[Ben Scott]

get it out of HDV as you injest the material

there is an easy setup for Firewire HDv to prores using intel mac

I strongly suggest this option

only issue is timecode accurate recapturing isnt possible with Firewire youd need more pro connections and deck if needing to reconform

to avoid that problem, just a thought, get the media you have captured to prores and back up to a second hard drive

avoid trying to go back to HDV tapes, they are a nightmare to bring in, they are a nightmare to edit, they are a nightmare

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[Ben Scott]

https://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/ShowContent.action?product=PMW-EX1&site=biz_en_EU&category=XDCAMCamcorders&contentId=1214313427691&sectiontype=Product&preserveContext=true

it works

there is the other method using XDCAM transfer software

the log and trasfer plugin is far easier

do be aware however it isn’t that well written in my opinion as it cannot rebatch log and transfer for offline style workflows, like P2 or RED can

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[Ben Scott]

any non native codecs to final cut pro should be transcoded first through compressor

best way to check if the gamma has shifted is take an image with tonal ranges which vary over a gradient e.g. sky

look at the scopes in avid for the dnx file
look at the scopes in final cut pro for the dnx file

no guess work

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[Ben Scott]

maybe try bringing them across to an RGB codec like animation and setting the display gamma they have been created in within the clip properties in final cut pro (in gamma under item properties or browser column)

you can set the still image duration to 1 frame and the gamma level to whatever the source system may have been with final cut same as RGB codec videos

alternatively Motion can read image sequences and bring them in as sequences if they numbered correctly in the folder, once in a motion with the correct project settings and duration, you just save and import into final cut pro, then render. not sure if the display gamma can be set in motion however.

if you have bars on the image sequence it makes checking black levels more easy

remember that if the stills have been created using a stills camera the white and black levels are also totally different from video and this adds further complexity e.g. r16b16g16 black in video rgb000 in stills, r235g235b235 white 100% video, r255g255b255 in stills
levels commands would help out here to fix

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[Ben Scott]

and not get the advantages of a tapeless system? e.g. its tapeless

its just seems odd that XDCAM is MPEG2 instead of AVC (h264 advanced) based codec and that it is long GOP and is a low data rate and needs to be played in like a tape

yes you can play it in, so can every tapeless format you just need the expensive player (and which of these formats will be around in 5 years time)

sorry for the rant just seems bit strange that XDCAM needs to be such a pain to get into a system

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[Ben Scott]

the XDCAM log and transfer plugin is separate to the red log and transfer plugin

both presuppose new intel mac and upgrade to new fcp 6.0.5 (at least the red one anyway)

the xdcam only does ex

xdcam 422 (using the sony transfer horror) is now supported in Apple color

XDCAM still cannot be transcoded on ingest to Prores and is long GOP, making it a real pain if you ask me

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[Ben Scott]

could compressor not be used to move all source clips to right way up

then reimport and edit away

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[Ben Scott]

maybe ask the boss to get final cut express as the licences are a lot cheaper, then when he has the cash get a proper copy of final cut pro for every machine

this really was a silly post, asking people that have paid for their licences to tell you how to pirate aint the best idea

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[Ben Scott]

hello david

that’s only your opinion
not really my only opinion, maybe my answer was a bit quick.

I agree with you watch folders, droplets, compressor batch jobs are all good idea and anything preparing formats that are not native to final cut pro are put through compressor

the more people actually read the manual for final cut pro the more they can understand how video works from an engineering level, and most importantly which formats are native

I have been working around avid systems past few months and compared to final cut pro they seem simpler for the editor (they only do one way)
however I could argue, Why so much transcoding on import and why such a difficult yet at the same time limited export options. In my opinion they seem slower to work with formats which arent Avid (e.g. not quicktime codecs) are transcoding and losing quality and can cause just as much confusion in the long run. Premiere just fudges the whole thing

It’s not easy. but it should be
Why should it be easy
To let final cut pro transcode on the timeline is silly and time consuming. Cleaner is one software of many
Compression is a complex subject

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[Ben Scott]

Andy Mees
open Compressor, press Cmd-3 to open the Settings window, select the Apple > Formats > Audio > AIFF 48:16 preset and then press the Save Selection as Droplet button
you are right, this is the only way

once you get compressor and understand it
makes final cut pro work with any format
and you become liberated

if only more people would work this out and stop posting about things like why final cut pro cant play avi files and work like premiere

final cut pro and compressor are essential in my opinion, all the other apps are additional (and great as well, just not essential)

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