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Helpful articles for Final Cut Pro for Mac, Final Cut Pro for iPad and Final Cut Camera:
Hello
I have footage from a Wedding, approx 3.5 hours shot in HD which I want to give a relative on DVD(s).
I appreciate the footage will need to be split over at least 2 discs if not three as they would like a simple menu to go quickly to the scene they want to watch.
Will FCP convert this for me automatically - I want to keep the footage as 16:9, or do I need to use Compressor (which I do have) or do something else.
Thanks
Matt
iMac 27″, macOS 10.13
Just had a quick look at HandBrake. The default setting for 1080p is 6000kbps (or 6mbps).
As suggested earlier, you could safely lower this to 5000kbps if you were getting short of space on the memory stick.
Just had a quick look at HandBrake. The default setting for 1080p is 6000kbps (or 6mbps).
As suggested earlier, you could safely lower this to 5000kbps if you were getting short of space on the memory stick.
You can export chapters in Quicktime movies and mp4 too.
How they appear or how navigation works depends on the device and/or software playing it back.
Quicktime Player on the mac allows you to navigate to chapter markers:
Also VLC (on mac or pc) allows you to navigate the chapters on a mov or mp4 file.
I suggest you edit in the format of the original media.
You can export to DVD from the timeline.
If you need more than one, you can either edit into separate projects or simply mark In and Out points to export the separate sections.
Also: when exporting, select "Hard Drive" for the "Device". This will create a disk image file, with extension ".img", from which you can burn as many copies as you like. Also, you can test the disk image on your mac in DVD Player before actually burning - test the menus, review the footage all before committing to a disc.
And as an aside:
Do you really want to output the full 3.5 hours?
Other than the bride and groom (and even them...) nobody will suffer through 3.5 hours...
Thanks Luis
Even though it's in HD, I can edit, add chapter markers and the export the footage to DVD (as a file) and then burn later with my SuperDrive. FCP will convert from HD to SD.
Yes, there is 3.5 hours of footage. Not mine but a friends and does include the day before, the whole wedding day and honeymoon as well, so despite saying Wedding, it does cover many days footage.
Thanks again
Exactly my thoughts and I gave them the option.
They want a DVD where they can just watch the scene(s) they want (which they know they can do on a USB), but also play all the footage in from start to end of each disc.
They have given me 15 chapters they would like, but that's not an option with a USB file - or is there something I'm missing?
Thanks again
Thanks Luis.
It will be watched on smart TVs in the UK.
I have a new Sandisk USB3 which comes formatted in FAT32 and know about the 4Gb file size limit. Is FAT32 the best format for this as concerned some of the longer scenes like The Ceremony and Speeches will be more than 4Gb each.
Thanks again for your help. Already glad I won't be trying to produce lots of DVDs and USB is the best option.
Export a Master File and instead of "Video and Audio" choose "Computer". This will create an mp4 file with H264 codec that is the most widely supported format for playback.
Regarding the format of the thumb drive: FAT32 is the mostly likely to be supported, but limits file size to be no more than 4GB. If the TV will accept a thumb drive formatted as ExFAT, that would be my choice. It is directly supported for reading and writing on both mac and pc, and allows for very large files. You may have to test or consult the documentation for the TV in question. I expect that it will work for most of the recent models, but I do not have much direct experience.
3.5 hours of video exported as Luis suggests will probably take between 12GB to 25GB of space.
FCP's export settings give very high bit rates and hence large file sizes.
The high bit rates of 10mbps or 20mbps are to ensure the highest quality video.
Much lower bitrates can be used and produce virtually the same quality. 5mbps is plenty and will halve or quarter the file size.
To encode at these rates you need either Compressor (pricey) or Handbrake (FREE).
High bit rates are only needed when there is fast action. Wedding videos are hardly likely to come into that category.
My friend has bought a new smart TV recently so hoping it has Ex-Fat as an option is going to back it easier for me.
I hope they get back to me tonight not the techie sort and don't live locally so will leave it to them to find the manual or give me the TV model no :-)
Thanks Ian. I have used Handbrake for getting footage off old family DVDs and creating .mov files.
I already own Compressor, so have it already without having to pay for it again for doing someone else a favour. I didn't realise you could change the bitrates will make such a difference to file sizes.
The RAW footage as AVCHD was 24Gb in size.
If you want to use Compressor to reduce the file size you will need to make your own custom preset of 5mbps which can be quite tricky unless you are very competent with the app.
HandBrake simply has a slider to adjust the bit rate to your choice.
I can guarantee that the quality of the output from HandBrake will be indistinguishable from that of Compressor but will be much easier.
I forgot to add another thing: together with the DVD, offer them a USB thumb drive with the footage in HD. It is so much better.
Thanks Luis
If I want to export footage in HD to watch on a smart TV, which is the best format to export in. Also, what should the USB3 be formatted in?
Thanks
An alternative idea would be to export each chapter as a separate .mp4 together with the full length video. They should fit easily onto a small memory stick.
HD Footage to SD footage on DVD
