Firestore FS-5 video with Final Cut X

I found a way to add Quicktime atoms in Lion, without Quicktime, so that they are able to be opened in Lion and FCPX. There's a big caveat though--too big for me to trust this method.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3147038?answerId=15832435022#15832435022

Mark. I have Lion and FCP X on a Mac Pro Quad core and use Firestore FS-C and looking to convert files for FCP X. I tried Media Converter. but with mixed results. My files are HDV from canon XH-A1. Need to batch convert. What container, extension, and Format would you suggest.Some will import into FCP X but break up on playback. Some wont import. The idea seem to just re-wrap and use passthrogh but still no luck there. I have used HD Video Converter and it makes my audio go out of sync which is a lot of work to resync clips. Anyone use a good conversion program to just rewrap file as a passthrough. I can't save these firestore files with Quicktime in Lion. Thanks for any help.

Steve

The Firestore can be set to record HDV as QuickTime. Not sure how to do that any more but that's the way we used to have our Firestore set. If you can set it to record QuickTime no conversion is necssary. You can edit the native HDV media.

If you have recorded AVIs you can batch convert with MPEG Streamclip. Convert to QuickTime either in native HDV or a better codec with equal foot print is ProRes LT. LT will perform better in FCP as it takes no processor overhead compared to HDV MPEG-2.

Tom, normally that would work, but this thread is about Apple changing the HDV codec in Final Cut Pro X and Lion, so that Firestore Quicktime files no longer work.

capy, I'm not sure what the best course of action is - I haven't heard any update about this issue from Apple or Firestore - try giving Firestore a call and see what their suggestions are.

The Apple Pro Training Series book for FCP7 used HDV material extensively for its instructional media. The files described by the OP are exactly the same format and specification used with that book. That media imports and works exactly the same in the current FCP under Lion as it did in FCP7 under Leopard and Snow Leopard.

Any chance of getting a Firestore piece of HDV piece of QuickTime posted on the web somewhere?

Normal HDV yes. But for some reason, as everyone in this thread, FireStore, and Apple themselves can attest, the type of Quicktime HDV files that a Firestore records does not work in Lion/FCP X. It *should* work, but Mark above and others have found minute differences that are causing incompatibility problems. It's most likely due to Apple being stricter about the HDV codec when it rewrote all of the HDV codecs in Lion/FCP X. So write now, dealing with the Firestore files in Lion is just a huge huge pain.

Mark has been the most help leading me to Media Converter. Changing the wrapper seems to be the solution for now which lion see's and FCP X can import but I am still experimenting with what that should be.Files are broken up and pixilated. I think Mark is in same position. Even programs like HD Video Converter from Fox Real http://www.foxreal.com/news/full-support-of-transcoding-hd-to-prores-by-foxreal- hd-video-converter-for-mac.html are having problems with this file. The audio is never in sync no matter what I convert to. I hate having t purchase anything else and get same results. Has anyone been able to convert their Firestore files to a format that Lion and FCP X will work with and have the audio stay in sync and what format would that be in.(Video and audio)

Steve,

I've found no method for using these Firestore files in Lion (10.7) and FCPX, only Snow Leopard (10.6) and FCPX.

If you have Lion (10.7), even though Media Converter seems to be able to passthrough the HDV codec to a new MOV container, I've found that it is not the way to go. It looks like Media Converter doesn't properly send along all the keyframe data to the new MOV container, so there are many, many glitches, especially with quick motion.

If you have Snow Leopard (10.6), you only need to open the files in Quicktime X, and re-save to a new movie file (you don't need to re-encode, just save a new file). Then, you can use these newly saved flattened files in FCPX and Lion (10.7) without issue.

Also of note is that if you have Leopard (10.5), and installed the latest Quicktime 7.7 security fix from August 2011, these HDV files from Firestores will have the same issue as in Lion. Quicktime will not read them, and will say that the files are corrupt or damaged.

My mantra right now is that this will not be fixed by either party, and I approach any update to my Snow Leopard (10.6) production systems with EXTREME caution for fear that these files will no longer work.

Thanks Mark. Just very frustrating. No comments fro Apple or Firestore. I use my XH-A1 as wide shot and backups and T3I's for closeup and run and gun shots. Can't believe my XH-A1 has been made useless by a software change. The firestore was great till this. Saves so much time not have to capture video.

Thanks for sharing what you've discovered. This incompatibility is a HUGE problem for me. Are you doubtful that a Lion or FCP X update will attempt to fix this due to your own sense of pessimism or from some insight beyond speculation? I've talked to the Firestore guy a couple of times myself and I truly believe FS will not fix anything, at least for the legacy product that I use.

It can't be that hard, can it? That's why I'd like to think an update to the OS could solve everything.

No, it's just my own pessimism, and thinking about how bigger software developers may or may not do things.

Plus, my other suspicion is that it's not the new Quicktime framework that is causing the incompatibility, it's the security implementation. Maybe a new security rule in Quicktime is to block certain types of files, and since the Firestore may be writing these files without the correct data in the right spots, Quicktime views it as a file that may or may not be trying to hijack the system in some way (even though it's harmless).

As long as I keep my Canon XH-A1 and FSH-200 unit, I'll be sticking with my current system as long as the hardware hangs on, with no updates what-so-ever. If I get an opportunity to upgrade my camera, I'll do the same cautious testing I did with Lion/FCPX again, and make sure everything checks out before totally moving to it.

When I first encountered this problem, my guess was that Focus would blame Apple, and that Apple would placidly ignore the problem entirely. So far that seems to be exactly what's happened. I filed a bug report with Apple on this back in late June; so far they've just ignored it. I share your pessimism that this will ever be fixed by the vendors.

It's tedious, but loading the video into QT 7 under 10.6 and re-saving seems to help with old clips (presuming you don't install the latest updates to QT).

For new content, I've had success using the Firestore to record M2T format, then using Divergent Media's ClipWrap ($50) to provide the QuickTime wrapper. They have a free trial available, so you might try it out with your gear and see if this provides a path forward.

Both computers are now Lion and FCP X so I had Clipwrap for prior Canon T3I files before FCP X and Lion and had not known about M2T conversion which I see is new. Have you noticed any difference in M2T and QuickTime quality from camera. I noticed my Canon XH A1 QuickTime file is reading as 29:97 and in the camera it was set and shows 24. I believe this is the same problem with Lion and FCP X. It can't read my QT camera files properly. So if I convert file to say ProRes with any conversion software my audio will always be out of sync. Working on this now to se if I can convert with new frame rate that will match original audio Tried trial and does work well. Thanks for that. Switching to M2T format and using Clipwrap2.

In my case, the camera is emitting HDV over Firewire and I'm simply capturing it using the Firestore recorder. There's no transcoding happening in this process, so quality is identical regardless of where the QuickTime wrapper is applied.

Just talked to Firestore, according to them, they are still working on a solution to the problem, though they also said it's taken them much longer than they thought. So not the answer that we're all looking for, but at least it's something.