Why does fcp always require re rendering?

[Shane Ross]

Are you using the ProRes clips in the H.264 sequence? Your sequence settings and clips settings must match exactly. If you add a clip, and you need to render…then you are doing something wrong.

#28 Having to render every clip in the timeline

Shane’s Stock Answer #28: When I put a clip in the timline, I have to render it before it will play. Why?

Your clip settings MUST match your timeline settings. If you have DV/NTSC material, you need a DV/NTSC timeline. The frame rate, audio rate and dimensions (4:3, 16:9) all need to match exactly. In Final Cut Pro 6, this is easy, because when you drop a clip into the timeline, it asks if you want to set up the timeline to match the settings of the first clip you drag into it. Click YES and you are ready to go.

However, in FCP 5.1 and earlier, it is a bit trickier.

The most important thing you need to do is properly set up your project from the start, and the best way to do this is to choose a setting from the Easy Setups, located under the Final Cut Pro menu.

Once you do this, you’ll need to create a new sequence. This is because the sequence that is already in your new project is setup for the typical default setting of DV/NTSC, or for the settings of your last project, which might not match what you are currently working with. So delete SEQUENCE 1 and create a new sequence:

This new sequence will contain the settings you chose in the Easy Setup menu, and should match the format you captured.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Al Nazareth]

Thank you for the response.

but i think i was not very clear with my question.

What is happening is that I had project that i started editing all in h.264. THen i realized the mistake and changed the settings to prores so i had to transcode everything in the timeline. NOW. after all the footage in the timeline is transcoded to prores, when i move clips in certain ways I sometimes have to transcode again.

This DOES happens when i want to take a clip from the timeline and use the insert command to put it in another place in the timeline.

It DOES NOT happen when i just use the mouse and drag the clips around manually.

It DOES happen though when i drag a clip to temporarily store it, into a video bar above another clip in the timeline, and then move the temporarily placed clip somewhere else, in this case the clip which was in the video bar beneath the clip i was temporarily moving about then needs to be rendered again..

All in All, using a timeline that was transcoded seems to be a total drag on time, but i dont have another choice but to scrap all the edits i have made, and then send all the clips to Magic Bullet Grinder or another transcoding app, and then re set all my ins and outs and logs and THEN try to recreate the edit.

Is there another way? perhaps a way to transcode all the clips in the browser that are h.264 without losing the ins and outs and having to re edit?

THanks to all of you again for helping the community.

-AL

[Shane Ross]

[Al Nazareth] “I had project that i started editing all in h.264. THen i realized the mistake and changed the settings to prores”

What did you change to ProRes? The sequence setting? The clips? If you just change the sequence setting to ProRes, that won’t really help much. Your footage will still be H.264, and whenever you add a clip, or make changes you’ll have to render. Because the clip settings (h.264) and the sequence settings (ProRes) do not match. They must match exactly if you want no rendering. And you shouldn’t edit H.264. SO this means that you need to CONVERT (this is what “transcode” means) all of the footage to ProRes, and then use a ProRes sequence.

[Al Nazareth] “after all the footage in the timeline is transcoded to prores, when i move clips in certain ways I sometimes have to transcode again.”

That is called RENDERING, not TRANSCODING. Transcoding is where you take all of your source footage, and convert it to another format…new clips. When you render, then adjust the clips or move them, then you need to render again. Except where you noted where you did an INSERT replace.

You won’t need to recreate your edit. Just transcode all the footage to ProRes…then move the H.264 to another drive…name all the ProRes clips to the same name as the original H.264 footage, and then reconnect to those files. Then make a new ProRes sequence and copy and paste the clips to that new sequence. And then you might have to remove all the attributes on the clips (basic motion, scale, distort) in order to fix things.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Al Nazareth]

Thank you Shane so much for your detailed response.

Is is possible then to “transcode” i.e. convert all the clips in the browser to prores without losing the ins and outs?

Thank you again for your help..

AL

[Shane Ross]

[Al Nazareth] “Is is possible then to “transcode” i.e. convert all the clips in the browser to prores without losing the ins and outs?”

Dunno man. Never had the pleasure of trying.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Nick Price]

Hiya,
you should be able to transcode all the source clips in compressor or similar. Save them in a different folder to the original clips. Then in FCP control click on a clip in the browser and select reconnect media and point it towards the newly transcoded clip. It will probably come up with an error message saying different reel name/different timecode etc but the clip should be the same length and will retain the correct in/out point on the timeline.

Before you do this, make a copy of your entire project as a backup. Also try with just one clip first. It’s time consuming and if you make a mistake – you might not have the ProRes settings exactly correct – it will take another day to transode again!

best
nick