Transcode only H264 material

I've never quite understood the media manager in FCP when it comes to consolidating small elements.

For example if I am cutting using mostly ProRes on a RAID but have some H264 material on a FW drive my preferred workflow is to import those raw files, rough cut them into my sequence and MM just the H264 clips onto the raid, recompressing to ProRes in the process.

The options are to 'duplicate sequence in new project' or not. The former adds additional files/folders I have to manage, while the latter does the consolidation but leaves the originals pointing at the FW drive (making reconnection tricky).

(I understand that the files have to have reel names if 'delete unused' is to work.)

The Avid MC5 workflow would be to decompose based on reel name, relink to the FW drive and then transcode to the Unity workspace - is there a similar FCP workflow?

If it is easier I could do a selects sequence and just recompress that before cutting into the ProRes sequence, but still can't get around the issues with creating a new project or not.

If I select all clips and 'make independent clips' and drag to a bin, then MM - recompress to RAID then reconnect the independent clips (clicking through the media start/end warnings) I get something along the lines of what I'm attempting to achieve. But is this aiming for a world of hurt if I want to reconnect to the original master clips (to extend a shot for example?).

At a slight tangent, is there anything along the lines of 'Dynamic Relink' (where you can have proxy working settings and hi-res target settings) ?

I'm sure it's my idiocy so any light cast will be gratefully viewed. In the meantime I'll RTFM and investigate further...

If I get what you're saying, you don't have to make independent clips if you want to link all instances of the selected H.264 clips to the ProRes files.

What you do is to MM "recompress" your selects sequence, unchecked "delete unused media". Then when it is done, hit shift D to make offline, and reconnect to your new transcoded media.

Create a new project will create a new project file and sequence with the MM'ed clips in a bin. You can discard the new project if you want. It is useful if you want to online your edit, as it will create a new project with your final edit sequence and only the shots you used.


>At a slight tangent, is there anything along the lines of 'Dynamic Relink' (where you can
>have proxy working settings and hi-res target settings) ?

Not sure what you mean by dynamic relink, but let's say if you have an HD source (eg. HDCAM SR) and you plan to edit in SD for your offline (eg. DV), you can capture as DV and down convert through the capture card. When you are done with your edit, make offline and set your sequence to HD, then re capture at full rez.

Alternatively, you can recompress all your media to a low resolution format with Media Manager (or Compressor), then reconnect it. Shane has an article from 2008:
[supermeet.com]



www.strypesinpost.com

strypes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If I get what you're saying, you don't have to
> make independent clips if you want to link all
> instances of the selected H.264 clips to the
> ProRes files.
>
> What you do is to MM "recompress" your selects
> sequence, unchecked "delete unused media". Then
> when it is done, hit shift D to make offline, and
> reconnect to your new transcoded media.
>

Thanks, but AIUI that will recompress the whole clips, rather than just the selects?


> Create a new project will create a new project
> file and sequence with the MM'ed clips in a bin.
> You can discard the new project if you want. It is
> useful if you want to online your edit, as it will
> create a new project with your final edit sequence
> and only the shots you used.
>

The edit already is online. H264, as I'm sure you know, is a bit of a s**t to work with in FCP (and Avid) so I'd rather convert to ProRes asap, but without the overhead of converting shedloads. I'd also like to keep my media in some kind of reasonable organisation without having to move stuff around at the finder level.


>
> >At a slight tangent, is there anything along the
> lines of 'Dynamic Relink' (where you can
> >have proxy working settings and hi-res target
> settings) ?
>
> Not sure what you mean by dynamic relink, but
> let's say if you have an HD source (eg. HDCAM SR)
> and you plan to edit in SD for your offline (eg.
> DV), you can capture as DV and down convert
> through the capture card. When you are done with
> your edit, make offline and set your sequence to
> HD, then re capture at full rez.
>
> Alternatively, you can recompress all your media
> to a low resolution format with Media Manager (or
> Compressor), then reconnect it. Shane has an
> article from 2008:
> [supermeet.com]

Thanks for that.

FYI: Dynamic relink is an option within Avid where you can *work* at an offline resolution but then relink to a *target* resolution for playback. Similar to the reconnection dance, but available at a keypress. It's a little flaky to be honest, but I would probably try it in an H264 workflow to allow me to switch between (longer) original clips and (shorter) ProRes converted clips.

