Editing HD movie files/speed up rendering

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Level 1

12 points

Editing HD movie files/speed up rendering

I'm looking into buying a canon 7d for myself so the other day i went to the store, shot some clips, and put them on a jump-drive to bring home and mess with editing on my computer. I was shocked when i brought it home and found that the files were basically impossible to edit bc the rendering takes so long for a few 15-30 second clips. These were only 1280x720 resolution clips. My question is, is there anyway to render during editing to a poor/preview quality so its easier to work with?

Further information:
I have a new 27inch 3.06 gHz intel core duo processor with 4 gb of ram
The files from the canon 7d come off the camera as .mov
Dimensions: 1280x720
Codecs: H.264, linear PCM
Total bit rate - 48,124

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! I bought this computer specifically for video editing so ill be bummed if i have the same problem with my new imac that i had with my old PC

-Bryan

Imac, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Jul 30, 2010 5:54 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jul 30, 2010 6:25 PM in response to IBryan4423

You can render at lower resolution. This can be changed in sequence settings.

It would be best to convert this media to a format that conforms to the FCE sequence in which you're editing, which I presume is 1280x720 Apple Intermediate Codec at 29.97fps.

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Answer 2

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,561 points

Jul 30, 2010 6:26 PM in response to IBryan4423

Null

Message was edited by: Meg The Dog

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Answer 3

IBryan4423 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 30, 2010 6:40 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

So i can set my render settings to lower quality but on my final video when exported it will will remain semi-original quality?
Also, Normally i export my files through imovie to get them on my computer and it simply converts them but I dont know how to convert these files without the camera hooked up. Can i do that through log and transfer or some other method to get the apple intermediate codec etc?

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Answer 4

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jul 30, 2010 7:08 PM in response to IBryan4423

You should set it back to full quality and re-render.

Log and transfer is only for AVCHD material This camera doesn't shoot that. It shoots its own proprietary format that's not supported by Final Cut. There is a Can plugin for this media, but I believe it only works with Final Cut Pro.

You probably can convert the media to an FCE usable format with MPEG Streamclip.

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Answer 5

IBryan4423 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 30, 2010 7:42 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I'll give that a try.
One more question. Although I'm sure its hard for you to say for certain, do you have any experience with this camera/computer set up? Do you think the computer is powerful enough to do some basic editing. Nothing too fancy just some basic filters and edits? I was debating on upgrading my ram to 8gb.

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Answer 6

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jul 30, 2010 7:46 PM in response to IBryan4423

How much RAM do you have? More than 4G isn't going to do anything for you. You should add a separate fast FireWire drive for your media.

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Answer 7

IBryan4423 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 30, 2010 8:00 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

I have 4 gb of RAM now. Why wouldn't more ram be beneficial for me? I always was told that the more ram the better.
What exactly does a faster fire wire drive do that keeping the files on your desktop wont?
Does that speed up the rendering process in someway?

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Answer 8

Tom Wolsky

Level 10

150,980 points

Jul 30, 2010 8:05 PM in response to IBryan4423

Depends on the application. It doesn't need RAM to play back the video. It needs a fast drive. It doesn't help with rendering as that's done by the CPU. A faster drive means more layers of video and audio in real time.

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Answer 9

IBryan4423 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jul 30, 2010 8:11 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

So basically try putting any of the raw video im editing from on the firewire hard drive and edit from there. I might give that a try. thanks for the advice i really appreciate it!
-Bryan

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