The Cannon 7d

I just shot a music video on the Cannon 7D and I need to import the footage into Final Cut Pro 6.0.4.

The footage is H.264 and from what I have read online, it seems that I must convert it first. However, I am not very familiar with Compressor.

1) How do I convert the footage using Compressor?

2) What setting must my timeline be in, for the project, via the Easy Set-up feature?

Thank you

If you read a few threads down...

[www.lafcpug.org]



www.strypesinpost.com

Be careful here. Those Compressor presets are specific to the 5D Mk II's idiosyncratic frame rate. The 7D shoots 29.97 and 23.976. So those presets will not work.

The answer to your question, as always, is "it depends on what you're delivering." Your delivery specs are carved in stone; you must comply with them. So those specs determine everything (well, nearly everything) in the production and post pipelines.

So what are you delivering?

We shot the video at 23.976, but it's a music video so I guess that I need the footage at 29.97 when all is done and edited.

>Those Compressor presets are specific to the 5D Mk II's idiosyncratic frame rate.

Great. I missed that one on the frame rate.


>We shot the video at 23.976

Convert to a ProRes 1080 preset. You should be going to 23.98 (23.976) fps, but that depends on what you mean by "you guess". If you're going out to tape, you can add the pulldown on output. If you're going out to DVD, the player will add pulldown on playback. Do you need 29.97 and why?



www.strypesinpost.com

The project will be going out to DVD and the web.

>If you read a few threads down...

I am extremely novice when it comes to Compressor. At what point in the thread should I start following the instructions?

Here...I did a write up on this workflow on my blog a few months back

I based it around the 5D but did not go into the frame rate issue so this still works for the 7D. In fact, I use this setting now for all the 7D [url=

]footage[/url] i shoot. You can download the droplet with the compressor setting at the bottom of the page

>The project will be going out to DVD and the web

Then you should work in 23.98 (23.976), and go to ProRes (HQ if you can afford the space), otherwise, regular ProRes is just fine.



www.strypesinpost.com

Quote

The project will be going out to DVD and the web.

I'm going to take this opportunity to make a point, and I hope you don't take it personally. You just happened to say this at a time when I'm motivated to address it.

Saying that your project will "go out to the Web" means nothing. It means nothing, okay? It's like saying your feature film will have sound. Great. What kind of sound? Mono? Optical stereo? DTS? Dolby EX? You have to be a lot more specific than just saying you'll "have sound." Likewise, you have to be a lot more specific than saying it'll "go out to the Web."

Distributing a show over the Web could mean anything from a crappy little postage-stamp-sized 10-frame-per-second clip embedded in an ad all the way up to a near-theatrical-quality 1080p24 Quicktime movie. You have to narrow it down for us. Personally I don't see what's so hard about just saying "we're mastering in such-n-such format and delivering in so-n-so format," because clearly those decisions have been made already (since you've already done all the photography), but at the very least, you have to give us a vague idea of how you're mastering and how you're delivering.

Thank you for the droplet. I tested it out and it works just fine for someone with such limited experience as myself.

When I played a clip in Final Cut 6.0.4 it gave me a drop frame issue, but I assume that came from not having enough hard drive space. I've now converted some clips and sent them to my external hard drive.

What should my time line or sequence setting be at when editing these Pro Res clips?

You should edit natively. But for ProRes HD, preferably you work off a Firewire 800 drive. Firewire 400 may work, but may not be as reliable.



www.strypesinpost.com

I'm not sure what "edit natively" means. Are you saying that I should not touch the Easy Set-up option and just let FCP choose what setting the clips should be, by default?

Blue

I don't mean to be insulting but you are getting in over your head here. The workflow with the 7D is quite simple but if you know absolutely nothing about editing with Final Cut Pro you are going to find yourself in a lot of trouble and always frustrated. You need to do a lot of homework first. Get to know the tool and the language and THEN start playing with it. But to start using it without any knowledge, is a prescription for heartache.

Michael Horton
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When you drop your first clip to the timeline, the sequence will automatically be set to match the properties of that clip, unless you've asked it not to. If it asks you whether to change to suit the clip, say yes.

I know what you mean and thank you for the advice.

I'm a film student, aspiring writer-director. I just pulled off a "real" big shoot, for my first "real" project and I'm on a bender racing to work on it.

Also, this forum helps to soothe the heartache.

Thank you for the support.

Got it. Thank you.

Thank you all for the help! My work flow has begun flowing. I'll probably post again when I need to export the project. For now, I'll be locking myself in a room while I tame the beast through Final Cut.

Thanks