Thinking about FCP

[David Roth weiss]

[Brian Thomas] “I read that in FCP I can “Freely edit a combination of HD and SD…” Is it really that straightforward – I just drag the .mov files (separately created from “Capture” and “Log and Capture” as appropriate) and start editing?”

Yes and no… It can be straightforward sometimes, sometime not. It certainly helps if the material is all the same frame rate.

There are a few new things you’ll have to learn. But, FCP is much more flexible than FCE because it handles many more video codecs. We can help you to figure it all out.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

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

[Michael Sacci]

I think that is more of a marketing statement vs real world practice.

Yes you can mix a lot of things with a FCP sequence but the question of should you is NO. You normally confirm to a single standard and framerate for the best quality and performance.

While other software handles mixing and matching all types of footage in a timeline (Premiere CS5 for example) that is not the only thing to consider for easy of editing. You have to look at the entire workflow to find what works best for you.

[Brian Thomas]

Thanks both of you for responding. My six camcorders are all pretty basic and all record at 25 fps. Three are HD, three SD.

My ultimate goal is always to burn a number of DVDs for the cast/chorus etc. I imagine I’m losing some picture quality during the down-convert and obviously more during the DVD encoding, yes? It occurred to me that if I could skip down-converting then I’d not only save lots of time but even reduce quality loss..?

Another thing that appeals to me is the multi-camera support. I’ve not seen it in action but I’ve read it’s pretty good. I always use a minimum of four camcorders and sometimes all six even if the sixth might only be for a few seconds of audience cut-away every now and then. For now I obviously have to chop stuff away on the various video tracks and although I’ve sort of got used to it over the years I imagine the FCP way is easier/better?

Finally I am very happy to have the FCE colour correction filter but I’ve heard that FCP is that much ‘better’. Yes….?

Thanks in advance for your opinions etc.

FCE 4.0.1 iMac 24 3.06 4GB OSX 10.6.5. Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Walter Biscardi]

[Brian Thomas] “I read that in FCP I can “Freely edit a combination of HD and SD…” Is it really that straightforward – I just drag the .mov files (separately created from “Capture” and “Log and Capture” as appropriate) and start editing? Any disadvantages?”

You can “freely edit HD and SD” together but you will still be rendering all of your HD footage in the SD timeline before you can complete the edit. AND you need a very beefy hard drive array and computer so it will all work in realtime preview.

So yes you can do this, but in practice most of us do convert the footage. We own AJA Kona video cards to do all of this in realtime for us.

If you are downconverting anyway, why not just set your HD cameras to record in SD so you essentially do the conversion on the fly? Or can those cameras be set to record in SD? Most HDV cameras for example can be set to record in DV.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.

Blog Twitter Facebook

[Brian Thomas]

Thanks for the reply Walter. I was more concerned about the double processing of the HD stuff: first to make it like SD and then the encoding for the DVD.

The three HD camcorders are 2 Panasonic TM300 and a TM10 (as I said, pretty basic) and produce AVCHD files. I don’t think an SD option exists but in any case I use them so that at a pinch I could achieve my objectives with them only. The SD camcorders are often only for cutaways or an obscure part of the stage only used briefly.

What about multi-camera support – is it that much better than chopping bits away on different tracks?

Thanks!

FCE 4.0.1 iMac 24 3.06 4GB OSX 10.6.5. Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Jeffrey Di lullo]

You also need to consider that you will have to bring all your footage to a common format (i.e. pre-process) if you plan to use multi-cam edit.

Jeffrey Di Lullo
jeffedits.com

[Brian Thomas]

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. So for multicam stuff it really has to be the same format on all the video tracks – it wasn’t at all obvious from what I read.

How about you Jeffrey, do you do multicam work? Does FCP somehow make it simpler than having to chop bits away on different video tracks as I have to do in FCE? (I’m getting quite good at that now but I’m always on the lookout for something that gets me to my goal faster and easier)

One other little question if you also happen to be familiar with FCE – is colour correction that much easier in FCP?

Thanks.

FCE 4.0.1 iMac 24 3.06 4GB OSX 10.6.5. Near Geneva, Switzerland

[Jeffrey Di lullo]

Yes, using multi-cam is far more efficient than the hack and whack method. In response to your question about FCE’s CC vs FCP’s CC, I am not familiar with FCE so I cannot comment on it. I must say that I find the FCP’s CC only adequate. I generally use Colorista or Colorista II when doing any in timeline color work. It costs money and is is worth every penny.

I would suggest going to FCP support page: https://www.apple.com/support/finalcutpro/ You should download the manual and read through the multi cam section. There is a ton of info in there that should help answer many of your questions on multi-cam setup, etc.

Jeffrey Di Lullo
jeffedits.com

[Walter Biscardi]

[Jeffrey Di Lullo] “. I generally use Colorista or Colorista II when doing any in timeline color work. It costs money and is is worth every penny.”

You can also jump into Color which used to be $25,000 and definitely worth every penny it costs with the Studio package. $0. 🙂

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” Winner, Best Documentary, LA Reel Film Festival.

Blog Twitter Facebook

[Jeffrey Di lullo]

Walter,

I totally agree! Love ’em both!

By the way, Congrats on the new facility!

Jeffrey Di Lullo
jeffedits.com