I edited a sequence in mp4. Help!???

I edited a sequence in mp4. Shame on me. I was rushing on a project and didn't bother to transcode. Needless to say this is a non-commercial project but still - a weeks intensive work i need to get out.

Exporting from FCP to QT i get green flashes and distortions, exporting via mp4 from FCP and also sending it to compressor i get mega-compressed artefacts, unusable.

In my experience transcoding the initial files then reconnecting in a different format results in shifting in and out points, a mess of an edit, is there any other work arounds?

I tried nesting the sequence, locking all tracks, but still to no avail. Any thoughts / solutions???

Yes i edited a sequence in mp4. Shame on me. But so much work was done for an 11 min sequence having raked through almost 3hrs of footage, a re-edit may induce suicide . . .

Please help, cheers,
WM,

Convert only the clips used in the Sequence, then conform manually using the dummy timecode.


www.derekmok.com

Cheers D - so just to confirm . .

1- You recommend converting only the clips used - but in this case my sequence has been cut from one huge 2hr+ long mp4 and not separate clips. I gather you mean to export each clip separately as an uncompressed quicktime file, which i then re-import to rebuild the sequence for export?

2- What do you mean by 'conform manually using the dummy timecode'?

Thanks,
WM

Do you have a lot of effects in there or is it just straight cuts and dissolves? If it's straight cuts and dissolve with little effects, you can send that to Premiere which works natively with h.264.



www.strypesinpost.com

Sounds killer!

Nope no effects as such, although i have re-sized some clips to appear as though that footage is playing on a TV, although those are locked shots, no movement.

When you say 'send it to Premiere', how exactly (?) you mean to open up the project file in Premiere? . . . .

How about Export using Quicktime conversion as ProRes: sequence settings to match your movie.
I had to edit in HDv once and this is how I rectified the situation.


Wanted Man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I edited a sequence in mp4. Shame on me. I was
> rushing on a project and didn't bother to
> transcode. Needless to say this is a
> non-commercial project but still - a weeks
> intensive work i need to get out.
>
> Exporting from FCP to QT i get green flashes and
> distortions, exporting via mp4 from FCP and also
> sending it to compressor i get mega-compressed
> artefacts, unusable.
>
> In my experience transcoding the initial files
> then reconnecting in a different format results in
> shifting in and out points, a mess of an edit, is
> there any other work arounds?
>
> I tried nesting the sequence, locking all tracks,
> but still to no avail. Any thoughts /
> solutions???
>
> Yes i edited a sequence in mp4. Shame on me. But
> so much work was done for an 11 min sequence
> having raked through almost 3hrs of footage, a
> re-edit may induce suicide . . .
>
> Please help, cheers,
> WM,

FCP7 doesn't work with many complex formats well at all. Premiere, on the other hand, is designed to do so, and does it well if you have a decent machine to throw at it.


Wanted Man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> When you say 'send it to Premiere', how exactly
> (?) you mean to open up the project file in
> Premiere? . . . .

Download Premiere Pro CS6 or download it off the Creative Cloud. You get 30 days free trial to see if it works for you.

Select your sequence, then File>Export>XML

Launch Premiere, and import the file.

Done. And yes, it will keep your motion tab attributes and keyframes.



www.strypesinpost.com

So to be clear, you export an XML of your project (which is basically a list of instructions that several applications can understand) out of FCP, then import the XML into Premiere. Done and doner.

The XML can either be of the sequence or project. Premiere Pro can take both. Which XML version? All of them work. So take V5.



www.strypesinpost.com

did you try seting the seuqnce to Prores, and rendering?


nick

Ok - - - - i exported an XML of the sequence, opened up a new project and it won't let me export the XML, it won't highlight for opening/import

I have never used Premiere once in my entire life*

eek . . .

Go to File>Import and select the xml. That should import easily. When you're done, you can export a QT. If you can, zip up the xml and FCP project file.



www.strypesinpost.com

Also, in Premiere, go to Premiere Pro > Keyboard Shortcuts >and set the Keyboard Layout Preset to FCP7 to get all your FCP 7 keyboard shortcuts working.

i'm exporting this XML but prem just won't recognise it or allow me to select it for import or opening

any thoughts?

Which version of Premiere are you running? I'd have some thoughts if you can upload the FCP project file or the xml or preferably both. I don't need the media file.



www.strypesinpost.com

prem pro CS4 . . . .

doing the XML i'm ticking 'save project with latest clip metadata (recommended)' and leaving the 'include master clips outside of selection' un-ticked.

prem just doesn't seem to want to acknowledge the XML from fcp as anything it's able to open or use.

also to confirm - i have never used prem once in my life, even opening up the thing for the first time was blind leading the blind. as far as i'm aware all project settings are standard and i haven't changed a thing.

also trying to open up the XML manually right-click open with > premiere , it won't let me select prem to open it.

CS4 was released about 5 years ago. I'm not sure if it supported FCP XML import. And certainly not XML V5, which was only released with FCP7, some 2-3 years after CS4 was released.

Download the latest version of Premiere. And that will work. There is a 30 day trial.

EDIT: How time flies... FCP7 was released 4 years ago, so it was just a year after CS4. That makes FCPX 2 years old... Hmm..



www.strypesinpost.com

ok. will installing the free trial knock out my current copy of prem though? it was one given to me by a mate with serials etc, which i wanted to keep

It shouldn't. I have multiple versions of Premiere running on this machine.

It shouldn't, as Jude said, but I would advise upgrading instead of running 5 year old softwares.



www.strypesinpost.com