>H264, as I'm sure you know, is a bit of a s**t to work with in FCP (and Avid) so I'd
>rather convert to ProRes asap

In Avid, you have to convert everything to DNxHD. So you should transcode everything to prores. You could try looking into this if you don't want to transcode. [www.dvfilm.com]

>Thanks, but AIUI that will recompress the whole clips, rather than just the selects?

You could simply cut in a prores timeline. Don't have to do anything fancy with MM. If you have one timeline with the rushes and another for the edit, you can mark in, out, copy (apple c) and paste (apple v or shift v) into your edit sequence. That will keep the render files. Apple shift [ ] lets you toggle between tabs. I've cut some red footage that way, although I find it limiting. You can also set the sequence to ProRes Proxy with render quality to quarter rez and at 8 bits to speed up render times. Then toggle it back to full rez and switch from ProRes Proxy to ProRes HQ for your final render. No fancy marketing term for it (eg. Dynamic Re-link), but you can call it the Harrell Method if you wish.



www.strypesinpost.com

strypes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> In Avid, you have to convert everything to DNxHD.

You don't have to. You can just transcode selects (for H264) very easily.

> you should transcode everything to prores. You
> could try looking into this if you don't want to
> transcode. [www.dvfilm.com]
>

I agree that to transcode the lot is the best approach normally.
But if it's a lot of material and I only want a few seconds, transcoding the lot doesn't make sense. The render in the timeline solution is great for quick and dirty - but can be a world of hurt down the line.

Thanks for the link but Vegas is pretty horrible for editing pictures, in my experience. And H264 was just an example in the original question.
I'm looking for a 'consolidate these shots that I've gathered from different drives and include them in my media backup strategy' solution.

Thanks for the response Strypes - I really do appreciate it and it's definitely helping..

Hi trevora.

there are two ways to go about this, both pretty simple.

one is Media Manager. it's not hard really.
YES a new project is generally good.
why?
because you get a bin or sequence of clips presented to you in FCP, which you can simply copy paste into your main project.
this is great if you have the clips organized in a sequence,
or have given them logging notes in the browser, or markers of any sort
Media manager will preserve this info, other methods will not.

OK, so Media Manager will create a new folder to put the media in,
and this folder is probably not where you want the media.
it's no big deal!

when the new project opens, right click on any clip in the browser and choose "Reveal in Finder"
(i have a shortcut for this: Shift R)
this takes you to the files.
put them where you want.

back in FCP you may have to reconnect.
select the files, right click again, choose "Reconnect"
(again i have a shortcut for this: Shift Apple R)

Tell FCP to look in a specific drive when reconnecting and it will all happen very quickly.

done.
i do this a fair bit, and it's really not a hassle.


ok, the other method is to use Batch Export.
this only works from the Browser,
so collect your clips there, then File Menu > Batch Export,
or right click on the clips or bin and chose Batch Export.

in the Batch Export window chose to export as QuickTime movies,
then rather than "Current Settings" choose one of the sequence presets from the pull-down.
use in to outs,
make self contained.

with Batch Export, you set your destination where ever you want.
when it's all done, you track down the files and bring them into FCP again.

as i mentioned before you'll lose log notes & markers.


hope that all makes sense,
nick

Sorry, I meant this. Got the wrong link. I don't even know Vegas is an editing software..

[dvfilm.com]

I always like a full transcode, even on tight deadlines. If my assistant didn't have time to transcode, I'll cut native (or render in timeline), then set up for a full transcode when I leave the office. Then reconnect the next day.

You could back up the render files. And you can relink to them later if you need, but since they're only partial transcodes, i dont see what the big worry is. If you need a rock solid workflow, transcode everything you need either via MM, batch export or compressor. Then reconnect to the transcodes but keep your originals in a separate bin, if it makes you feel more secure. You can do a find in the FCP browser later on if you need to call up a shot in h.264. Reconnection is not so hairy. I've done it lots of times and it is fairly fast, not a keystroke, but nothing to lose sleep over.



www.strypesinpost.com

OK I can "edit like a Roman" with Epic in FCP too ;-)

Thanks for the help. I guess transcode when I have the time and don't worry about creating new projects with MM when I don't - just keep the resulting files tidy myself (which is what I have been doing on other jobs).

Seems like the main thing to remember is to give the H264 clips reel numbers at a QT level to keep up the chances of reconnecting down the line. Guess I'll be visiting the videotoolshed store again...