Q: FCPX not importing audio track from DV files.
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Jun 23, 2011 2:17 AMby crh24,mrstep wrote:
Does Handbrake re-encode the video too, or can it just pull off 1 audio stream? (Or can Apple just fix it since non-Pro iMovie works fine?)
I gave MPEG Streamclip a try and it worked fine to re-encode the audio. The resultant clips are imported into FCEPX with the audio intact so this intermediate step might be a simpler work-around for some with .dv files that fail to import the audio.
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Jun 24, 2011 5:10 PMby JirSoft,I think it should be possible just (on example with QT Pro or free MPEG Streamclip) open this .dv file and save as QT (.mov extension) with DV as video codec and PCM as audio codec (this is same way as FCP7 save .dv files), it will be no transcoding needed, so just an copy...
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Jun 24, 2011 9:29 PMby mrstep,I'd obviously rather not run it though a video re-encode either for quality's sake, so exporting as DV or QuickTime DV sounds like the best option there. Of course, I decided to look at something out of curiousity - I have 7476 dv clips (it was a lot of tapes and iMovie auto-split them...) that would need this treatment. iMovie has been too sluggish dealing with the library, FCPX is clearly MUCH faster at dealing with it - maybe because of the memory savings of not dealing with the audio? (Just kidding...)
Hmmm. So, I wonder if Apple will fix this.
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Jun 25, 2011 10:37 AMby umbasa,I understand that some have reservations with re-encoding so you can hear the audio on dv tracks. However FCPX works very quickly with Apple ProRes 422 HQ codec and the video quality is excellent/unnoticeable from original IMHO. I recommend creating a custom export using "compressor" app. Select Quicktime Movie using Apple proRes 422 for video, and apple lossless for audio, and you'll have zippy FCPX rendering and a great output from your work while in FCPX.
recap:
.dv file > compressor app using custom settings:
> quicktime movie
> Apple ProRes 422 for video
> Apple Lossless for audio
> Leave plenty of HD space on original hard drive for new .mov files that will live inside the source folder.
> Delete the original .dv files
> import the new .mov files into your events.
I challenge anyone to a better way to deal with .dv audio problem.
umbasa...
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Jun 25, 2011 11:10 AMby crh24,JirSoft wrote:
I think it should be possible just (on example with QT Pro or free MPEG Streamclip) open this .dv file and save as QT (.mov extension) with DV as video codec and PCM as audio codec (this is same way as FCP7 save .dv files), it will be no transcoding needed, so just an copy...
I originally did this but then I found another 'problem' with FCPX---it will not analyze and correct DV clips that are interlaced. I don't know if this is a bug or a feature (I've reported it as a bug).
I just started using Streamclip so I may have missed something but I was unable to get Streamclip to produce a DV file that wasn't interlaced so I switched to using ProRes 422 files which are progressive and the Analyze problem is 'solved'.
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Jun 25, 2011 2:55 PMby mrstep,umbasa wrote:
...
recap:
.dv file > compressor app using custom settings:
> quicktime movie
> Apple ProRes 422 for video
> Apple Lossless for audio
> Leave plenty of HD space on original hard drive for new .mov files that will live inside the source folder.
> Delete the original .dv files
> import the new .mov files into your events.
I challenge anyone to a better way to deal with .dv audio problem.
umbasa...
Hopefully Apple accepts your challenge since the best way to deal with the .dv audio problem would be for them to fix their bug.
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Jun 27, 2011 3:53 AMby AppleMan1958,Yes, you can ingest directly into ProRes 422 from DV (or from any other codec for that matter), without going through Compressor. Details are here. You just select the Transcode option on the import screen.
Also, You can import it as DV and transcode it later to PreRes, without using Compressor.
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Jun 27, 2011 7:50 AMby umbasa,You definitely can using "optimize media" option, however if your original .dv file cannot be heard without the optimize option, it still cannot be heard WITH the optimize option.
Two other necessary steps when using compressor to make the .dv file be heard by FCPX.
1> make sure the pixel size is correct on your custom setting or it will come out distorted - I found out that although the app selected 720x480 by default, my original content was ACTUALLY 853x480 - or a 16:9 version of 720p.
2> use the command line "touch -t YYYYMMDDssmm filename" to re-date your files - or else it will take dv files originally created in, say dec 2008 at 4pm, and import the new files with the current date (when you re-compressed them).
recap:
> compressor app- recompress .dv files with MP4/H.264 (small file size) or Quicktime movie ProRes 422LT (bigger file size but more FCPX friendly) custom profile you create
> make sure pixel settings match original .dv files in the profile/settings
> open terminal and type "touch -t YYYYMMDDssmm filename" << for a bunch of files, use * at end, like img*.mov and the any .mov file starting with img will be re-dated, and drag/drop file from finder instead of typing it all out
> in FCPX > import files *.mov (so it doesn't import the .dv files too) and do NOT select optimize media nor copy files to FCPX folder checkbox
> make sure you select the correct event because moving them to another event is a hassle and crashed FCPX (this s/w needs a serious patch fix) too many times
hope it helps.
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Jul 10, 2011 11:56 AMby Ken Hart,I used compressor to import the DV files to ProRes 422 directly.
Set up compressor as normal then go to the encoder tab in the inspector window and change the audio setting from "pass-through" to "enabled" . I saved it as a custom setting for use in the future.
I wonder why this option is not just defaulted to include audio instead of having to enable it. Wouldn't it seem logical that people would want both audio and video when transcoding.
