Export from Final Cut Pro for Vegas

dirtynbl schrieb am 13.02.2010 um 19:10 Uhr
Someone shot some footage for me and edits in Final Cut Pro.

He sent me the HD footage as a mov file. Dropped it in Vegas and After Effects. Nothing. Codec is Apple's HDV2 that only works in FCP. I don't have a Mac or access to FCP.

I asked him to download the Cineform codec trial and render with that, but the files he sent me don't open either. (Supposedly Cineform MOV files...)

I know Cineform is lossless, but it's fine for this project. However, I really don't care what format it is so long as quality is preserved and I can edit it.

Can anyone post some instructions that I can give this guy (he doesn't seem all that knowledgeable about codecs and whatnot) so that he can render some footage I can edit on a PC that comes from Final Cut? I've suggested he use an uncompressed render setting, but he doesn't seem to know what that is. I don't know how to walk him through the menus.

Is there a way he can export a Cineform AVI from FCP?

Kommentare

PerroneFord schrieb am 13.02.2010 um 19:30 Uhr
Tell him ti export it as ProRes. Works fine in Vegas if you've got Quicktime installed. If you don't have quicktime installed, I suggest you download version 7.6.2 and NOT a later version. You'll have to google for that version specifically as it is several revisions old.

IF the footage has to come over with accurate color, then you both need to install the free Avid DNxHD codec. You can download this from the Avid site. It will prevent the customary color (gamma) shift that happens when PCs and Macs trade footage.

Coursedesign schrieb am 13.02.2010 um 20:36 Uhr
OS X through Leopard used 1.8 as the standard gamma, but the current Snow Leopard uses the same 2.2 gamma as Windows.

One less thing to worry about.
PerroneFord schrieb am 13.02.2010 um 22:17 Uhr
Sorry, it's still something to worry about. The OS gamma may have changed, but the codec hasn't. The gamma shift still happens when rendering out ProRes and handing off. I just dealt with it two weeks ago. And it's why I still recommend using the Avid codec for hand-off between platforms.
dirtynbl schrieb am 13.02.2010 um 23:05 Uhr
Thanks for the tip on the Avid codec. I'll give that a shot.

To be clear...he renders as a MOV file with the Avid codec and he should be good to go? Any other random things he should do inside FCP to render this right? I believe he's shooting in 1440x1080i.

This guy did me a huge favor, but he's pretty clueless about any render settings or anything. Explaining to him what a codec was was....hard.

I can't believe Apple doesn't make a Windows decoder for their HDV2 footage, but they're kind of assholes about everything so...
PerroneFord schrieb am 13.02.2010 um 23:12 Uhr
That codec is Apple Intermmediate Codec. And frankly I am surprised he's using it if he is on Final Cut *PRO*. Final Cut Express uses it by default.

If he is shooting HDV (1440x1080), then he needs to render at 1920x1080 to either ProRes or the Avid DNxHD codec. The DNxHD codec will offer an array of sizes. Tell him to choose 1920x1080 220x (220Mbps) That will give you the absolute best quality though it will be overkill. But if he's going to mess up, I'd prefer he err on the side of giving you too much quality than not enough!
Coursedesign schrieb am 14.02.2010 um 01:24 Uhr
Sorry, it's still something to worry about. The OS gamma may have changed, but the codec hasn't. The gamma shift still happens when rendering out ProRes and handing off.

When I said "one less thing to worry about," I meant there was ONE less thing to worry about, not that there was nothing left to worry about.

There are also differences between FCP6 and FCP7, and these have generated a lot of workflow refinements among FCP editors. It bit me when I had an FCP6 project that I needed to continue work on while traveling, using my FCP7 laptop. Gamma issues, even though both were running Leopard.

Fortunately it was easy to fix.


PerroneFord schrieb am 14.02.2010 um 01:39 Uhr
Apple really need to sort that mess out. It's gone on WAY too long.
musicvid10 schrieb am 14.02.2010 um 02:05 Uhr
Standing firmly on the Vegas side of Alice's mirror, I feel that DNxHD is the friendliest "handshake" codec between it and FCP. The others mentioned have a variety of compatibility problems, which seem to show up unpredictably.
dirtynbl schrieb am 15.02.2010 um 20:28 Uhr
Apparently while trying to render with the Avid codec he had this problem:

"I could get the avid codec to work not sure what the prob was. can you send me the link to cg forum and ill look into the prob. it said i needed to install a prescript to get it working."

Any ideas thoughts?

And/or anyone willing to convert and re-upload two clips in HDV2 that are on my webserver. It's less than 5 minutes of footage and about 1.5 gb in the HDV2 mov format...

If anyone is willing to convert the clips for me they're here:
http://www.mcfly.bengarbe.com/

If you are, just holler and I'll shoot you the login info to my FTP.
LJA schrieb am 16.02.2010 um 14:32 Uhr
In FCP render out to ProRes HQ. Vegas, with the latest QuickTime installed, reads and edits this format very well.
robwood schrieb am 16.02.2010 um 14:58 Uhr
have u tried using the 10bit QT codec from Blackmagic?

it's in their software installs, which can be downloaded at
www.blackmagic-design.com/support/software/
PerroneFord schrieb am 16.02.2010 um 16:33 Uhr
Again, DO NOT INSTALL the latest quicktime. Stay with 7.6.2 (or maybe 7.6.3). Anything 7.6.4 or later breaks Vegas and other apps which rely on Quicktime for rendering.