[Chris Davis]

Paul,

The gamma shift seems to depend on the codec… Uncompressed & ProRes422 don’t seem to cause the issue…Typically, when I go from FCP to AE I use either Uncompressed 10-bit, or Animation through QuickTime Conversion (File:Export:Using Quicktime Conversion…)…. I think it’s more important with choosing the proper codec to render out of AE. I would definitely go Lossless-Animation out of AE. If absolutely necessary, run that render through Compressor to get your native timeline codec.

ProRes is what I prefer to work in HD, although SD uncompressed 10 bit would be fine too. I think I understand the workflow you are using for round tripping so you get max quality. However, if I don’t mind taking a hit in quality (by re-rendering ProRes), could I export a ProRes QuickTime non-self contained file from FCP, import into AE, render it there in ProRes, and then import it back to FCP?

Let me know if you have any other questions, but my last bit of advice is to test, test, test. Send some color bars back and forth in varying codecs and see what happens.

Makes sense to me. Thanks for your help — you’ve already cleared a lot of things up for me.
-Chris

[Chris Davis]

Paul,
I know it’s been a while, but I hope perhaps you’re getting e-mail from this thread.

I realize that I am unclear on something — when exporting a timeline from FCP, and reimporting it, you are seeing a gamma shift on the scopes. Is this when exporting QuickTime movie self-contained, non-self-contained, or as using QuickTime conversion?

Also, which QT format would you prefer to get the FCP timeline into After Effects? It would seem like it would want a straightforward, rendered, QuickTime movie (the kind you could just play in QT without FCP), without render files and such (?).
Thanks again,
Chris

[Chris Davis]

[Jiri Fiala]
“Well, FCP has its own codecs for a couple of years now, first Apple Intermediate Codec and now ProRes. It’s Premiere who hasn’t any intermediate codec…”

I was in a conversation when posting and I and realize my post makes no sense (too late to edit now). What I meant to say is that I’m happy with FCP except the gamma shift when importing and the fact that it gives the red render bar when adding just a few effects. PPro, as far as I know, does not suffer from these problems.

The reason I prefer FCP is that it has ProRes. If PPro CS5 comes out with its own high quality codec, I’ll switch to PPro.

[Chris Davis]

I am not a pro so I cannot answer the original question. I’m a FCP user and happy with it except for three things: it does not integrate as well with After Effects and other programs (there’s actually a gamma shift when importing), it gives me the red render bar if I just add a few effects, and it does not include its own codec.

I realize PPro can edit many more formats than FCP, but this does not mean that its own high quality would not be useful. AVCHD is much easer on the CPU if transcoded into an editing format, and now, with RED, people are transcoding RedCode RAW into an intermediate codec for proxy editing. Avid and now FCP both have high quality codecs. PPro adds this feature alone on CS5, I’ll definitely switch. I wonder if some pros would too.

[Chris Davis]

[Vince Becquiot] “Premiere also supports many more codecs, and most without indexing / conforming, so again, unless you are editing pro formats, DV, DVCPro, XD CAM, you are bound to get less stability.”
[Eric Jurgenson] “On CS3, Premiere would choke on large HD projects – low memory issues. Now on CS4, everything is working like a dream…”
[Tim Kolb] “I would suspect in the end that since FCP only edits QuickTime, it’s probably, technically more stable… Adobe has done far less to restrict their workflows than Apple has, and when you eliminate all capabilities that you don’t do really well, it means that everything left should work great.”

Looks like people here are for the most part saying PPro CS4 has gotten fairly stable when used on a proper setup, largely due to its to access enough RAM. I’m also hearing that, although it may not be as stable as FCP, this is due largely to workflow restrictions on FCP.

Thanks to all who posted so far, and I will still be watching this thread.
-Chris

[Chris Davis]

“This won’t answer your question, because I’m on a PC…”

Thanks. Although I’m primarily looking for Mac to Mac comparisons, I’m not sure how many people have used PPro CS4 on a Mac. I’m also interested in the experiences of people using PPro CS4 on a PC, so long as it’s with a 64 bit OS and at least 8GB of RAM.

[Chris Davis]

Thanks. By instability, I also mean to refer to glitches like unusually long render times, file corruption, etc.

[Chris Davis]

So would you suppose FCP is shifting color on output, input, or both? If I just save a timeline as a non-self contained QT movie, and roundtrip between motion, is there a color shift then (I never imagined this would be a problem)?
-Chris

[Chris Davis]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I’m left with only one question, so I made a new post above, titled, “Premiere Pro or FCP — which is more stable?”

[Chris Davis]

“If CS3 is working STEER CLEAR OF CS4.
Let them works the bugs out before you switch
Todd”

Has PPro or AE been unstable in your experience? Just crashing, or weird bugs? Are you using PC or Mac? How much RAM are you using?

Thanks,
Chris