Anna Ingenthron
Forum Replies Created
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The free “Too Much Too Soon” FCP 7 plug-in set has a “Flashframe” transition which is nice if set to a relatively short duration – around 8 frames or so.
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Importing the shot into Apple Motion (in the FCP suite) as a project and adding the behavior “Stabilize” under Motion Tracking. Smooths things out nicely if you don’t mind the little export and import.
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I’m not really sure what you’re asking. You don’t need to recut if you just relinked your clips to the prores footage (which should have the same filenames and lengths as the h264s). If you overcut your sequence with the prores clips, you need to remove ALL h264 footage from your project. It really shouldn’t be in any sequence or even in your browser. Even render files created from rendering h264 footage can be corrupted.
Once it’s relinked, you have your cut sequence already there. Then you select all those prores clips on that cut sequence, and copy them over to a prores sequence that has never had an h264 clip on it. There’s your new master sequence with your cut on it. If the total running time is what you need it to be, but you have the gaps, you need to extend each clip over your one-frame gaps. If the total running time doesn’t matter, or is too long, you can close each gap.
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Another option would be Apple Motion. You can import the clip as a new project, add the behavior “Stabilize,” and adjust the settings they give you. This way you can decide if you want it to just smooth out the shakiness (recommended) or create a static shot. You can also adjust if it just works horizontally, vertically, on trackers, etc. When the stabilization looks good, you may have some black around the edges depending on your setting, but you can crop those out and export 720.
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Was their project in FCP 7 or FCPX? Only FCPX claims to support h264 native editing.
If it was in FCP 7, I definitely recommend converting to prores and reconnecting. You cannot edit h264 in FCP 7 and if you risk it and do, you may have problems down the line with sync, corrupt files, frame accuracy, general errors, render issues, etc.
A good test for you would be to export a quicktime and see if the sync is correct throughout the video each time you play it.
I would recommend Compressor or MPEG Streamclip to transcode your footage. MPEG Streamclip wipes timecode clean, but this is 5D so there isn’t any anyway.
Once you’ve exported the Prores sequence from FCP 7, you can create your DVD MPEG and audio files from that through Compressor as well.
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My guess is it couldn’t make frame-accurate edits on your initial sequence because it was h264 (too compressed for fcp 7) so it did its best guess. Then when you brought in the prores footage (ideal for fcp 7) it was able to find the correct frame and playback at the correct framerate, which lead to junk frames throughout your edit. Depending on what this looks like, you should just be able to extend your clips over these or close those gaps to achieve the same total running time.
I would recommend removing the h264 clips from your project if you haven’t already, and any sequences which may be corrupt as a result of those clips. Importing h264 footage into an fcp project can cause problems down the line, even if it’s not used.
You may want to even put your most recent edit onto a fresh sequence. First drag one of your prores clips onto the sequence and match the settings. Then delete that clip and copy your edit onto it. That way you know you’re moving forward with the correct settings matching your footage.
The difference in data rates is correct/normal. H264 is more compressed (less information) which is why its data rate is so much lower than Prores.
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It does sound like the file or drive is corrupt. When a copy won’t work through Finder (error 36), try using Terminal to copy those files onto another drive.
You can follow these instructions if you’re not familiar with the process: https://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57467900-263/using-the-os-x-terminal-instead-of-the-finder-to-copy-files/If you want to try copying that one file off the drive first, you can drag just the filename onto Terminal instead of a folder.
Good luck!
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I’d check 8-bit in your render control User Prefs to keep your preview but reduce the need to render. Also, if you don’t need your waveforms, hiding them will help your processing speed.
If all else fails, trash your preferences. -
Are you using Log and Transfer? Make sure the deck is connected properly and your settings in the L&T window have the video AND audio boxes checked. You can check Preview as well if you’d like to hear the audio while capturing.
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Are you getting the error message when opening an .mov or the FCP project itself? If it’s when you’re opening the FCP project, try clearing out your Render Files and opening the project, forgetting the disconnected media, and re-render. If it’s happening when opening an .mov, then yes, it’s probably reference instead of self-contained (so it’s trying to find what footage was used to create it and can’t because of the new folder structure). You’ll just have to re-export to self-contained in that case.