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Workflow query: cutting an HD project using a low-res proxy
I need to cut a promo for a short film that’s been shot 1080p25 on a 5D. I’ll be working in FCP7 on my first-gen MacBook Pro.
I’ve done some 1080p graphics work on my MBP before but it’s obviously slow going. I’ve never worked with a proxy file before and I don’t know what the limitations and precise steps required are.
I’ll be receiving the movie (about 15 minutes long) as a final graded 1080p25 QuickTime. I’d be grateful for any advice about a workflow that will allow me to downconvert it to something nice and small (DV would be ideal), edit, and then relink the edit to the HD file to produce the final 1080p25 promo.
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8 Replies
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I suppose you’re to get graded QT ProRes 422 HQ or 4444. In this case I’d convert it into ProRes LT or Proxy (the former is about two times the bitrate of DV and the latter has approximately the same bitrate as DV). Do not change resolution and framerate. After you’ve done with cutting just change sequence compressor to HQ or 4444 and relink media to original file. Now you can export your cut into any format preserving original quality.
Free-lance fcp editor in Moscow
http://www.mokaeff.com -
I won’t get ProRes anything, the film is being finished in a Windows Avid. I might actually get it as an AVI, not a QuickTime.
Whatever I get, I need to be able to downconvert it to some other format, ideally DV. Can you point me to any recommended step-by-step guides on downconverting and later relinking in FCP?
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[Gareth Randall] “I need to be able to downconvert it to some other format, ideally DV.”
That’s a lousy choice.
I’m not a big fan of offline/online cutting anyway, especially on a project that’s only got a limited amount of material, but if you must do it, at least use proxies that are exactly the same pixel shape and pixel dimensions as your original, otherwise any graphics you create (or any compositing you do) will have to be moved and/or scaled to match their size and position onscreen in the online.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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In this case I can see only one path to take. Export your film from Avid as image sequence (Tifs, for instance). Open it in QT7 and export as ProRess HQ or 4444. Make sure you get no gamma shift. Now you can create proxy ProRes files to work with with ability to reconnect later to original ProRes HQ files. Anyways you’ll have to convert since working directly with avi’s is a bad idea from the very beginning.
Free-lance fcp editor in Moscow
http://www.mokaeff.com -
[David Roth Weiss] “That’s a lousy choice”
Not for a straight offline, I’d say. I won’t be compositing any graphics over the top of the footage; the graphics will be full-frame and created separately in Motion as 1080p25 to be inserted into the final relinked cut.
[David Roth Weiss] “I’m not a big fan of offline/online cutting anyway”
Easy to say when you’ve probably got a system that will handle HD without breaking sweat! 🙂 I’m stuck with a 2006 MacBook Pro 2.16GHz maxed out at 2Gb RAM. For my purposes, a DV-quality offline will speed up my workflow enormously.
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[Everest Mokaeff] “Export your film from Avid as image sequence (Tifs, for instance). Open it in QT7 and export as ProRess HQ or 4444”
Cool, thanks.
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Everest – Your answer actually suits a puzzle I’m currently solving with master and proxy footage in ProRes HQ.
Following the thread of your description, would the proxy files need to be ProRes LT, or should they be in ProRes HQ, and changed later in the sequence compressor from LT to HQ when I’m ready to convert over to the master files? I’ll need to switch from proxy to master because the proxy will have burned in subs that I’ll need for the edit, which won’t be present in the master files.
Also, Once I’m ready to switch to the master files would I simply “reconnect media” for the whole project and point to the master files, or is there an another way to do that through media manager?
Thanks
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To clarify…your answer on May 16, 2011 at 7:49:43 am
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