Working with ProRes Proxy and the 7D Question

[Shane Ross]

If you have the room, just bring it in as ProRes 422. If not, then bring in as ProRes Proxy…edit, then when you are locked, highlight the sequence, open the MEDIA MANAGER, use CREATE OFFLINE, with handles. And then BATCH CAPTURE the clips that are made. OH, you will have to change the import options from PROXY to ProRes 422 before you do, THEN batch. I have a tutorial on this coming out soon.

HQ is overkill for the 7D. You won’t gain any more quality over PRoRes 422…even for color correction. Not worth it.

And the camera doesn’t shoot AVCHD…it shoots straight up H.264.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[Michael Gissing]

The cost in time to recapture compared to buying a bigger external drive and staying ProRes 422 from day one means that proxy is a more expensive and potentially difficult workflow. I can’t see a reason to do it.

You must maintain the original card structure both for the original capture and the recapture. That means making a disk image of the cards before reuse. If not, then there is potential to not be able to recapture with the timecode that was used in the proxy files.

[Shane Ross]

MIchael…the offline/online workflow is MUCH easier than you might think. Just archive the FULL card structure, like one SHOULD ALWAYS do. Make sure that the folders that have these backups all have unique numbers, just like you do with tape. And keep them on an Archive drive that you later refer to.

Edit. Make offline. Then Batch Capture and watch as ONLY the small bits of the clips you used in the cut, with handles, come back in. And if you use Proxy, then you have the same pixel dimensions, so no moves on still or graphics need to be redone. Darn easy.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[Curt Schulz]

When you say disk image do you mean a disk image through Disk Utility? Or do you mean create a folder and copy and paste the folders DCIM and MISC? The later is what I do with Log and Transfer currently. Look forward to the tutorial Shane.

-Curt

Curt Schulz
MBP 2.53 4GB Ram/Mac OS 10.6.4/FCP7.02/Matrox Mini w Max

[Shane Ross]

Who said “disk image?” Not me. You talking about archiving the FULL card to a folder? Then yes, use the finder to drag and drop, or copy and paste into a folder with a UNIQUE name. Archive this…this is your master tape.

Shane

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

[Michael Gissing]

I charge a job rate to online & grade. So when a client says they are going to offline/ online, I am the bunny that gets the job of Media Managing and re capture. This is when I find out that the card structure has been lost and the original cards wiped.

At this point I tell the client that having saved a few hundred dollars on not buying a bigger external drive, we now have a few thousand dollars of online time to recapture 7D or 5D files manually because L&T won’t read the files.

With drives cheap, I cannot see a single reason to use a proxy workflow. It just can’t be cheaper overall unless online time is charged at charity rates, or the editor does the extra conform job for free.

[Shane Ross]

I hear ya…that does happen. That’s why if the client says they want you to offline/online, you ask for the original files. So that you can make sure that things are done right. If they refuse, then say that you can only work at full resolution.

And when it comes to a “few hundred dollars” for a hard drive…that’s if there is only a few cards worth. What if they shoot dozens…a hundred cards? 80-200 hours of footage? That’s a SERIOUS amount of storage. That’s when you use offline/online. Ask Mark Raudonis.

But, I hear ya.

Shane

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

[Ravneet Oberoi]

Shall I color correct in proxy or convert the final edit to 422 ?
What is better? If there’s a difference …

[Shane Ross]

You are commenting on a very old thread (nearly 3 years old), and I don’t know any of the details of your workflow.

Color correction should happen to full res files, not offline quality ones. And you don’t convert the low quality to high…you need to re-import the originals to higher quality. Converting low quality means all the artifacting and low-quality-ness of the files get carried over.

Shane
Little Frog Post
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