Big Mistake while editing Canon 5 D

I should have consulted these forums before beginning. I think I've got myself in a bit of a jam here.

I did a rough edit and synched sound between 2 Canon 5D cameras and external sound all using the files straight off of the camera in the h.264 format in final cut. I've got about 10 hours of footage between the 2 cameras.

Needless to say, I'm running into issues with scrubbing speed and rendering transitions in editing.

Is there any way to convert the original files and then somehow link the converted files back to the sequence and then change the settings of the sequence to the converted format so I don't have to go and do all of that work again?

I'm trying to do a batch export right now in final cut pro, but I've been exporting for 30 minutes now and I'm still at 0%. I haven't even been given a estimated time yet.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

> Is there any way to convert the original files and then somehow link the converted files back to
> the sequence and then change the settings of the sequence to the converted format so I don't
> have to go and do all of that work again?

Since the files were H.264, they didn't have real timecode. But the "phony" timecode which starts at 00:00:00:00 for every clip shouldn't be too far off after the conversion. So I'd convert the files and then use the original sync sequences as a guide, check the sync then. The edited sequences probably won't come back 100 per cent accurate, though. So I'd try to export the original edit as a movie file. That will also take a load of rendering time, but a self-contained movie file with timecode burn of the original edit is about the only thing I can think of which can safeguard your editing decisions. I don't think all your clips will necessarily reconnect to the converted media accurately.

Don't do the conversion in FCP, though. There's a multitude of tools -- Compressor, MPEG Streamclip -- that do a better job with converting the media. H.264 doesn't belong in an FCP project.

Make sure you don't delete the original H.264 files, ever. And don't save your project file unless you're sure the reconnect works all the way. Backup the original project file with the edits before you mess with the conversion.


www.derekmok.com

Thanks. You're right. I tried a quick sample on a couple of the clips and the audio was out of synch when using the new file name... What a mess. I guess I'll just have to bear with the slow scrubbing time for the time being.

>What a mess.

Yikes. Sounds nasty. Converting may be a bit hairy due to the awkward frame rate that the Canon 5D captures. What is the frame rate of the source file? Is it 30fps or 29.97fps? Is your sequence set to 29.97 or 30fps?

I'm not sure if FCP will let you edit happily at a straight full integer 30 frames per second, or if you can convert to 30 fps ProRes in Compressor. If you have already done substantial work in a 30fps timeline, I would try converting the source footage to ProRes@30fps, then reconnecting the footage in FCP to that ProRes transcode, and when the cut is done, export the QT movie and send it to Cinema Tools to conform to 29.97.

But you should do a short test to see if it can work, before you start, as I haven't worked in 30 fps.



www.strypesinpost.com

An update for you guys.

After a failed test, I tried again.

I ended up using mpeg streamclip to export all of the files to XD CAM 720 30p. I then reconnected the original files to the newly formatted ones. I made a new sequence with the XD CAM 720 30p compressor settings and it worked out; most of the time.

There were a few hiccups in there. Some of the clips were out of sych, but most were ok. All in all I'm happy to be editing in real time.

I suppose the original test I did was with one of the problematic files.

In any case, next time, I'll convert first. It takes ages but it's worth it.

>I ended up using mpeg streamclip to export all of the files to XD CAM 720 30p.

Uh oh. XDCAM? You mean XDCAM EX 720p30. Now, that isn't 30p, but rather 29.97. Nobody uses a flat 30 frame rate. Everyone since the birth of color television has been on 29.97. You need to be very careful with this, as the Canon 5Ds are one of the few cameras that shoot to that oddball frame rate.

Also, do not convert it XDCAM EX. It kinds of defeats the purpose in converting from a temporally compressed format to another temporally compressed format. Fine, you can cut XDCAM EX, it's not a big issue and it's less computationally intensive than h.264, but you're MUCH better converting it to ProRes.



www.strypesinpost.com