matching hd footage from different cameras for editing in FCP

Question

patusoidos Author

Level 1

0 points

matching hd footage from different cameras for editing in FCP

Hi,

I have to edit with FCP 7 this footage taken with two different Canon HD cameras

when I drag my footage into Compressor to see the description I get this:

one bunch of files are

Name: Untitled

Description: MVI_0301.MOV

File Extension: mov

Estimated size: 20.84 GB/hour of source

Audio Encoder

16-bit Integer (Little Endian), Stereo (L R), 48,000 kHz

Video Encoder

Format: QT

Width: 1920

Height: 1080

Pixel aspect ratio: Square

Crop: None

Padding: None

Frame rate: 23.976

Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

Codec Type: Photo - JPEG

Multi-pass: Off, frame reorder: Off

Pixel depth: 32

Spatial quality: 50

Min. Spatial quality: 50

Key frame interval: 15

Temporal quality: 50

Min. temporal quality: 50

Average data rate: 46.161 (Mbps)

and the other bunch

Name: Untitled

Description: DSC_0008.AVI

File Extension: mov

Estimated size: unknown

Audio Encoder

16-bit Integer (Little Endian), Mono, 11,025 kHz

Video Encoder

Format: QT

Width: 1280

Height: 720

Pixel aspect ratio: Square

Crop: None

Padding: None

Frame rate: 24

Frame Controls: Automatically selected: Off

Codec Type: Motion JPEG OpenDML

Multi-pass: Off, frame reorder: Off

Pixel depth: 32

Spatial quality: 50

Min. Spatial quality: 50

Key frame interval: 15

Temporal quality: 50

Min. temporal quality: 50

I think, and this is a question, that the best thing to do for editing in FCP is convert everything to Apple ProRes 422,

and I think I should downsize the 1920x1080 footage to 1280x720,

but what about the frame rate, and any other thing I should know…

thanks a lot guys,

Pablo H.

Final Cut Pro 7, Mac OS X (10.6.7), MacBook Pro 2.53 GHz 4GB

Posted on Aug 19, 2011 6:45 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Aug 19, 2011 8:23 AM in response to patusoidos

We see similar questions often. You must decide on your best archiving and production format and convert everything to that format. You either upscale or downscale for editing but you should also maintain your original media files in case you wish to do something different in the future.

Matching cameras requires careful stylistic decisions and only you can decide which is the better compromise for your needs. Not only do you need to scale them, you must color correct them and you may need to change the frame rates. You do not make these decisions based on recommendations; you make them based on your needs, abilities, budget and future palns.

Me, I'd convert everything to 1080/60 using the lowest ProRes codec that preserves your image quality. Keeping the original media, you can always to more precise or bigger transocodes later.

This is not a complicated task, tedious and it's difficult to make competent decisions you won't regret.

bogiesan

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Answer 2

RatVega™

Level 4

2,005 points

Aug 19, 2011 12:03 PM in response to David Bogie Chq-1

I agree with your take, bogiesan, but let's not forget that for some types of projects the opportunity to re-frame the 1080 footage might be a big consideration, so simply homogenizing the framerates might be an option. It all depends on project intent.

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Answer 3

Aug 19, 2011 12:15 PM in response to RatVega™

Yar.

The problem with all such inquiries is the inability of the user to understand and then to verbalize his or her intent. That would be why I suggest, more than once, that the original media be opreserved and maintained.

bogiesan

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