Transferring video from EX1 into FCP 6.0.1

[Jared Cicon]

Hey Don, Okay, I added the new ‘cache’ location folder using ‘Preferences’. The program was required to re-start. After it re-started I selected all clips and pressed ‘Import’. I can see status bars being deployed consecutively along the selected clips. I think this is good right? I can assume they are being exported into the file folder I assigned in preferences.

At this juncture, will I be able to simply open FCP and then import these video files into bins or must I still convert the codecs in compressor, and if so, to what?

Yeah, I know….I am asking a whole bunch of questions and digging pretty deep into your Saturday. I’m going to owe you in a big way.

In the end, I have hi-def footage from a SONY HDRFX1 that has already been shot and it will be merged with this EX1 footage for use in the same :30 spec. commercial. I would like this footage to be as easy to edit as possible while keeping it’s resolution nice and sharp. The footage from the EX1 is 1280×720 (I used the slo-mo 60FPS capability), while the footage from the FX1 will be 1440x1080i.

What is my best strategy for getting the most out of both formats, merged in the same timeline, while maintaining their hi-def and frame rate attributes?

Jared

[Don Greening]

I will be able to answer the first two of your questions. The rest I will answer when I get home.
Yes, your clips will be exported into the folder you selected in preferances. This is the last step in preparing the clips for use in FCP.

– Don

[Jared Cicon]

Roger that Don. Just to let you know, I made a folder in an external hard drive and hit the ‘add’ button and then ‘import’. Upon conclusion of the import I checked the folder and found three folders titled: 1) Databases, 2) Proxies, 3) Thumbnails. I didn’t find any large MB video files though. Later today when you get home I am sure you will help me make sense of this all. Thanks again and enjoy your afternoon. (I am PST time). If at anytime you think a phone call would expedite this and save you time, you may call me at 800-261-1343. Thanks again Don.
Jared

[Greg Ondera]

Wow. I just got home and Don, I can’t believe how generous you are with the explanations. This has all been mapped out so many times before too, and seems to get redone each time someone asks this same set of questions. I think it is really negligent of Sony not to have a workflow mini-course posted on one of their sites and it goes to show you how much they don’t give a hoot when you even have to go to a Canadian Sony site to get the drivers and software. They want to sell cameras and they are missing marketing the experience and value.

So to answer your final question, yes you will be able to edit up those two formats on the same timeline, but I would plan out how you want it to behave first and use the 60P as the format to establish the timeline if you want to do slow mo tricks where the action slows and is well defined and not blurry. Otherwise test it and try both and see what you get.

Also I advocate Doug Jensen’s DVD series on XDCam work at Vortex <https://www.vortexmedia.com/DVD_EX3.html>. Again, the main key warning to this whole XDCam workflow thing is not to alter the folders and files within the BPAV folder and not to copy over a BPAV folder from a first card with a secondary card. Otherwise you loose your previous footage, so you send each BPAV folder to its own folder. Then you use XDCam Browser to transfer it to your external hard drive, and XDCam Transfer to turn it into something that FCP can read. Then again, Command I and navigate to the footage to bring it into FCP and then do your thing.

Greg Ondera
http://www.Plexus.tv
http://www.SurgeonToday.org

[Jared Cicon]

Hey Greg,
Thanks for bringing your experience and wisdom to the table. You are right about how fortunate SONY is to have professionals like yourself who are so willing to impart your knowledge. I wonder if you guys had a quasi-strike for a week how much SONY just might appreciate what you do for them.

I agree, Don has been amazing. Both he and you are a resource not fully appreciated by the manufacturers or even semi-peers like myself. I am grateful though for your dedication. Hopefully what you have been sending around makes it back to you on a regular basis, and if it hasn’t yet, I am sure a huge payday of some consequence is surely on the horizon.

Don: After going to my ‘ALL MOVIES’ location on my hard drive, I located the .mov files that were imported. I don’t know why they never went to the bin I assigned in preferences. Most probably a mis-step on my part. However, since the movies are there (Five copies of each…LOL), I copied them into my project elements folder. I think I am good to go here and I owe a lot to you and your dedication. i didn’t record sound for obvious reasons (slo-mo) and it appears the video files are nice and clean and of the correct resolution. They look damn good. I pulled them into bins and then into the FCP timeline and they played marvelously. In fact, I had to ratchet down the PlayBack quality so they would play without getting the pause error message, so I know they are larger and higher quality in nature than my regular FX1 captured video.

