[Doug Metz]

I am unclear as to what needs syncing….

Kevin, you state in your original post that you want to sync 2 audio tracks. Do you want them to sync to each other, or to some specific video clip(s)?

Was the audio recorded when the video was shot? I ask, because typically with a music video you’ve got a studio-produced stereo music track, and you tack your multicam / gfx on top. This can only be done manually.

If you’ve got some other situation, you’ll need to walk us through your production process. Currently, however, Noah is spot-on. Multicam sync needs to occur prior to edit, and only works if your sync audio was recorded when the video was shot.

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

You could try reformatting them again, but take a few extra steps in Disk Utility once the drive is mounted:

1. Select the device (not the volume)
2. Go to the Partition tab, and for layout select ‘1 Partition’
3. Click the Options… button below the partition map and select GUID
4. Name your volume and set Format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Might help, might not. Worth a try for 30 seconds of effort, though.

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

Hmmm… that is a bit strange. Two questions:

Are both drives formatted the same?

Are both drives ignoring ownership? Sometimes plugging in a drive to a different machine can cause this setting to become unchecked – not sure why.

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

In order for Cinema Tools to work with it, you’ll need to re-wrap the files first – I haven’t tried it with AVCHD.mov files though, so I think you’d need to go all ProRes in order to batch them. Conversely, bringing the footage into FCPX directly will also re-wrap the files, but with a little care will correctly interpret the clips.

I also agree with Howard… you don’t want to cut in a 29.97 timeline unless you’re sure you only want to deliver that framerate. Cadence will bite you otherwise.

Quality-wise, I think they’re equal.

Happy hunting!

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

As Noah said, you’ll need to be a bit more descriptive about what you’ve got, and where you’re trying to go with it.

We’ve got Library files that are visible in the Finder – these are what FCP X opens. You can have one or many open at once.

Inside the Library, you have Events. Events contain your media files (or references thereto), and Projects (which are essentially timelines).

Moving stuff around is as simple as drag ‘n drop, but you need to do it inside of FCP X. Do NOT modify the Library packages in the Finder. Having said that, once inside FCP X you can drag Events from one open Library to another, and you can drag Projects (timelines) from one Event to another… even if those Events are in different Libraries. This will create copies, so a little bit of cleanup will be necessary if your intent is to move items from one place to another.

I’ve used FCP Legacy and Express for 10 years, and have been using FCP X daily for over 3 years – I don’t recall any function that would merge timelines.

So, Harry… what are you trying to do, exactly?

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

If you check Compressor’s audio inspector for the file, you’ll notice it sees the 4 channels all assigned to Center… I did a quick test modifying those settings, changing each to a discrete track:

…and then selected 4.0 24bit on the output. This appears to do the right thing, but the metadata in the output file may cause other issues.

Alternatively, with QT Pro 7 direct export you can specify 4 discreet channels for output:

Neither of these options are ‘batch’ options, though you could use a folder action or AppleScript for the QT7 method. In Compressor, you have to modify each file individually so large batches would get tedious in a hurry.

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

Sort of… since you shot PF24, I think you should edit in a 24p timeline – though I’m not sure how this will affect proxies. If you edit at 29.97, every 5th frame of these clips will be a duplicate which will manifest itself as a slight stutter (even on output).

Do a quick test with one timeline at 24p and another at 29.97… I think you’ll prefer the former.

I’m running a nMP with an Areca 8050t2, so I use original media and leave rendering turned off. Your mileage may vary. ;^)

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

Canon PF24 is 24p over 60i. When you import, FCPX will translate that to 29.97i… but the footage is actually 24p with pulldown added. So, now that you’ve imported, time to get rid of the pulldown.

There are a couple of ways to do this, and your image quality doesn’t suffer for it, as we’re just interpreting the interlaced frames back to progressive.

If you’ve already got a 24p timeline / project (double-check this in the inspector), FCPX will recognize the pulldown and remove it for you. No need for further action. Playback may look a little janky until / unless you render, but probably not, and your output will be fine regardless.

If you start with an empty timeline / project, FCPX will want to change your framerate to 29.97i (if your first clip is one of your Canon PF24 files). You can override this by putting a gap clip in the empty timeline and specifying 1080p @ 23.98. Leave the gap clip there until you’ve added at least one of your Canon clips – this way the framerate change will stick.

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

Based on your question, I’m thinking you’ve got 24p over 60i, so there would be zero benefit to using Twixtor. You might consider doing a batch reverse-telecine to conform, though.

How you process the footage will depend on the cadence. Is it really 60fps, or is it 24p over 60i, or 29.97 i/p over 60?

Open one of the source clips in QT7 and step through frame by frame. Look for duplicate frames and a mix of progressive and interlaced – this will give you a good idea what you’re actually dealing with.

Doug Metz

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[Doug Metz]

I use it frequently – very handy utility.

Have you tried the demo?

Doug Metz

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