Rendering clips

[Russell Lasson]

What type of footage are you working with? Is it FCP or FCE (we share the same forum here)?

There are several options, but one is to put everything in a timeline and export the timeline as a QuickTime movie with current settings. Then import it and start editing.

That might not be the best solution for you, but without more info, it’s hard to give you other options.

-Russ

[Brewster71]

Thanks – its FCP… And most of it is 700×400 hour-long episodes of BBC documentaries.

[Erikandre]

Hey Russ… I’m in a similiar __

I have the batch ready for editing with a mix of HDV and SD with about 6-7 hours of a variety of footage (predominant HDV). I’d like my final output to be HDV. I’m entertaining the idea of exporting all of it and then importing it again, as per your suggestion, but I have a few questions…

1) would i lose HDV video quality this way?

2) After trying this once, it seems that the export/import option only really imports properly in the same sequence it was exported from. Does this mean i can only use one sequence?

3) is it better to put all the footage as one export and then chop it up later or export it in batches (i heard the longer the file duration, the more system resources i need).

[Russell Lasson]

So you want to edit in HDV and get the standard definition video to playback in your HDV timeline without rendering? Right?

Easiest thing for you to do is buy FCP6. It will edit both files in the same timeline without needing to render (depending on your computer).

Or you could put your standard definition footage in a HDV timeline, export it, then bring it in and work with it.

There are other ways to do things, but they get more complete and you don’t want to go there unless the quality of what you’re currently doing isn’t acceptable.

-Russ

[Erikandre]

Russ, the quick response is most appreciated.

[Russell Lasson] “So you want to edit in HDV and get the standard definition video to playback in your HDV timeline without rendering? Right?”

Sort of. I would like to get both the HDV and SD to playback in the timeline without rendering. More so the HDV. I really don’t mind so much the SD needing time to render… more so the HDV as that’s 95% of the platform I’m editing in (and I can render the SD along the way). I’m just concerned that I may lose quality with exporting/importing, but after trying what you suggested, I absolutely love it. (do you know of any loss?)

Russ, I’m also noticing when i do this (export than re-import), it only reimports back into the sequence that it was exported from. Any way i can get it to easily move into other sequences without having to re-render it?

Thank you for your valuable time on this one. I can’t help but notice how new i sound, but you’re really a life saver here.

[Russell Lasson]

[ErikAndre] “more so the HDV as that’s 95% of the platform I’m editing in”

What you really need to do is get your sequence settings right for HDV. You shouldn’t have to export and import or any other tricks to edit your footage. Open the sequence settings and make sure they match your clip.

From there you could either import SD footage into the same timeline and render or put the SD footage in a HDV timeline, export and reimport to edit.

But in FCP, it’s all about getting your sequence setting right so you don’t have to render everything.

-Russ

[Erikandre]

Russ, thank you. Your help has been priceless and will literally save me hours in time during production… at least once i figure this last step out.

Ok, here’s where I’m at. Someone on the forums told me to capture my footage using the HDV – Apple Intermediate Codec. Therefore all my footage is under that compressor, with footage all with an ~11 MB/sec Data Rate. However, when I set the capture to HDV 1080i60 and captured just a little bit of footage and then set the sequence settings to HDV 1080i60, no rendering needs to happen when placed in the timeline AND the data rate is only 3.1 MB/sec (not to mention, it all captures in real-time).

This is huge… except I will need to capture all 12 hours of footage over again. I am just thrilled that the data rate is only 3.1 MB/sec and not nearly three times that. Am i getting too happy too quick or is that how it should have been the whole time?

Also, is there any way to convert my existing “Apple Intermediate Codec” footage to “HDV 1080i60” or would it be better to just re-capture everything. Perhaps that’s better for quality?

Thank you so much for your valuable time. I want to write a huge review for your help here.

[Erikandre]

*this is an update to my post just minutes ago…

I just realized the original HDV – Apple Intermediate Codec i captured in was for 1080i50 and not 1080i60 (back when i didnt know the difference).

So i guess the better questions is… which is better to capture in and do i need to recapture everything?

[Russell Lasson]

So your 3.1MB/sec footage is native HDV copied over firewire. FCP can play this back and you can edit it. It can be a pain to render and export though. That’s why someone suggested using the 11MB/sec Apple Intermediate codec. Though it takes up quite a bit more space, it’s much easier to edit and render with.

12 hours of footage at HDV would be about 133GB. 12 hours of Apple Intermediate would be about 475GB.

With either one you can set up your sequence setting so they don’t need to render everything (just effects, dissolves, etc.)

If I had the space, I’d probably just use the Apple Intermediate codec because it’s easier to work with once it’s in the computer.

-Russ

[Erikandre]

Russ… you’re a life saver.

Although I will have to re-capture everything in the right Intermediate Codec, I think it’s the best way to go. I’m so glad you caught this for me, as I dont think i would have ever figured it out (i was so close to just getting rid of FCP altogether and go back to iMovie (as *everything HDV and SD* needed to render)

Thank you Russ… Truly.