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AVCHD PF30 imports as 29.97i

I have a Canon HFS20 and am shooting in "progressive" mode. When imported into FCP X, FCPX says these clips are 1080i, 29.97fps. If I use one of these clips to start a project, the project is set to 1080i. An export of the project appears to be progressive except for things that needed to be rendered, such as titles. Those clips end up interlaced in the final product. If I set the project to 1080p, all clips I add to the timeline need to be rendered but at least the resulting clip is 1080p. The same is true if I first convert the clips to proxy or optimized media.


I understand the HFS20 saves its "progressive" footage in an interlaced format. Is there a way to get FCP X to understand that it is progressive?

Mac Pro 2008/Intel iMac 2009/Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jan 14, 2012 8:21 PM

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10 replies

Jan 17, 2012 2:08 PM in response to Badunit

Nope, an excellent question and a known issue with Canon camcorders (not DSLRs) and FCPX and Premier Pro because of benign PsF and malignant PsF. I did spent quite a bit of time on this a month or so ago and here's what I came up with (it's a long read, but the links explain everything in real detail)-


https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3584352?tstart=90


The bottom line is that I now use ClipWrap to wrap the .MTS files first and then can then import 29.97p files without any problems. I also like that now that the .MTS are readable by QuickTime, I can rename the files prior to import and then toss the bad ones without worrying about ruining the original card file structure.


I hope this helps.


Dave

Jan 17, 2012 5:45 PM in response to Harmonica_Lessons

That pretty much explains it. I wonder if FCP X will get an update to correctly identify these files or if they will always be incorrect.


I tried Clipwrap and it does do the job. I will probably follow it up with an automator action to rename the clips and add the date before importing them. What irks me is that I have created projects with the old clips. I guess I'll keep the old ones around, at least the ones I've used.

Jan 18, 2012 10:54 AM in response to Badunit

"That pretty much explains it. I wonder if FCP X will get an update to correctly identify these files or if they will always be incorrect."


Buried in that series of articles about benign PsF and malignant PsF, the author says he contacted the camera manufacturers and Apple and Adobe specifically about this issue. I suppose that doesn't guaranted it will be fixed, but it's a start. You can also use the Apple FCPX Feedback page.


"I tried Clipwrap and it does do the job."


Keep in mind, there is a free solution to this issue with a double-import from this webblog-

http://www.rassoc.com/gregr/weblog/2011/12/02/editing-canon-30p-pf30-footage-in- fcpx/


It's too much work for me, but it's free.


Dave

Jan 18, 2012 11:03 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

Tom Wolsky wrote:


The best thing you can do is avoid using segmented frame video at all times.


Tom,


If I could go back in time and remedy the situation with a different camera purchase, I probably would. It would be nice if a camera that is advertised as shooting 30p actually shot true 30p (like the DSLRs). I had no idea what segmented frame video was until I ran into this problem. I think many of the users in this forum are in the same boat.


But today, I still own a Canon S100 that I use for shooting web/family video and can't afford to replace it. I started with a Canon GL1 many years ago and stuck with Canon. I'm not sure I would do so in the future.


Thanks,

Dave

Feb 12, 2012 5:02 PM in response to Harmonica_Lessons

I was hoping 10.0.3 would have fixed this problem but it appears it made it worse. The "double import" method no longer works for me. It continues to work on footage I imported before 10.0.3 but not on footage I imported after 10.0.3. The new footage remains as 1080i after the "double import".


Double importing was the simplest of the two methods. Now I am using

  • ClipWrap to rewrap the files to a folder,
  • FileMultiTool to fix the modification dates (a bug in ClipWrap leaves a random number of files with a modification date of "today"),
  • A Better Rename to name the files as YYYY-MM-DD HH_MM_SS,
  • Then I import them into FCP X.


Quite a long process for what should be a simple import.

Feb 12, 2012 6:05 PM in response to Badunit

Actually, I just noticed a problem with this workflow (and remembered another).


A direct import into FCP X creates a file that has the start date&time of the video. A file rewrapped with ClipWrap has the date&time that the file was created on my camera. The ClipWrap date&time is more like the time the clip ended, not the time I started shooting.


ClipWrap doesn't always combine clips, leaving me with two or more clips when I should have one.


Double importing didn't have either of these problems.


I'm at a loss.

AVCHD PF30 imports as 29.97i

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