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Transcode GH4 4k MP4 files for FCPX edit?
I’m shooting 4k 100Mbps 24fps MP4 on my GH4. I use a late 2013 MacBook Pro (retina, i5) with FCPX for editing.
I input the 4k footage into a 1080p FCPX project. Final output is 1080p file.
Questions:
1) Should the GH4 4k MP4 file be transcoded prior to ingesting into FCPX?
2) If so, what format and with what software?
3) Or is it sufficient to select “Create optimized media” in the FCPX “Import Media” box?
4) Or should I select “Create proxy media”? -
4 Replies
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Depends what you need to accomplish. Definitely can be done all within FCPX. With Optimized Media you get high quality ProRes files you can easily use to finish the project. With Proxy you’ll get lower bandwidth ProRes that will perform a lot speedier during editing, especially on lower end Macs. And then you’ll switch back to original for the final outputs.
Noah
FCPWORKS – FCPX Workflow
Call Box Training -
Import the files into FCPX. If you’re not doing anything complex you might not need to do any transcoding but chances are you’ll be better of optimising the media, and if your computer can’t cope with that, working with proxies.
You can do it all inside FCPX.Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland -
I’ve edited a lot of 4k GH4 camera native material on a top-spec 2013 iMac 27 with no problem — for single cam. However if doing multicam, I definitely needed to generate proxies for decent editing performance. Even just two or three 4k H.264 streams is a big CPU burden that bogs down scrubbing, JKL editing, etc.
You can try it with camera native material, then (if needed) generate proxies later without disrupting any work done to that point. FCP X makes this very easy.
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Agreed, even my 2013 Mac Pro struggles with GH4 internal 4K footage. My first step is almost always to either optimise or generate proxies – and it’s usually proxies because my dual drive RAID Thunderbolt enclosure just doesn’t have the speed to deliver much in the way of 4K goodness.
Jeff Kirkland | Video Producer | Southern Creative Media | Melbourne Australia
http://www.southerncreative.com.au | G+: https://gplus.to/jeffkirkland | Twitter: @jeffkirkland
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