Working with .h264 in Final Cut

[Tom Wolsky]

H.264 is a delivery format, not a production format. You need to convert the media into a suitable format. What that is depends on what the files are and what their frame size is.

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP6,” “Basic Training for FCS2” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 3.5 HD Editing Workshop”

[Cameron Campbell]

Thanks Tom.

The only problem is that the client supplied a major amount of footage in .h264 and, although this is clearly not the ideal format, this edit is only for a new business pitch.

With this said, is it at all possible to work with .h264?

Thanks again for you time.

—
Regards,

CAMERON CAMPBELL
LUSTRE Communications, Inc.
110 Union Street, Suite 510
Seattle, Washington 98101

Office: 206.622.0486 x201
Fax: 206.622.0487
Mobile: 206.953.2194

<https://lustrecommunications.com>

Cameron Campbell
LUSTRE Communications
Seattle/NYC

[Walter Biscardi]

[Cameron Campbell] “With this said, is it at all possible to work with .h264?”

In FCP 6.0.2 you can simply drag in the first clip to a Sequence and FCP will automatically set up a timeline to match your footage. BUT H.264 is notorious for crashing and locking up FCP often. As Tom notes, this is a finishing format, not an editing format.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Biscardi Creative Media
HD and SD Production for Broadcast and Independent Productions.

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[David Peralta]

if you’re looking to convert a bunch and you said quality isnt an issue, just use mpeg streamclip and convert to whatever codec you want to edit with, easiest is probally DV-NTSC.

hmm… I wonder what this button does…

[Zak Mussig]

I feel like this is one of those instances where you should go back to the client and tell them how their delivered assets affect your process. There’s definitely going to be some more time involved on your end whether it be transcoding or rendering, and your system performance probably won’t be great if you try to edit the h.264 natively.

More time means more money, so maybe the original source will magically become available to you (assuming this wasn’t just shot on some consumer avchd camera), or at least extra charges won’t come as a surprise to them later.

I’ve had several instances in which a DV tape “turns up” after I explain to a client the extra time involved when they give me an avi, MPEG2, or some other non-FCP friendly file.

Zak

[Tom Brooks]

There are probably variations of H.264 that are unknown to Final Cut, although in general, it should recognize most formats that Quicktime itself recognizes. Looks like some experimentation and batch converting are in order.

[Gary Adcock]

[Tom Brooks] “There are probably variations of H.264 that are unknown to Final Cut, although in general, it should recognize most formats that Quicktime itself recognizes.”

no.
sorry- FCP is an editing program and there are many format that FCP cannot see, even with the WMV drivers from Flip 4Mac, there is NO way that I can edit in that codec.

WMV and h.264 are delivery codecs, and there are even less useable in FCP than Mpeg2 files.

gary adcock
Studio37
HD & Film Consultation
Post and Production Workflows
Inside look at the IoHD

[Tom Brooks]

[gary adcock] “no.”

Tell Apple that. It works in a pinch. The codec isn’t the problem. If the specific H.264 movie you have is rejected by FCP, you’ll have to change it. Might’s well change it to a standard editing format.

[Jason Porthouse]

As you’ve probably gathered by now, H264 and FCP don’t play nicely together.

I guess it all depends on how much is a major amount. I’ve used Compressor and MPEG Streamclip to convert fairly hefty amounts of footage – just set a batch process and leave your machine on overnight, or over the weekend. That’s the only way if you can’t get the original source….

Jason

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[Marcela Canavarro]

Hi all!
Which format is better/easier to convert to an editing format: AVI or H264?

cheers
Marcela