Editing with Transcoded 1080p in FCP6

I need to edit a documentary that was shot on a Nikon DSLR, and so need to transcode the H.264 files to ProRes to edit with. I?ll be doing the transcoding on the DP?s new top of the line iMac running FCP 7 (and whatever version of Compressor came with that). But I?ll be editing on a G5 dual 2.0, running OS 10.4.11, and FCP 6.

I transcoded a couple 23.98 test files last night, using Compressor?s "ProRes for Progressive Material" preset. Once done, I checked their content, and everything looked good. I then took the ProRes files to my place, and dropped them in a timeline (in FCP 6), and let the timeline set the appropriate settings for those files. Then I checked the Sequence Settings of that sequence, and was surprised to find (in the General tab) that while the 1920x1080 frame size was correct, the Aspect Ratio said it was HDTV 1080i (16x9).

My question is -- What's with the "i" ? The source files were progressive, and the Compressor preset is ProRes for Progressive. So why does the sequence (which plays them without any rendering needed) marked with an "i" ?

Does this mean that that "i" does not mean interlaced in its use here? Or is it because I'm dropping those files into FCP 6 vs. 7, and FCP6 can't handle 1080p? Or is there something else going on? Even if the original files were interlaced (which they weren?t), I used a progressive preset to transcode to ProRes.

Thanks for any help.

Jeff

what is the field dominance of the clips?
you can check in the item properties for the clip, or find the field dominance column in the browser.


nick

Field dominance is "None"

then your clips are progressive.

"My question is -- What's with the "i" ?"

dunno!
it seems a silly way to label something that has nothing to to with field order.


nick

Thanks, Nick. Think it has to do with aspect ratio, but still (since it usually refers to Interlaced) it's strange.

> it seems a silly way to label something that has nothing to to with field order.

Some codecs and presets have a "p" or "i" attached to refer to certain specs. For example, if you shoot DVCPro HD at 23.98fps, progressive, after you ingest the footage, the codec shows up as "DVCPro HD 720p60". The "p60" refers to a standard of frame size associated with 60i; it doesn't mean the clip is 59.94fps.

No, it's not intuitive or logical.


www.derekmok.com

Yea, frame size has nothing to do with frame or field rate. Ignore that and check that the rest of the settings are good.



www.strypesinpost.com

FWIW...eliminate transcoding step completely and edit native DSLR footage in Premiere Pro CS5.5. If you do a lot of DSLR editing, it is a much better solution.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.