[Alyssa Ryvers]

Thanks, Jeremy!

The editor has his own system.

I gave it a try on my computer with one clip — seems to play back fine…I’d say it may work…

Thanks so much to all of you for sharing your expertise with me 🙂

Best regards,

Alyssa

[Alyssa Ryvers]

If the editor I’m working with decides we should cut with the 4K files in a 1080p timeline, do you think I will be able to run the session using proxy media, or will my system still not be able to keep up?

Again, I’m working on FCPX v. 10.0.9 on a MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ 8G RAM on OS 10.6.8 using a FW800 drive (7200RPM)

Best,

Alyssa

[Alyssa Ryvers]

OK — so leaving the 4K file in the project while cutting in a 1080p project is not lossy. Thank you.

[gary adcock] We are not talking about artistic, these points are about technical issues.

I beg to differ. Doing a universal crop on both sides of my 4096 x 2160 footage to fit a 1080p frame, rather than the editor and I making a decision on how we’re going to crop each shot on a case by case basis, WOULD be an artistic decision.

[Alyssa Ryvers]

Hi Gary,

Not to worry that I will make artistic decisions that I shouldn’t be; I’ve been a sound engineer +20 years (a good deal of which has been in the film industry), and I’m very technical. I have a much better understanding of the issues surrounding 4K video workflow thanks to this thread — which was the point of my question — not to make any final decisions regarding workflow.

[gary adcock] IMHO keeping rather than trimming the extra 256px from the 4096 width to make a 1080 file can lower the quality of file compression on any platform. Compression math is developed around specific SMPTE frame raster sizes.

What I was asking / hoping for was if you’d clarify the above comment — are you saying there is something lossy about leaving the file as 4096 × 2160 in FCP while cutting in a 1080p timeline…? That seemed to me the least lossy suggestion so far…

Best,

Alyssa

[Alyssa Ryvers]

Gary — do I understand correctly that you’re recommending that I re-size to 1080p before starting the edit?

[Alyssa Ryvers]

Thanks, guys 🙂

So…the plan is to find out whether the picture editor would like to work with the larger size ProRes 422 files, or if he needs me to compress to 1080p right off the bat.

We’re going to be using other footage not shot at 4K (shot at 1080p, and some archival footage which will be who knows what) — will Final Cut handle different frame sizes in its Event Library, all being used in the same 1080p project, or might that be an argument to transcode everything to 1080p right away?

Re: Proxies: Assuming we’re going to be using a mix of frame sizes, including 4K, but all ProRes 422, if I use Proxies for my rough assemblies, will the picture editor be able to easily continue from where I left off without using proxies? If I need to work on an edit he does without proxies, will I be able to link back up to the proxy versions fairly easily — or is that workflow a potential prescription for the introduction of errors? I found a radio button under Preferences>Playback that appears to allow one to toggle between “use proxy media” and “use original or optimized media” — is switching between the two modes as simple as that?

BTW — what is ProRes 422 (HQ)? I notice it as an option under custom audio settings when I create a new project — is this referring solely to the audio being played back? processed? in high quality, or the video? or both?

Best,

Alyssa

[Alyssa Ryvers]

Thanks, Jeremy 🙂

The editor has asked that all the files we give him are ProRes 422 1080p —

Given that, and given what you and Paul are saying — should I, or should I not, be optimizing to ProRes 422 on import? Is there any reason not to optimize the media?

In terms of my doing rough assemblies on my machine, which isn’t the newest, should I be making a proxy file — can I be working with proxy files, and when the editor opens up the session he can reliably work with the non-proxy version, or would my using proxies on my end open up the potential for problems…

Maybe I don’t need to use proxies, in your estimation? I’m working on a MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ 8G RAM on OS 10.6.8

In terms of organizing the files — I was thinking about importing the multiple files of each take into separate events — what do you think? How would you go about organizing this?

Best,

Alyssa

[Alyssa Ryvers]

Jeremy — FCPX, which is why I’ve been using it for import.

Paul — OMG — so there is really no other way for me to deal with this other than cropping the sides of the image…

Yes, when I import the footage into the 1080p project it renders it to 1080 letterboxed.

Obviously, I’d like to process the file as few times as possible, so as not to incur unnecessary loss.

How do you suggest I import and convert the footage to ProRes 422 1080p — cropped, I guess… — in the least lossy way possible?

Re: cropping — on second thought, maybe I should leave the file letterboxed, so that the editor can make the decisions re: how he wants it cropped on a case-by-case basis?

Also, the 1DC records its files in 4G increments. How do you suggest I manage that?

Best,

Alyssa

[Alyssa Ryvers]

Alright. Thanks, both!

Best,

Alyssa

[Alyssa Ryvers]

Hi guys,

I’ve been doing more tests, and here’s a question —

Is there a way for FCP (either 7 or X) to send or receive TC and/or machine commands via FW or USB/Serial while it is playing back a session? If TC and/or machine commands can only be sent/received while in capture mode, is there some way FCP will play back a session while it is in capture mode?

Best,

Alyssa