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Transcoding or not?
I have heard that i should transcode imported media to “Proxy media” and “Optimized media” so FCPX easier and faster editing.
We film motorsports (cars and motorcycle sports) and catamaran sailing (but what we film don’t matter) in 1080p with a few different cameras. All cameras uses H.264 so the file size are not to bad even after a weekend of filming.
Yesterday we started an import of “some hours” of filming. Decided to transcode the media. Only to find that the size of the library increased by a factor of (about) 10. The original folder size are 45,72 GB and the “transcoded media” – folder are now 454,6 GB where “proxy media” are 65,25 GB and “high quality media” are 389,34 GB. All media are stored on FireWire800 disks in different Raid setups for working and backup disks. Switching between projects with and without proxy media don’t really make any difference in speed.
In my opinion it should take longer to “open and view” a 10 GB (transcoded) file than a 1 GB (original) file in FCPX. Even the “proxy media” are larger than the originals.
We are all (sounds like we are hundreds but we are three people) works with 27″ i5’s with 4 GB ram and 1 TB internal hard drives (if that matters).
So here’s the real question: What exactly are the benefits of transcoding video in FCPX? FCPX works great with H.264 when it comes to speed. No glitches and it renders great.
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7 Replies
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If you find editing with the native files is OK and you have no speed issues then there’s no need to transcode, as long as your project renders to ProRes then there is no other benefit
“My Name is Steve and I’m an FCPX user”
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I’m with Steve. Bring the footage in native and start editing. If you find you’re having speed issues, you can always transcode later.
In FC7, I used to transcode absolutely everything. In FCX, I’m bringing in h264 files, dv files, mp3 files, and mixing them along with my prores files, and everything is getting along just fine!
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I’m calling it FCX. They took the “pro” out, so I will too.
I’ll reconsider after the first upgrade.Mark Morache
Avid/Xpri/FCP7/FCX
Evening Magazine,Seattle, WA
blogging at https://fcpx.wordpress.com -
[Mark Morache] “I’m with Steve. Bring the footage in native and start editing. If you find you’re having speed issues, you can always transcode later.”
Agreed. It’s one of the nice features of FCPX.
There are several factors to consider when decided to transcode or not.
• Computer capabilities. If it’s handling H.264 fine you’re good to go.
• Complexity of edit. If you start getting into lots of layers and FX transcoding can help. If you don’t anticipate the complexity at the start, no problem as Mark notes, just transcode as needed and even only for the files that need it.
• Turnaround time. Sometimes editing native can save you time.On instance I had recently was a fast turnaround project where all source was H.264 .mp4. The 35 minute cuts only timeline took me a little under 4 minutes to export to Apple ProRes on MacPro 8 Core.
I do wish they’d add support for transcoding to ProResLT though.
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Thank You all. Saves a lot of time and disk space.
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Hi Mark,
This post of yours has almost 1 year. I’m not sure if anything changed or not but what you wrote was exactly what I needed to hear … lol.
By the way, do you think that I could do the same with some HDV footages as you said about the H264 ?
Thanks.iMac 2.7 GHz Intel 4 Core i5
16 GB memoryMacBook Pro 17″
2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
6GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAMOS X 10.7.3
FCPX
Final Cut Studio “3” -
Yes, things are the same. Keep everything native. If you have any speed issues you may consider transcoding later.
Know that when you transcode to prores, the file sizes will be larger, and the bandwidth of the stream will be more, so depending on the drive holding your media, you may experience stuttering if you start dealing with too many streams at once.
I was trying to edit a 4 camera multicam clip and my drives could only keep up with 3 prores streams at once. That was a time I decided to use a low res proxy.
Otherwise, I avoid transcoding.
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Don’t live your life in a secondary storyline.Mark Morache
FCPX/FCP7/Xpri/Avid
Evening Magazine,Seattle, WA
https://fcpx.wordpress.com -
Thanks Mark.
iMac 2.7 GHz Intel 4 Core i5
16 GB memoryMacBook Pro 17″
2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
6GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAMOS X 10.7.3
FCPX
Final Cut Studio “3”
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