Alex Elkins
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Dustin,
When you open FCP there and you get the error window, are you checking the boxes that say something along the lines of “forget offline files”
Check them and it will stop FCP thinking there’s a problem next time you open the project.As for removing the offline media files from the project completely, try this:
– In the Browser window, press CMD+F
-This opens the Find tool. There is a drop-down menu where you can stipulate which column in the Browser FCP searches. Changes this to ‘Offline (Y/N)’
– Set the drop-down menu next to that to ‘Contains’
– Then in the search box, type Y (as in YES, search for offline files)
– Click ‘Find All’. That should reveal any offline items within your project.
– Highlight the items and click ‘Remove from Project’Just to add, I’m cross-referencing that method with an older version of FCP (v5) so the layout of the Find tool may be slightly different in later versions. I can’t remember, and am at home now so can’t check the office computer!
Good luck,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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[Brian McCartney] “A DV AVI is generally assumed to be an AVI file that uses the DV25 codec. Since it is a standard codec whether you use MOV or AVI as a wrapper FCP can see it and use it. Older versions of FCP used to complain and give a warning when importing DV AVIs saying that the performance may be degraded. Newer versions no longer display this warning.”
There’s your answer. Nice work Brian!
Salad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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[subbu arumugam] “I’ll ask them about the original DVD quality. During my earlier call with them today, they seem to suggest that it will be their best quality.”
This won’t be the best quality. I think the other posters in this thread are right – a DVD is just what’s quickest for them. It isn’t BAD quality, just not the best.
Salad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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Hi Subbu,
I just wanted to chime in here as there seem to be a few things that are wrong in your post which haven’t been clarified.
[subbu arumugam] “i suppose if i get it in a dvd format, i’ll need a program like dvdxdv to get editable files for fcp – i’ll need a program to do the same to convert avi files to an mp4 format – i guess this is the step where i may lose quality.”
It’s not so much a case of where you’ll lose quality in the conversion process, rather it’s what quality they can give you to begin with that will determine the outcome.
If you get a DVD I’d recommend using MPEG Streamclip to do the conversion. It will convert the DVD files to whatever codec you want, and does so quickly and reliably. What it, or any other software, WON’T do is make it any better than the quality on the DVD. That said, this is something I’ve had to do many times and clients have always been happy.
However, if you can get the AVI files I would use Compressor, which is part of Final Cut Studio, to convert them to a MOV file to edit with FCP. You might choose DV as the codec, or to maintain better quality use ProRes 422. This will yield the best results, short of being given the actual tapes, or at least a dub from the originals.
Someone else has mentioned using the AVI files in FCP. This isn’t something I’ve done so I couldn’t comment. Try it though, if you get the AVI files as it’ll save you converting them if it works.
Good luck,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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Hi Maurics,
I work with EX3 material a lot. The best option is to use an AJA Ki Pro which allows you to record a ProRes file direct from the SDI output of the camera. The quality is excellent as it bypasses the XDCAM compression altogether.
Next best option is to edit with the XDCAM files in a ProRes timeline. Forget converting it to ProRes first – why have your clients paying for that simply because of the camera you choose to shoot on? There is no added quality if you convert to ProRes first as you can’t add quality that has been lost in the initial XDCAM compression.
There may be a slight performance boost when you come to grading, but not noticeable in my experience – certainly won’t save you more time than you spend converting.Good luck,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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No problem. Where there’s a shortcut there’s a way…
[Jason Brown] “I had butler on my machine, but couldn’t get it to work for me…I only played with it for a couple weeks…maybe I should give it another try.”
Butler looks fairly complicated but I think once you get your head around the basics and what you can achieve it’s fairly straightforward to work out how to get there.
What I like about it is the option to have it only affect specified software. Essentially any FCP shortcut you think should exist now does because you can program it into Butler.
Remember to make sure that Butler opens as one of your Login Items (user account preferences) otherwise all the shortcuts you programmed suddenly won’t appear to be there after you reboot.Best of luck,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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Hi Jason,
Automator will work with FCP as long as a keyboard shortcut exists for each stage of the workflow.
In Automator you need to record yourself doing the steps once or twice, then add the ‘Loop’ action at the end and tell it how many times to repeat.If I understand correctly, you want to create new sequences from each clip in your timeline.
These are the actions you need to record yourself performing with a few prerequisites:In you ‘Master’ timeline ensure the auto select buttons are switched on for each track and the playhead is at the start of your timeline.
1. X (mark clip)
2. CMD+C (copy in to out)
3. CMD+4 (select Browser window)
4. CMD+N (new sequence)
5. Press Return TWICE (confirm name of sequence and open sequence)
6. CMD+V (paste)
7. CTRL+W (close sequence)
8. OPTION+X (clear in & out)
9. DOWN ARROW (jump to next edit point)Record those actions and then loop them and in theory it should work. The only thing it won’t do is name your sequences properly, but that can be done manually.
It’s worth noting as well that there is a piece of software called Butler that you can program the same sequence of steps in with a bit more control, then assign that process to a single keyboard button. I use Butler to create shortcuts for things I often do in FCP that normally require multiple keystrokes. I’m not sure if you can program it to loop automatically however.
Hopefully there’s a solution in there for you anyway.
All the best,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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Hi Chris,
Are you not able to rent Ki Pros? That time saved not transcoding in post will cover the cost of the hire anyway.
If not, then MPEG Streamclip is good as you’ve already suggested. No way to convert directly into FCP unfortunately.
All the best,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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Hi Matt,
Animation codec doesn’t mix well with other formats in FCP. The quality is great, but you won’t notice a difference by just exporting as ProRes 422 from After Effects to begin with. The benefit being that you’ll get better playback in FCP, which loves ProRes as a format.
I always export high quality final versions of my work from FCP as ProRes, so getting my various media elements into ProRes early on saves having to render all the time.
All the best,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed
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Hi Christian,
Make sure you select Millions of Colors+ in your render settings (the ‘+’ stands for plus alpha)
The default is just Millions of Colors.All the best,
Alex ElkinsSalad Daze Films – Freshly Tossed