Working with .h264 in Final Cut

[Tom Brooks]

You’re mixing technologies and terminologies a bit in that question. AVI is a container for video. Quicktime is also a container for video. H.264 is a codec that is used for video within the Quicktime container.

With AVI, the usability for editing depends on the codec used inside of that AVI container. If it’s an AVI with the DV codec, it’s probably easy to convert for use in Final Cut. I believe the manual says Final Cut is able to import AVI directly if the codec exists on your machine. I’d have to check on that. The other approach is to open the AVI in Quicktime Pro and save it out as a Quicktime Movie. If the AVI is using the Cinepak codec, you’ll have to convert it to an editing format using Quicktime Pro or Compressor.

The process of converting a movie of nonstandard format to a standard editing format has to be taken on a case-by-case basis. All the issues of frame size, frame rate, progressive vs. interlaced have to be taken into account.

What’s your specific scenario? Why would you need to convert one of these formats?

[Marcela Canavarro]

Hi Tom

I think the codec is JPEG, does it make sense?
I’m not sure about the terminologies.
I’ve been studying and trying some situations for multimidia Web
journalism mixing different ways to build the information in a “multi-tools” scenario.
I came up with my question when started to search a new digital camera (still images) and realized the video camera on that could be useful. Two formats are offered now: AVI (JPEG) and H.264.
I’m just trying to figure out if one of them is more friendly to my equipment: HDV camera, Final Cut Express and Zoom H4 voice recorder.
Any recommendation?

thanks
Marcela

[Tom Brooks]

Marcela,
I don’t think there would be a big difference between the two but I might give a slight preference to the H.264 model because that is using Quicktime. Final Cut Express is a Quicktime-based application.

Also, H.264 is a very efficient, modern codec, so the quality might be better at a given file size. AVI is basically an outdated technology.
-Tom

[Marcela Canavarro]

Great Tom
I just bought the one with H264 codec.
Thanks a lot

Marcela

[Ben Mcrae]

“AVI is a container for video. Quicktime is also a container for video. H.264 is a codec that is used for video within the Quicktime container.”

Would MPEG-4 also be considered a container for video in this sense?

[Tom Wolsky]

Not really. QuickTime can do a lot more within the container than just video data.

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 4 Editing Workshop”

[Brad Confer]

I’m hijacking here but please, I’ve never done it before and I’m desperate! Ok so if Final Cut is a quicktime based app, why the crap won’t it work with .h264 files? Final cut won’t recognize the clips in log and transfer and anything I do to get clips into final cut degrades quality. Is it really not possible to work with these clips in final cut? Is there another mac based app that will do it? iMovie seems to be fine with the clips. I’ve got the rebel t1i. Much fun till I get to the computer…which used to be the best part.

[Shannon Lloyd]

Welcome to the real world…where we nw get lots of AVI’s and H264’s from flipcams and the like to edit. Best advice to convert codecs is as was mentioned above, do the Batch List in MPEG Streamclip and convert it all to DV. I am currently converting about 100 flip cam H264 files so I can edit them. Compressor didn’t work for me, it’s actually intended to go out of Final Cut creating delivery formats. If anybody knows of a better way to convert codecs to editable codecs, let me know.

Shannon Lloyd
Verdugo Media

[Shannon Lloyd]

I would be curious to know the answer to this, however: why I still have to render when I bring this MPEG Streamclip footage into my timeline? Everything seems to match my Sequence settings – here are the settings and file formats that match…am I overlooking something?

Frame size – matches! (1280 x 720)
Pixel aspect ratio matches also (square – can’t change this in streamclip)
field dominance matches at “none” (funny though, I had it set to Lower on Streamclip, but the file that was converted says “none” – either way when I set the sequence settings to lower, it still doesn’t get rid of render bars)
Editing timebase on sequence is 30, “Vid rate” of file is 30
Compressor is both DV/DVCPRO NTSC on both file and sequence
quality is set at 100 % on both sequence (and the settings I used to convert files on streamclip)
Audio settings all match but it is the video render bar I am getting…

Any ideas on what I am overlooking?

Shannon Lloyd
Verdugo Media

[Tom Brooks]

It’s a mystery allright. Check the clips in the timeline for distortion. Under the motion tab. Just a shot in the dark.