DVD footage in FCP 4.5 - Rendering Takes Forever!

I'm running FCP4.5 on a G4 (yes, I know I should upgrade) and trying to edit home movie video off a DVD for a memorial service. My FCP can't import VOB/3ivx MPEG 4 copied off the DVD, so I'm ripping it as MPEG 4, using a macbook pro to open the clips in Quicktime Pro, make rough edits/selects, then export them to the G4 to open in FCP. When I open them in FCP, it's taking 9 hours to render 8 minutes of rough footage. I will have around 20-24 minutes of rough footage to import so at that rendering rate, I won't have enough time left to edit the piece! I've tried exporting from QT in codecs/size/pixel size that FCP can open with as little rendering as possible, but it's still taking forever to render

Also somewhere along the line even though I haven't selected it, it's gotten de-interlaced which leaves nasty blur artifacts. The finished piece is going to be projected with a video projector.

So my question is: what are the best export specs to use to rip the footage off the DVD (H264 or MPEG 4?) and preprocess the video in QT so I can open it in FCP with the highest res and the shortest rendering time. Or if there's a better workflow, please let me know - time's running out and I'm getting desperate! If I need to rent a facility near the hollywood area to use a more current version of FCP and faster machine please let me know!

Thanks so much for your help,

Dean

FCP 4.5
10.4.11
G4 DP 1.25 GHZ
1.75 GB

the codecs you mentioned aren't editing codecs. not in FCP classic anyway,

use Mpeg Streamclip to convert the DVD files to DVCPro50.

i'd suggest uncompressed 8-bit, but that might be a bit much for your system.
it'd depend on your drives. it's about a gig a minute, & FW800 would just keep up, but could be clunky.


nick

> My FCP can't import VOB/3ivx MPEG 4 copied off the DVD, so I'm ripping it as MPEG 4

That was the wrong decision. I assume you were using Handbrake? MPEG-4 is a heavily compressed format, and Final Cut Pro has always had problems editing with it.

> what are the best export specs to use to rip the footage off the DVD (H264 or MPEG 4?) and preprocess the video in QT
> so I can open it

Neither. Also, H.264 and MPEG-4 are not alike. H.264 is a codec; MPEG-4 is both a codec and a wrapper. So you can have an MPEG-4 in H.264 codec, or an MPEG-4 in MPEG-4 codec.

You should have converted the MPEG-4s to QuickTime movies in an editing codec (eg. Apple Intermediate Codec or DV50) before editing, or used MPEG Streamclip, which is able to extract DVD video and audio and convert them directly to an editing-friendly codec. Then you create a timeline in that same codec, frame size, frame rate, the works. The clips will need no rendering unless you add effects.


www.derekmok.com

Thanks so much! I tried using StreamClip but it said i need the new MPEG-2 Playback Component. I tried to track that down but came across other rippers that worked without it so went with them instead. My mistake - I'll get the new MPEG-2 component installed and try Streamclip.

Thanks again.

Like I told Nick, I tried using StreamClip but had problems tracking down and installing the MPEG-2 Component so I went with another lo-fi ripper that worked without it. My mistake - I'll try Streamclip.

Big thanks!!.