Workflow Issues: AVCHD to FCP to The Big Screen

[Daniel Eckert]

Ok. Just making sure. I was reading about the MPEG-2 download for QT earlier today and I was thinking I might need that, but considering I’m not even exporting MPEG, my thinking was way out in left field.

While I’m at it, should I just go with ProRes 422 LT since I’m not grading, compositing, etc.?

Thanks,
Dan

[Daniel Eckert]

So I was wondering how to make my export be less than a terabyte (exaggeration, sarcasm, etc.), because I tested an export of my video at 17 seconds and it was 315 MB, but my entire video will be 40 minutes long, leading me to assume that the final video file will be enormous. Exporting with DVCPRO HD is also a huge file. How can I remedy this?

Thanks

[Richard Cooper]

Assuming 30frames/second, a 40 minute 1080p ProRes 422 file will be about 50GB
If that is too big for you to handle you can do a 1080p ProRes LT and this will bring your file size down to around 35GB

If this is still too big you can try h.264 but i would stay ProRes for projection if you can.

I would not go DVCProHD. You will only save about 10 GB from ProRes 422 and in my opinion it is not worth the extra conversion.

You might want to download the AJA Data Calculator… it is a really great app and it is free.

Good Luck!

Richard Cooper
FrostLine Productions, LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.frostlineproductions.com

[Daniel Eckert]

That’s a pretty cool app!

I should have realized it would be a huge file size. But if that’s the best, then I’m just going to stick with it. The only problem is this is a weekly thing, and hard drives are getting pretty full now that I’m using ProRes. Would it be reasonable to just keep the .mts files for archiving and delete the ProRes files (after exporting and confirming quality)?

Also, I can’t seem to find an LT option in that drop down menu when doing Export>Quicktime Movie. Could it be the ones that say ProRes 422 but not HQ? There are some ProRes 422 options that are 1920 x 1080, 1440 x 1080, 1280 x 720, and 8 Bit. Are these LT?

Thanks again,
Dan

[Richard Cooper]

Hmmm… What version of Final Cut are you running?

Richard Cooper
FrostLine Productions, LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.frostlineproductions.com

[Daniel Eckert]

FCP 6.0.6

Why yes, it is time for an update.