Editing HDV...stupid issues...

Hey Guys,

I'm new to all things HD. I have a problem.

A friend shot a bunch of footage on one of the new Sony HDV cameras (I don't know which).

I dumped it into my computer via Imovie HD. I find importing footage via Imovie relatively painless.

I took the "clips" Imovie captured and moved them into a seperate folder and renamed them more user-friendly names (take1...BobCloseUp...etc). They all look great and work well. I then imported them into a FCP project.

The problem is, It's impossible for me to create a project files in FCP that's able to edit the HDV footage without having to render every single clip and cut. I'm using Final Cut Studio 5.04. I heard it is supposed to natively support editing HDV. Doesn't seem to want to though.

I've played with a variety of Sequence Settings to make it work, but no luck. A 5 second edit takes almost 30 seconds to render. Terrible workflow.

SO, here's the deal. I don't care about the HD quality. I don't need this project to even be HD. Is there a way to play with the render settings lower so I can just edit without having to render these HDV cuts, or can I find a way to make the clips NOT HD, like re-exporting as something else.

The problem is, i don't have the camera the footage was shot on nor do I have the tapes.

Fun, huh?
Any help is appreciated. Again, this isn't about maintaing HD quality, it's about getting the project done.

I dumped it into my computer via Imovie HD. I find importing footage via Imovie relatively painless.

BAD idea. iMovie doesn't capture timecode. It doesn't capture into a format that FCP edits without a bit of arm twisting (rendering)...and if the footage is at all 24p, then FCP 5.0.4 won't work with it.

Is there a way to play with the render settings lower so I can just edit without having to render these HDV cuts, or can I find a way to make the clips NOT HD, like re-exporting as something else.

For getting a sequence to match, you can try this tip:

[web.mac.com]

You can also try the Media Manager...have it copy the footage but change the codec to DV. LOOK UP IN THE MANUAL HOW TO DO THIS. It outlines it well.

If you want to work with footage in FCP, you gotta capture with FCP. Anything else is asking for troubles and more hassles.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

Thanks! I'm going to experiment with that shortcut as well as the media manager.