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Strange DVCPRO HD Happenings…
Let’s get the techy stuff out of the way first: I’m running FCP 6.0.1 on a Dual 1.8GHZ G5, footage stored on a 2 drive raid comming in over firewire800.
I’m cutting a reel, and I have a bunch of DVCPROHD movies at 720P24 (from an HVX200 shot at 720PN), when I import them into FCP and try to play them back the footage is steppy like it’s dropping frames. However I don’t get a dropped frame warning.
All of the files are Quicktime movies that were exported from Final Cut 5, so they’re the Final Cut Quicktime format.
My easy setup is at DVCPROHD 720P24, and when I make a new sequence and try and put the quicktime movie into the sequence it gives me the warning “sequence not set to same as clip, change sequence to match clip?” – even though the easy setup and the clip are the same. I press “yes” anyway, and the sequence opens back up with the clip in it but it has to render. When I render it plays back correctly. Also when I open these files up in Quicktime they play back correctly.
I also have a new project that I just shot on the HVX200 at 720PN, and all of these files play back fine in FCP.
Any ideas? Is this a FCP5 to 6 bug? Thanks for the help.
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10 Replies
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Hi ya,
yes very strange. I would try seeing what the clip actually thinks it is. In FCP right click on the file and go to item properties. See if the codec and frame rate all look okay. Then open in Quicktime Player Pro and “Get Info” – see if the info is the same as in FCP. Then open the clip in Cinema Tools and do an “Analyse Clip”. I have had occasions whereby the different ap’s have differd in what they thought the clip was (frame rate problem).
Does the clip play normally in the Viewer window in FCP but not on the timeline? If so then the clip is okay but not matching the sequence settings. It could be a million things but i suspect a frame rate issue that conforming in Cinema Tools will hopefully fix – or it’s the pulldown pattern in the FCP settings that is causing it. Many possibilities but i hope this helps you get to the bottom of it.
Good luck!
Chris -
[mattdawgpro] “All of the files are Quicktime movies that were exported from Final Cut 5, so they’re the Final Cut Quicktime format. “
Exported How?
that would mean that you have converted them some how. make sure that the converted clips are the same as the original DVCPROHD content that you are working with.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows -
Thanks for the help guys.
FCP thinks the files are DVCPRO HD 720P60 at 23.98fps. So does quicktime. My sequence easy setup is DVCPRO HD 720P24. The file stutters in the viewer, and when I put it in my timeline it needs to render, then plays fine once it’s rendered. I think I should also mention that these files were exported from 2 different Final Cut systems. These files never had pulldown because they were shot 720PN24 on an HVX200, which means it doesn’t record any pulldown.
How I exported them was I set an In and Out on my timeline (720P24) when my edit was finished, then did File>Export>Quicktime Movie, and used the default settings which mirror what the timeline is setup as.
I’m thinking it might be a Final Cut 5 to 6 problem. Could somebody try and replicate this problem?
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One more update – I was able to duplicate the problem on 2 other systems, one G5 running FCP 6.0, and one Mac Pro 8core running FCP 6.0.1. Only difference is it plays back smooth in the viewer, but the timeline still needs to render even after Final Cut says it’s changed the sequence to the clip’s format. Thanks for your help everyone.
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[mattdawgpro] “FCP thinks the files are DVCPRO HD 720P60 at 23.98fps. So does quicktime. My sequence easy setup is DVCPRO HD 720P24.”
that would be correct, since there is not 24.0 fps setting for this camera.
“The file stutters in the viewer,”
that could be 2 things. 1) that it is actually 23.98 material and the camera person had no idea how to shoot for a reduced frame rate, or 2) your drives are not fast enough to play back the footage correctly on your computer.” I think I should also mention that these files were exported from 2 different Final Cut systems”
HOW? are you sure they are still DVCPROHD or did one of the machines output something different for a file format ( check in FCP also – QT is not good for this)
“How I exported them was I set an In and Out on my timeline (720P24) when my edit was finished, then did File>Export>Quicktime Movie,”
ARE YOU SURE?
My guess is that one of the files is not correct.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows -
I’m fairly certain they were exported correctly. I’ll go back tonight and open up my original project and re-output to make sure. Both Final Cut and QT say the files are DVCPROHD 720P60 23.98, which should play back fine. Also it still doesn’t explain why Final Cut still wants to render after it says it has converted the sequence to the format of the clip. Thanks for your help, I’ll keep digging into it.
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[mattdawgpro] “Both Final Cut and QT say the files are DVCPROHD 720P60 23.98, which should play back fine. Also it still doesn’t explain why Final Cut still wants to render after it says it has converted the sequence to the format of the clip.”
your seq settings are not correct then.
my guess is you changed your settings but did not create a new seq when you did.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows -
[mattdawgpro] “I’m fairly certain they were exported correctly. “
if you are not sure, I would bet they are not, you are converting the files using QT and that is wrought with errors.
why are you exporting them? are the CC;d or filtered?
why not just media manage the files individually or drag and drop to a new timeline.
I NEVER assume that exporting a file will yield a correct camera native file when QT is involved.
gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows -
Tried that, changed the easy setup to DVCPRO HD 720P24, made a new sequence, placed clip in timeline, still needs to render. I’m starting to think it’s a bug in FCP 6 from FCP 5, it’s only doing this with files exported out of FCP 5 that are DVCPRO HD movies exported as “Final Cut Quicktimes” (Files made by export>quicktime movie, not export>using quicktime conversion). Files that were made the same way using Final Cut 6 don’t have this problem. I know this shouldn’t matter, which is why this is driving me a little crazy. Also I still don’t get why the auto setup feature in FCP6 isn’t working with these clips, it works on codecs like H264 that aren’t even editing codecs. I’m going to try and open the file on a FCP5 system and see if it works.
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They’re music videos that have been finished and stored on a hard drive. The master tapes were sent to clients long ago. I’m editing a reel for someone. You’re probably right about it being a whacky QT file. I just find it strange that 2 seperate files from 2 seperate FCP systems done months apart from eachother by 2 different editors have the same problem in FCP6. Also a bit odd it plays fine in the viewer and in QT. If it works in FCP5 I’ll post back up here. Thanks for your help.
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