks just fine.

So first, before you do anything, try to set your view to 100%, or export a small chunk of the movie out of FCPX (like you would any edit) and see what it looks like after export.

[Marc D’amour]

Thanks for the response.

I cut demo reels for actors and they always want the best quality footage.

My current workflow:
Purchase BluRay disc and rip to MKV
Convert select clips to ProRes using PavTube HD Converter for Mac (I would prefer to do the entire movie but the files are considerably larger that a full BluRay rip (full movie Blu can be 20 – 40 gigs where a ProRes convert of that file can be 80 – 150 gigs).
Import the ProRes clips to FCPX and Edit

Pros of this workflow:
Smaller size than converting entire films to ProRes
Retain great quality of original file

Cons of this workflow:
File sizes of multiple clips are still usually greater than the original file size of the BluRay MKV rip
So often we don’t pull enough and have to go back to re-source moments, b-roll etc. – would be great to rip the full movie once and have it in the system for reference and use.

My desired workflow:
Purchase BluRay disc and rip to MKV
Rewrap all MKV files to M4V or MOV using Subler. This way it keeps the quality of the original file and doesn’t bloat the file size. In my tests, the files sizes are less than 1% larger after “re-wrapping” the entire feature.
Import the full films in M4V or MOV and allow FCPX to create a proxy to edit with more easily and then perform the edit

Problem with desired workflow:
Subler produces M4V files that play perfectly in VLC and look great. They also import into DaVinci Resolve 12.5 perfectly and without problems.
When I import those same “re-wrapped” files into FCPX, I’m getting that pixelated ghosting effect that you see in my link in the original post.

I just find it hard to believe that there isn’t something I can do to get FCPX to play nice with those files.

To answer your question about the original file type, here is a screenshot of the specs while playing the MKV in VLC.

screenshot2017-01-20at10.55.54am.png

Any and all help here is appreciated. Thank you very much!

Marc

[Marc D’amour]

I tried setting the viewer to 100%, and no luck. I did then put a chunk into a project and exported it.

Unfortunately, it looks the same on export as it does in the viewer.

Any ideas on what could be causing this in FCPX, but VLC and DaVinci are ok with the same clip?

[Noah Kadner]

Without having the clip no- but MKV’s are typically a mess as they come from shareware DVD rippers etc and fall apart on playback. If you have another app that can open and process it get it into a better MOV container as soon as you can can.

Noah

FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
FCP Exchange – FCPX Workshops
XinTwo – FCPX Training

[Marc D’amour]

Thanks for the response.

I cut demo reels for actors and they always want the best quality footage.

My current workflow:
Purchase BluRay disc and rip to MKV
Convert select clips to ProRes using a Third Party Converter for Mac (I would prefer to do the entire movie but the files are considerably larger that a full BluRay rip (full movie Blu can be 20 – 40 gigs where a ProRes convert of that file can be 80 – 150 gigs).
Import the ProRes clips to FCPX and Edit

Pros of this workflow:
Smaller size than converting entire films to ProRes
Retain great quality of original file

Cons of this workflow:
File sizes of multiple clips are still usually greater than the original file size of the BluRay MKV rip
So often we don’t pull enough and have to go back to re-source moments, b-roll etc. – would be great to rip the full movie once and have it in the system for reference and use.

My desired workflow:
Purchase BluRay disc and rip to MKV
Rewrap all MKV files to M4V or MOV using Subler. This way it keeps the quality of the original file and doesn’t bloat the file size. In my tests, the files sizes are less than 1% larger after “re-wrapping” the entire feature.
Import the full films in M4V or MOV and allow FCPX to create a proxy to edit with more easily and then perform the edit

Problem with desired workflow:
Subler produces M4V files that play perfectly in VLC and look great. They also import into DaVinci Resolve 12.5 perfectly and without problems.
When I import those same “re-wrapped” files into FCPX, I’m getting that pixelated ghosting effect that you see in my link in the original post.

I just find it hard to believe that there isn’t something I can do to get FCPX to play nice with those files.

To answer your question about the original file type, here is a screenshot of the specs while playing the MKV in VLC.

screenshot2017-01-20at10.55.54am.png

Any and all help here is appreciated. Thank you very much!

Marc

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Marc D'Amour] “Any ideas on what could be causing this in FCPX, but VLC and DaVinci are ok with the same clip?”

FCPX must not see it as a valid clip.

If Resolve is seeing it correctly, then I’d export a version out of Resolve, even if that’s ProRes.

[Marc D’amour]

Jeremy – thanks for the response.

I have a way to get this single clip into FCPX if needed… it just isn’t ideal or sustainable as a workflow moving forward.

I’ve been on FCPX since the beginning and absolutely love it. I’m not even considering introducing Resolve into my workflow at this point, I just really wanted to streamline my workflow and I’m trying to get to the bottom of what is wrong with clips created this way so I can (presumably) fix it and I can use this method of working with my files in FCPX.

One of my downfalls is codecs and file formats, so I apologize for some of the more entry level questions.

Again, I really appreciate the time and consideration here.

Marc

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Marc D'Amour] “My current workflow:
Purchase BluRay disc and rip to MKV”

Why rip to MKV?

[Marc D’amour]

There are a few programs that rip BluRay on Mac and they use MKV. I’m not stuck on it but I didn’t know there was an alternative. Any tips on software that can rip to a more flexible format?