-
Reel name / Quicktime metadata
Hi! I have some Canon 7D footage that I’m cutting, and I need to use the dupe detection in FCP. To get this to work, I need reel names. The problem is that there is no reel name attached to these Quicktimes that I’ve converted to ProRes. I’ve manually changed the reel name for each clip in FCP only to find that once i move the drive over to another system, the reel information is gone. This means that I need to find a way to have that reel name in the Quicktime’s metadata. I tried the “QTChange” tool from videotoolshed.com, but my test showed that although the reel name part of it worked perfectly, it somehow shortened the length of my quicktime and made the audio out of sync. So, what’s the solution? How do I permanently change the reel name for my quicktime? Is there a tool I’m missing?
Thanks in advance!
-m
-
14 Replies
-
What file system is your your hard drive formatted as? Changing the reel names in FCP should stick with the files, regardless of what system you bring them too. So I suspect the issue is with the drive. But in any case, you should be able to do everything you want directly within FCP, so I don\’t think an external tool is neccessarily the answer.
Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto -
What happens when using Media Manager to move from system to system? Not sneakernet which will cause headaches.
Kevin Monahan
60 Blu-ray Templates for Final Cut Studio 2009
http://www.fcpworld.com
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro -
Marrian,
I’m a bit concerned about my application getting video out sync.
You know it’s in PAL by default?
Perhaps you have to set it to 30 first (use the menu).The app. will happily put 25 FPS QT TC into a 30 FPS movie, even legal according to QT, it just is annoying if you expect the counter to go up to 29.)
Still, no idea what could happen to the sound.
What steps are you exactly taking?Can you send me a sample clip or two so i can test what goes wrong where?
(Please one that is original so i can try to break it…)Use my dropbox if you ain’t got an FTP server:
https://dropbox.yousendit.com/BoukeVahl998172Bouke
https://www.videotoolshed.com/
smart tools for video pro’s -
Hi Matt–It’s Mac OS Extended (Journaled). It’s a 2tb dual-drive G-Raid. Here’s the thing, even without moving to another computer, it seems I lost my reel info. I couldn’t get my start timecode in my timelines to change, so I trashed my preferences. When I opened it on the system that I originally changed the reel names on, those names disappeared. Poof!
-m
-
Bouke–Thanks for your response. I didn’t adjust the framerate originally. The strange thing is that when I opened the quicktime, the inspector info said that it was running at 30fps even though I think it was running at 25fps. I adjusted the setting to 30fps, and now my duration is correct, but it looks like I only have 25frames per second. I’m uploading the original, “test1” (with framerate unchanged) and “test2” (with framerate set to 30fps) to your SendIt. Is there a way to keep everything the same but just add the reel name? I think your software can be great, but I’m afraid to adjust all my quicktimes using it right now since it took so long to convert my 5D h.264 quicktimes to proRes quicktimes. Also, is there a way to select a source folder and once the files show up in the list at the bottom, to remove quicktimes that you would like to not be affected? Thanks again!
-m
-
This is what I see in my FCP browser for the clips I mentioned. The Vid Rate isn’t correct based on the playback timecode.
-
Yikes! Sounds like bigger issues then just some rogue files. Have you tried starting a fresh, empty project. Copy one of the bad files to a different drive, bring it into the empty project and see if you can replicate the problems.
Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto -
What do you mean by “bad files”? I don’t think I have any bad files. I think there were some minor preference issues that wouldn’t allow me to change my start timecode. Once I trashed my preferences, I was able to change the start timecode. And now the reel info is gone. Are you saying that the reel info should have remained even after I trashed my preferences bc the 2 are unrelated? I created a new project, brought in one of my ProRes movie clips, named the Reel, closed the project, trashed my user preferences, re-opened the project, the Reel name is gone. So I’m guessing that that caused the reel info to disappear. Is it just me?
-
Hi Marrian, sorry if I wasn\\\’t clear… I wasn\\\’t using the word \\\”bad\\\” in the literal sense. The files are probably fine but in cases like these I like to eliminate all the variables one at a time to narrow down what is wrong… Hence the new project, copying the files to a different drive, etc.
When FCP changes the reel name of a clip it modifies the file itself on the hard drive. In your case it sounds like something is preventing this from happening properly. This could be a number of things. Now that you\\\’ve trashed your prefs, can you modify the reel name and get it to stick properly? The surest way to check is to close all open fcp projects, quit, relaunch and bring the files into a new project.
Matt Lyon
Editor
Toronto -
FCP is so fickle. it works then it doesn’t. so i did a couple tests. i brought the clip from the drive onto my main HD, brought it into a new project and changed the reel name, trashed prefs, opened FCP…reel name gone. i did it again, and it stayed. using the original project, the original external drive, changing the reel name, trashing prefs, opening up the project, the reel name stayed. WHAT???? now why would FCP do this? it seems completely unreliable, and i don’t really want to change all the reel names to find later that the names will disappear.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up