Have a Kodak Zi6 pocket HD camera. Shoots 1280x720 and is encoded in the H.264 format. Frame rate is 29.97.

As I'm a FCP rookie, I've "cut" things on iMovie using the footage and didn't have a problem w/ video shot on the camera (easy in, easy out).

However, when now trying to edit footage from the Zi6 in FCP, I have to render all clips and get the dreaded "Warning - Dropped Frames" box each time the timeline goes from one of the Kodak clips to another.

According the Macworld review of the camera, "the Zi6?s movies are encoded in the H.264 format; as a result, there?s no need to install another codec to use them as you would for movies recorded with the Flip cameras, because H.264 is natively supported by QuickTime (and therefore iMovie and Final Cut Pro). Audio is recorded in the AAC format at 48 Kbps."

Yet, for some reason, it's proving to be more complicated. Like I said, I'm new to FCP so I'm sure I'm simply doing something wrong. Thus, any help in making these clips more FCP "friendly" would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you!

Eric

FWIW, I'm running the latest version of FCP. Have a 2x2.66 Dual-Core Intel Mac Pro w/ 6GB of memory. OS is Leopard 10.5.8.

Where is this Macwold article? Once again they're so full of BS when it comes to video.

You can edit it in iMovie not in Final Cut.

You need to convert it to a production codec, which H.264 is not. You can use Compressor to batch encode it to ProRes or ProResLT.

Try using MPEG Streamclip to transcode to ProRes 422 its much faster than compressor and also a free program

Derek

MPEG Streamclip is faster, but in my experience, quality tends to be inferior to Compressor or even a straight QuickTime Player conversion, especially in terms of motion. I use it only for temporary offline versions, or for review screeners.


www.derekmok.com

As Tom said, that statement is bollocks. Yes, you can import H.264, it's a miracle you can do that, but FCP doesn't take H.264 well, and it's full of issues. You need to convert it to a post production codec like ProRes.

>Try using MPEG Streamclip to transcode to ProRes 422 its much faster than compressor and also
>a free program

You have 4 cores in that machine. If you set up quick clusters in Qmaster, Compressor would blow Streamclip away.



www.strypesinpost.com

Just want to say thanks for your help with this matter. Sincerely appreciate the responses. Going to sit down here in a sec and try these fixes.

Also, Tom, here is the link to the Macworld article claiming the Kodak video isn't a problem...

[www.macworld.com]

Best,

Eric

Gosh, that's an old article, over a year old. If you scroll down in the comments you'll see one from me about the mistake in the article with regard to this camera's media.