Hi

I still working in FCP 5.1.4 and maybe that's my problem, but here's the issue:

I'm working in HDV
Project was shot on the CANON XL-H1
Basic Problem: I need to render when I put the clips on my timeline

Current Sequence Settings seem correct:
Frame Size 1440x1080
Pixel Aspect Ratio 1440x1080
Compressor HDV 1080i60

Here's something else I cannot understand:

When I look at the clip in the capture scratch the dimensions are 1920x1080
When I get item properties when the clip is on the timeline it says that the frame size is 1440x1080
Do these different sizes mean I have done something very wrong here?

Bottom line again: I don't know why I should have to render a clip each time I bring it to the timeline - HOWEVER - and maybe I should have said this earlier - it's not a RED render line, it's the GREEN (preview) render line...

As you can see I'm very confused.

Thanks in advance...

SA

I don't know from Final Cut 5, but the 1440x1080 thing is not a problem. That's exactly how it should be. The HDV format records a 1440x1080 raster, with a pixel aspect ratio of 1.33. So the pixels aren't square; they're a third wider than they are tall. The computer sorts this out for you on playback, showing the HDV footage in a raster that's 1920 pixels by 1080 pixels.

I can tell you that on my system with footage shot on the XL H1, I don't have to render if I set my timeline to match my footage. I hardly ever set my timeline to match my footage, but that's a workflow choice. Final Cut 6 will prompt you if you edit footage into a timeline that doesn't match it exactly, but Final Cut 5 won't, so I'd suggest double-triple-checking your timeline settings. You've probably got a mismatch there. My guess? Your timeline is set to 1920 with square pixels, when in order to match exactly it should be set to 1440x1080 with a 1.33 pixel aspect ratio.

FCP 5 needs to have AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) settings for HDV to work properly. Apple 0 (thats zero not o) will pull up a window that will allow you to render/change the timeline.

Errr.. Not really. AIC is an intermediate codec, in FCP 6, you'll rather use ProRes as it's higher quality. Editing in a timeline with a different codec than your source footage, will require you to render to watch the footage in high quality, so switching to AIC during the offline will put you in render hell.

Edit native (HDV in this case), and you can switch the render codec to ProRes (FCP 6), then when your cut is confirmed and you're fine tuning the colors, etc, switch your sequence over to AIC (FCP 5), or ProRes HQ (FCP 6), or Uncompressed HD and do your final render and export.

Also, that apple 0 command is under Sequence> Settings, if you're a die-hard mouse user.

And yes, Jeff is right, as always. HDV is an anamorphic format, it records 1440x1080 pixels to tape, which will be played back at 1920x1080 (16:9 DAR).

I'd be curious to know why you are getting the green render bar, though... Your sequence should read (HD) 1440x1080. Also, make sure you check your frame rates (both in your source footage and your sequence). And make sure no filters are added, and in the motion tab, no scaling and distort is added.



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