FCP and 720p mp4 file import problem

hello,

today a customer brought me 5 clips of video recorded with in-camera video mode. model of camera sony.
the camera outpout mp4 files.

customer wanted me to join them in 1 piece. total time of clips = 4 minutes. Sound freq. 32k.

I thought 'piece of cake' and prompted the customer to wait until i merge them all, although never done
such conversion in the pas as i usually import footage from dv cameras directly in fcp.

i opened one file in QT and showed 29.x fps to my surprise, as the european fps is PAL 25fps.

I used mpegStreamclip to convert mp4 to QT mov. codec was H264 full res. -i forgot to deselect interlaced option in submenu-

So, i went in FCP, created a 720p 25fps sequence with snd 32k.
I imported the mov files to FCP by dragging from finder.

FCP reported the files needed rendering (both audio-video). Rendering estimated 3 hours, then 1 hour.
I stopped and thought my fps was wrong. so i went in FCP, created a 720p 30fps sequence with snd 32k.

i have had the impression, if the sequence/ project info is compatible with mov file properties, such as fps, resolution etc.
I do NOT need to render at all !

Can you confirm If it is false, and what i have to do in order for the clips to play without render please ?

best wishes for xmas holidays

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Vassilis Triantafyllidis
www.LemnosExplorer.com

If you're converting all the clips to one format (you should), why would you leave the audio at 32kHz? Why are you picking the H.264 codec, a heavily compressed delivery format that's very editing-unfriendly?

Pick one editing format -- for example, ProRes SD -- and convert all the clips to that. And convert the audio to 48kHz.

What is your delivery format? If you're delivering for web or DVD, there's no point in trying to convert the clips to PAL. Just edit in the original 29.97fps NTSC format.


www.derekmok.com

dear derekmok,

my video sequence presets in FCP right now are 720p@30fps and 32k sound. does this mean PAL by default ?
The video footage is not 4:3 or letterboxed by the way so i tried to keep the aspect ratio as is. Rendering is set to 8b YUV.

the reason i left audio @ 32 is because i thought if i convert it to 48 sound might be corrupted or would not play properly.
I have fcp 5.1 on PPC mac and PRORES does not exist in my list at all. i think prores existis in FCP for snow leopard only mac-intel.

I wanted to deliver high quality on file, as customer wanted and decided to do a .mov file so he would convert it in his PC to his favorite formats according his wish.

What codec would you advise for best quality @100% and be able to output a file without changing the brightness values of the clip ?

I say this as in the past i had had an original file captured from DV camera via firewire and when i output using different codec apart from H264, i see noticable change in brightness of the movie compared to H264 which leaves the brightness as is.

happy new year by the way !

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Vassilis Triantafyllidis
www.LemnosExplorer.com

You've made a mess. Start over. What's the original media exactly? Where did it come from? Camera? Whatever you can tell us. What does movie inspector in the QT player say about it? 720p is an HD format. Know of the HD formats use 32k audio AFAIK. Don't convert to H.264 for editing ever. It's for acquisition and delivery only.

All the best,

Tom

tom,

thanks for your reply
files came out of a consumer sony dslr with video recording function.

format of files is mp4. QT says format 3ivx D4.5.1, 1280x720, millions, AAC, stereo L,R, 24K, fps 29,97. data rate 8,9.
insofar i have all of them imported again in 720p@30fps in FCP, rendered them and edited them already.

i have the originals as well stored separately. total duration of the clips is about 4min.
Customer wants a high quality file to take an manipulate further in his PC.

I hope if i give hime, movie file to be able to open it in media player and rest of soap apps in windows, without need of codec
on his drive.

Shall i create a new project and what preferences/ settings you suggest for such project, to maintain high quality, as i never worked with 29,97 fps please ? Videos show bmx street bikes performing manouvres.

OR shall i export them as 25fps to keep any compatibility with PAL tv, if customer will play them on TV etc ?

happy new year to all !

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Vassilis Triantafyllidis
www.LemnosExplorer.com