I know I probably didn’t execute the procedure the way you intended but at this juncture, you gave me enough information to get them into my computer as .mov files and ultimately it is what I needed. I am hoping that maybe in 6 months or so when I make the leap to a better camera, and FCP 7, that the whole process will be easier or I that I will become a more educated student.

Can’t thank you enough and people like Greg for stepping up to the plate like this.

Very, very grateful.
Jared Cicon
https://www.jaredciconfilms.com

[Don Greening]

[Jared Cicon] ” I don’t know why they never went to the bin I assigned in preferences.”

When you open up preferences in XDCAM Transfer you’re presented with 3 tabs:

• general
• cache
• import

Choose “Import” and in the text field for “Import Location” type in the name of the folder on your external hard drive you want your XDCAM EX .mov files to reside. After you’ve typed the location in then click on “choose.”

Now every time you import from the cards the converted files will go to that folder. Then it’s just a simple matter of starting FCP and importing those clips into the program. They’ll appear in the Browser window.

You can also use XDCAM Transfer within FCP. To do this Start FCP and from the File menu choose: Import>Sony XDCAM. The XDCAM Transfer Tool will start automatically and you can use it the same way as you do when it’s a stand-alone app. The difference here is that once you’ve gotten to the point where you choose “Import” in the XDCAM Window the files will be converted, imported into the perviously chosen XDCAM folder but will also appear on FCP’s Browser automatically.

BTW, you’re welcome for the help.

Cheers;

– Don

[Jared Cicon]

Hey Don,
So, were I to execute the process the alternate way you describe (within final cut) it is the same .mov files that I would be ending up with correct? Thanks again for all of your advice and patience.
Jared

[Don Greening]

[Jared Cicon] “So, were I to execute the process the alternate way you describe (within final cut) it is the same .mov files that I would be ending up with correct?”

Yes, exactly the same. Also, the nice thing about FCP version 6 is that you have the luxury of creating any old sequence and now whatever you drag into the sequence FCP will “conform” the sequence to match the clip settings. If you don’t want this to happen, i.e. you want to create a standard def sequence from the high def footage then just choose no in the dialogue box. This is great for when you want to edit more than one video format in the same sequence. If you have 80 % HDV 1440X1080 Anamorphic footage and 20 % XDCAM EX footage you’d choose the HDV sequence and just drag the EX footage into it. It will play back just fine without dropping frames if you have the Sequence settings set to “Dynamic” in the RT menu. Also, in FCP User Preferences uncheck the box for “Warn on dropped frames on playback”. Now everything will play back smoothly (relatively) but blurry until you stop playback, then the picture will sharpen up. This is normal with dynamic RT. FCP will keep dropping the playback quality to retain an uninterrupted playback until the final render and output.

– Don

[Jared Cicon]

That’s very good information to have Don. And also regarding RT menu: If I forget to put it back to ‘Dynamic’ before making a movie, it matters nothing since that is only for playback and if I can tolerate the quality as an editor, I can play it at lesser quality and get more editing done, without any qualitative difference in the completed project.

Additionally, turning off the ‘Warning’ will save me precious time by not having to re-set.

Cool.

[Don Greening]

[Jared Cicon] ” If I forget to put it back to ‘Dynamic’ before making a movie, it matters nothing since that is only for playback”

Correct. Dynamic RT will not affect final output quality.

[Jared Cicon] “Additionally, turning off the ‘Warning’ will save me precious time by not having to re-set. “

Right again. Instead of playing at full quality and ultimately dropping frames because your system can’t keep up, FCP dynamically adjusts the playback quality so you don’t drop frames during playback. Dropping frames wastes time and compromises your editing rhythm.

I think you’ve got a pretty good grasp of everything up until now. Good luck with your editing. Post back if you have other issues. Now you know which forum to come to for answers.

– Don