[Andy Mees]

Hi Bryce

You might hear this generality from folks using H264 / AVCHD based cameras. In such a case the “native” camera format (H264) is not a good or practicable working format for your edit, and so you will first transcode that footage into a intermediate format ie one that lies between that native acquisition format and your intended delivery format. Obviously when choosing an intermediate format then you’ll want to choose one that works well with your editing system. With FCP you can check the list of codecs supported in the “Easy Setup” menu … all those formats work very well in FCP, and amongst them you’ll find various XDCAM codecs. However, not all codecs are created equal, and just because a codec may be supported will not necessarily make it the best codec for the job. Each codec will have strengths and weaknesses – with XDCAM HD as an example, you have pretty good quality at, comparatively speaking, very low data rates. This makes it a good choice for those with limited storage space, limited needs and/or limited budget (for bigger faster storage) … on the down side it is, as has already been pointed out, a very complex and therefore computationally intensive codec which may overstrain a less powerful system, so whilst you may enjoy lower data rates you’ll spend more time rendering. Additionally, it is a very heavily compressed codec, which means more of the original data is thrown out than with a less compressed codec … so if your needs are for heavy treatments, effects laden work then choosing XDCAM HD as an intermediate means you would be working with less real image data so effectively the quality of your production is compromised.

So to recap, is XDCAM HD a better file size? Well it produces clips with a smaller file than Uncompressed HD, DVCPRO HD, or ProRes … that would certainly be “better” if you have only very limited storage space. Does it function better with Final Cut Pro? Depends what you are comparing it to … it definitely functions better with FCP than H264, but it functions far less efficiently than the same 3 codecs mentioned above (Uncompressed, DVCPRO HD and ProRes).
Still, these days, with storage being both pretty fast and pretty cheap, most folks tend to prefer a less compressed, better optimized intermediate codec … the current flavor of choice would probably be Apple ProRes.

Hope it helps
Andy

[Andy Mees]

[walter biscardi] “Apple refuses to support USB 3”

Hey Walter
Apologies for being contrary, but I’m not aware of Apple “refusing” any such support … thought it was Intel that had thus far refused to support USB 3 on their chipsets … this, as with all things, may be changing with forthcoming processors tho.

https://www.techenclave.com/cpu-mobo-corner/sandy-bridge-will-have-usb-3-a-174530.html

Best
Andy

[Andy Mees]

Hi Tom

When you drag and drop a clip onto the timeline there are essentially two possible edits that could be 1) an “Insert” edit, and 2) an “Overwrite” edit … you appear to be doing the former, an “Insert” edit, when you want to do the latter, an “Overwrite” edit.

The type of edit that is performed is controlled by where, within the vertical height of the video track that you drop the clip … drag a clip into the timeline but don’t drop it yet … now study the cursor as you hover with the clip over the video track, note how the cursor changes between a right pointing arrow (when hovering near the top of the video track) and a down pointing arrow (when hovering near the bottom of the video track) … the right pointing arrow means that dropping the clip at that position will act as an “Insert” edit, the down pointing arrow means that it will act as an “Overwrite” edit.

Hope it helps
Andy

[Andy Mees]

Have a look at Alex Gollner’s free Ripple Dissolve and Wave transitions:
https://alex4d.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/final-cut-free-ripple-transition/
https://alex4d.wordpress.com/2009/01/31/final-cut-free-wave-transition/

[Andy Mees]

What Bouke said … and what Shane said too, of course. In fact, I’d go one further and suggest you actually hire Shane himself if at all possible (and he has a copy of FCPreconnect too).

[Andy Mees]

Except that because its native XDCAM EX (Long GOP) the trimmed clips created in this fashion will in effect have a full generational loss. 🙁

[Andy Mees]

Sorry Dave, it’s not a perfect solution or I’d not have suggested Multiclip as a preference :-(. Just to confirm, yes, the image is updated when paused / scrubbing but not during playback. Question for you: Is there any specific reason you’re looking to avoid using Multiclip? If its just an issue of preview image size then don’t forget that you can of course resize the Viewer window hence resize the preview.

[Andy Mees]

I’m with Michael … setting up and using a Multiclip is by far the simplest approach to this … but if you really want to see both side by side then you can use the Playhead Sync > Gang mode. Double click the clip on V1 so that it’s timeline instance loads into the Viewer window, then choose View menu > Playhead Sync > Gang (or use the middle of the 3 popup menu buttons at top center of the Viewer or Canvas window).

Cheers
Andy

[Andy Mees]

Hey Stef

[Stef Allan] ” Set our deck (Sony PDW-HD1500) to 59.94i/HD420-1080/HQ/4CH-16Bit”
…
“Here’s the problem: when I set the settings to XDCAM HD 1080i60 CBR (which is 25Mb/s) or XDCAM HD422 1080i60 CBR (which is 50Mb/s) the file writes properly EVEN THE DECK IS SET TO 420HQ.”

When you are in FAM mode then the read/write operations to the XDCAM disc are just file transfers so the deck’s format settings make no difference.

[Stef Allan] “What can I do to fix this situation?”

Is it a blank disc? You can’t mix formats, so if it already has clips recorded / stored on it in at 1080i60 CBR then you won’t be able to add new clips formats at 1080i60 VBR.

Another possible workflow you might try is to export your clip to the desktop (in XDCAM Transfer) instead of the disc … then, at the Finder level, try to drag and drop that exported clip directly to the disc’s CLIP folder.

If you are getting nowhere and need to get these edits to disc by any means possible then you can switch the deck into A/VC mode and use FCP’s “Print to Video” command to layoff the edit using appropriate output hardware (Matrox, AJA, Blackmagic Design).

Cheers
Andy

[Andy Mees]

He did Rafa, yes. (Up a few posts). CB accepts MP4 import by a couple methods and Jason tried both … it seems the resulting BPAV structure as created for him by CB was indeed recognizable by XDT but the consequent Import process just threw up errors nonetheless. I’d poke it with a stick myself if I was there (seeing is believing) but it does seem that something may be truly screwy.