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Canon C300 workflow for FCP 7.0 ? URGENT!
Posted by Wanted Man
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Re: Canon C300 workflow for FCP 7.0 ? URGENT! November 26, 2014 08:03AM |
There is a workflow for FCP and C300.
One thing you can't do is just a simple finder copy of the card contents on to a hard drive and import later. I dealt with this and somehow the subfolders that contain each clip are missing the THM files. How, and why, canon would choose to make a simple finder copy not be comprehensive is beyond me.
Use the Canon utility to back up the cards onto your archive media and then use log and transfer in FCP to transcode to whatever codec you need.
That Canon utility can also manage making multiple backups from the same card as soon as you insert it.
There's also a function called virtual disks or cards where you can reorganize your backups into "virtual cards" that are organized how you would like.
Got a card with two days worth of shooting on it? Make a virtual card for each day and archive that instead of one larger card. It's poorly explained in their manuals but I think the aim is to allow you to make better "virtual camera original" style back ups and not be forced into using the cards as they were shot and then reorganizing the converted media, complicating the path back to raw footage.
The Canon utility can also apply the LUTs to get Canon RAW into Rec709 if that is what production intends.
There is also a workflow using Resolve but I only used it for a few clips. It's a better colour corrector but the workflow is not as simple.
You'll find forums where production people love the camera but post people hate the workflow but if you stick to their method and software it can be relatively painless.
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
One thing you can't do is just a simple finder copy of the card contents on to a hard drive and import later. I dealt with this and somehow the subfolders that contain each clip are missing the THM files. How, and why, canon would choose to make a simple finder copy not be comprehensive is beyond me.
Use the Canon utility to back up the cards onto your archive media and then use log and transfer in FCP to transcode to whatever codec you need.
That Canon utility can also manage making multiple backups from the same card as soon as you insert it.
There's also a function called virtual disks or cards where you can reorganize your backups into "virtual cards" that are organized how you would like.
Got a card with two days worth of shooting on it? Make a virtual card for each day and archive that instead of one larger card. It's poorly explained in their manuals but I think the aim is to allow you to make better "virtual camera original" style back ups and not be forced into using the cards as they were shot and then reorganizing the converted media, complicating the path back to raw footage.
The Canon utility can also apply the LUTs to get Canon RAW into Rec709 if that is what production intends.
There is also a workflow using Resolve but I only used it for a few clips. It's a better colour corrector but the workflow is not as simple.
You'll find forums where production people love the camera but post people hate the workflow but if you stick to their method and software it can be relatively painless.
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
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Re: Canon C300 workflow for FCP 7.0 ? URGENT! November 26, 2014 08:37AM |
The Canon utility is only useful dealing with actual cards or the folders it makes itself as part of the backup or virtual cards process. If your clients have done a drag and drop of the card contents or used some other method it may not be of use to you. I should say that I tried many ways to get the utility to see the finder copied folder but it only saw cards, back up folders and virtual card folders. (It also saw cards mounted from a disk image made from an original cards but you're past that stage)
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
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Re: Canon C300 workflow for FCP 7.0 ? URGENT! November 27, 2014 04:08PM |
If they have dragged and dropped the footage, AS FAR AS I CAN TELL (<---- that's a caveat regarding my lack of deep longterm experience with this camera), you can't use the Canon utility. I tried many tricks to get it to see the footage but couldn't trick it into seeing a folder as a card.
If you try to point FCP's Log and Transfer at the clip folders it should see the MXFs where the video information in stored but you'll be left having to add every clip individually which, depending on how many clips and cards you have could be nothing or a giant P.I.T.A.
Getting the Canon utility installed on your system would also ensure that all the codecs and drivers needed to view the MXFs are installed on your system as well as the LUTs which you will need if they shot in any of the RAW settings that are available on the camera. You should install the various drivers for FCP, FCP X and AVID as well if you have those on your laptop.
One workaround, or alternate workflow if you like, is to use Davinci Resolve Lite to do all your transcoding. I couldn't walk you through that exactly (YouTube is good for finding that stuff) but I find it to be a relatively intuitive program if you've dealt with colour correctors or node based systems before. You can apply the LUT (CanonRAW to 709) in Resolve and do burn-ins and whatever you like. Resolve is a very flexible multi-purpose tool that's worth getting your head around. If your laptop is of a recent vintage it should be able to run Resolve but it's worth double checking that before you download and install. It depends on the video card GPU more than CPU and RAM.
You have a few things to determine:
How did they back up?
