open format timeline

[Aaron Neitz]

Try rendering those clips first. It’s doing an RT downconvert which is going to look dodgy (but it’s in real time!)

[Rafael Amador]

Hi Joel,
FC can work well with different sizes and codecs in the same sequence. Footage with different time base need to be converted before.
The best solution would be to capture all your HD in Proress SD.
[Joel Kotlowitz] “The HD ProRes looks great when it’s in a HD sequence, but when I put it into an SD sequence and FCP scales it down, it doesn’t look good at all. The quality is significantly decreased. What’s the deal? “
Had you tried rendering with “High Precision” and “Render Motion Effects: BEST?
rafael

http://www.nagavideo.com

[Joel K.]

The original source files didn’t come from tape, it came from a type of memory card (revPro) so I couldn’t really choose to bring it in as SD…. Are you saying I would need to individually re-export all my footage as ProResHQ SD? Isn’t the point of having this open timeline feature to be able to mix and match footage, codecs, HD/SD, etc without having to conform all the footage?

[Joel K.]

“Try rendering those clips first. It’s doing an RT downconvert which is going to look dodgy (but it’s in real time!)”

how would I render it? It doesn’t have a red render bar on top. When I hit apple R, it doesnt do anything.

[Joel K.]

oh scratch that. I see I had the timeline in Playback video quality Dynamic… if I change it to High, then I can render… I guess this should be the last step in my process.

[David Jahns]

Sad to say, but OPEN TIMELINE is simply marketing hype. FCP does a terrible job of downconverting footage – at least if your are working in NTSC interlaced. If you can work in NTSC 23.98 progressive, you might have better results, but it also depends on what footage you’re starting with, of course.

I did a fairly thorough research job on this when FCP 6 came out, then I posted my results here on the COW, and no one really had a solution, other than “use a KONA card to downconvert your footage”.

Check out this link:

https://www.jointeditorial.com/dave_tech/FCP_HD-SCALING-FINAL.htm

[Nicholas Bierzonski]

Wow! Great post! Just goes to show you how FCP still has a way to go.

-Nicholas Bierzonski
Senior Editor/DVD Author/Java Boy
http://www.finalfocusvideo.com

[David Roth weiss]

So David,

After re-reading your article several times (and memorizing every word) I want to know what your solution is down-converting interlaced HD material?

THNX,
David

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, and Indie Film & Documentary forums.

[John Pale]

[Nicholas Bierzonski] “Wow! Great post! Just goes to show you how FCP still has a way to go.
“

So does every other NLE. Nobody can do that cleanly without hardware (Kona, Nitris, etc.)

[David Jahns]

Hmmm, I’ve actually never dealt with 1080i source material.

Everything I’ve ever worked with has started with progressive frames, 1080psf24 or 720p60 or 24. The key there was using a progressive timeline to do the scaling, but if you’re staring with 1080i, that won’t work. I honestly don’t know.. except “Use a KONA card!”