Compress Dailies with 23.98 Timecode

Hi, I am on an Intel MacBook Pro, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, OS 10.5.6, FCP 6.0.5. I shot on a Panasonic HMC150. QT version 7.6.

I have about 80 hours of 23.98 720PN footage orginated AVCHD, now transcoded to ProRes, that I need to compress with source TC burn for transcription. Needless to say, this will be very timeconsuming if I have to use the timecode reader in FCP. I was hoping to use Compressor for a batch export overnight... problem is, in my test the timecode Compressor generated is not accurate. In fact it's off by about 30 seconds.

I've read what I could on this forum about TC burns and saw reference to a Compressor bug for 23.98 footage - can someone tell me more about this??

If the TC filter in FCP is a 'generator' and not a reader, is there a way to set the first frame of TC for an accurate export?

Thanks!

Also, I've checked out QTSync (doesn't seem to work for my purposes) and can't afford ProxyMill at the moment...

There is both a TC generator and reader in FCP. QT Sync is a reader and generator. If you click auto detect, it will display the timecode information on the timecode track.



www.strypesinpost.com

'If the TC filter in FCP is a 'generator' and not a reader, is there a way to set the first frame of TC for an accurate export?'

My error - I meant the TC filter in Compressor. And I read on a Compressor page in apple that this is not possible.

Why is the TC Compressor is reading not accurate?

And, is there a way to batch export sequences from FCP (with FCP TC reader filter applied)?

I've never used Compressor for timecode burn ins, partly because I could never see the pros of going down that road, so I don't know how accurate it is, but there shouldn't be an issue with accuracy, as timecode comes from the timecode track.


>is there a way to batch export sequences from FCP (with FCP TC reader filter applied)?

Yes. Drop the timecode reader filter onto all your clips in the timeline, then select the sequences in the browser and right/command click and select batch export.

If you want to offset the timecode, you can do so with the timecode generator filter.



www.strypesinpost.com

Hooray, batch export works! I couldn't access it from the File menu for some reason - grayed out. But available with the good old right click. Thank you! I don't know *why* Compressor TC is off for my 23.98 footage. But it is. Being able to batch export from FCP using the TC Reader makes a big difference. Thanks!

I have run into this issue as well, and found that using Cinema Tools to batch conform the source files fixes the TCR offset with Compressor's BITC filter. Fast, and no intermediate render necessary.

HTH,
Doug