Were the cards erased as they went or do the original cards still exist and, if so, can you make new proper backups?
Make sure your client knows that when you get the footage and find it was improperly backed up that you will have to make time allowances for someone else's mistakes.
Once you get the footage transcoded you're in traditional editor territory where syncing and PluralEyes can be done in a myriad of ways that depend on the amount you have to deal with, how well they slated and the quality of the scratch audio on the camera. There are hooks in PE for FCP so the PE manual should be pretty straight forward when it comes to syncing.
You have updated FCP beyond 7.0 right? I think the last version was 7.03. You'll want a fully patched and updated system to use the newest cameras, although I would caution against updating anything from apple that has "QuickTime Components" in the title. They tend to break FCP installations.
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
If you try to point FCP's Log and Transfer at the clip folders it should see the MXFs where the video information in stored but you'll be left having to add every clip individually which, depending on how many clips and cards you have could be nothing or a giant P.I.T.A.
Getting the Canon utility installed on your system would also ensure that all the codecs and drivers needed to view the MXFs are installed on your system as well as the LUTs which you will need if they shot in any of the RAW settings that are available on the camera. You should install the various drivers for FCP, FCP X and AVID as well if you have those on your laptop.
One workaround, or alternate workflow if you like, is to use Davinci Resolve Lite to do all your transcoding. I couldn't walk you through that exactly (YouTube is good for finding that stuff) but I find it to be a relatively intuitive program if you've dealt with colour correctors or node based systems before. You can apply the LUT (CanonRAW to 709) in Resolve and do burn-ins and whatever you like. Resolve is a very flexible multi-purpose tool that's worth getting your head around. If your laptop is of a recent vintage it should be able to run Resolve but it's worth double checking that before you download and install. It depends on the video card GPU more than CPU and RAM.
You have a few things to determine:
How did they back up?
Were the cards erased as they went or do the original cards still exist and, if so, can you make new proper backups?
Make sure your client knows that when you get the footage and find it was improperly backed up that you will have to make time allowances for someone else's mistakes.
Once you get the footage transcoded you're in traditional editor territory where syncing and PluralEyes can be done in a myriad of ways that depend on the amount you have to deal with, how well they slated and the quality of the scratch audio on the camera. There are hooks in PE for FCP so the PE manual should be pretty straight forward when it comes to syncing.
You have updated FCP beyond 7.0 right? I think the last version was 7.03. You'll want a fully patched and updated system to use the newest cameras, although I would caution against updating anything from apple that has "QuickTime Components" in the title. They tend to break FCP installations.
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
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Re: Canon C300 workflow for FCP 7.0 ? URGENT! November 27, 2014 05:37PM |
I can't counsel you on anything to do with a non-purchased license. Can't remember what a clean 7.0 was like other than the first patch didn't take long to come from Apple way back in the day.
If someone transcodes your footage for you, you should only encounter the problems one usually encounters with any footage. Did they slate well on the day? Was the audio op asleep at the boom? Why didn't they call cut on something that had clearly gone off the rails and theres's at least two crew visible in the shot who also think someone should call cut?
Premiere is supposed to be far better at dealing with the MXF file format in general, even though it's also just a container for many codecs. If you have CS6, I'll make a wild stab and guess it's the same legal status of your FCP copy. You're on your own there.
Get the CC version and get all the Adobe apps free for a month and then pay month by month. I'm doing that on two systems I manage and it's great. Media Encoder is good and there are people who swear by Premiere as a great replacement for FCP7. I am not one of those people but maybe you are. There is an FCP7 keyboard arrangement you can download or it's built in to some versions of Premiere that make it easy for FCP7 editors to switch.
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
If someone transcodes your footage for you, you should only encounter the problems one usually encounters with any footage. Did they slate well on the day? Was the audio op asleep at the boom? Why didn't they call cut on something that had clearly gone off the rails and theres's at least two crew visible in the shot who also think someone should call cut?
Premiere is supposed to be far better at dealing with the MXF file format in general, even though it's also just a container for many codecs. If you have CS6, I'll make a wild stab and guess it's the same legal status of your FCP copy. You're on your own there.
Get the CC version and get all the Adobe apps free for a month and then pay month by month. I'm doing that on two systems I manage and it's great. Media Encoder is good and there are people who swear by Premiere as a great replacement for FCP7. I am not one of those people but maybe you are. There is an FCP7 keyboard arrangement you can download or it's built in to some versions of Premiere that make it easy for FCP7 editors to switch.
ak
Sleeplings, AWAKE!
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