I have AVI files that I need to convert to MOV files so that I can edit them in Final Cut Pro. I am going to use Quick Time Pro for this....When I have the files open in QT Pro do I have to 'export' it or can I just 'save as', or is there even a differenc

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I have AVI files that I need to convert to MOV files so that I can edit them in Final Cut Pro. I am going to use Quick Time Pro for this....When I have the files open in QT Pro do I have to 'export' it or can I just 'save as', or is there even a differenc

I have AVI files that I need to convert to MOV files so that I can edit them in Final Cut Pro. I am going to use Quick Time Pro for this....When I have the files open in QT Pro do I have to 'export' it or can I just 'save as', or is there even a difference? Thanks in advance for your help!

Final Cut Pro 7, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jun 25, 2012 4:57 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

dsimagry

Level 4

1,275 points

Jun 25, 2012 5:34 PM in response to Nicolatrombley

You would use EXPORT, then select a compatible Video and Audio codec to convert the video to. All SAVE AS does is give the video a .mov wrapper. In other words, it just adds .mov to the end of the video. That doesn't mean it won't work for you. Give it a try, it may just work for you.

Depending on the codec of those avi's, there may be no need for you to CONVERT them to another format. If Quicktime can open and view those avi's with no problems, then Final Cut can also view and edit those avi's with no problems.

Also, have you considered installing the PERIAN Quicktime extension to your computer?

Download Perian extension at.. http://perian.org/

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Answer 2

Jun 25, 2012 6:14 PM in response to dsimagry

Thanks for your response....Sorry if i seem stupid but I just want to make sure i understand what I am doing....OK so when I tired to add the AVI files into FCP, FCP told me that the files were not optimized for it and that I should use the media manager in FCP to make copies of the files. I did this and when I edited a small sequeunce and burned it to DVD and the end result was not pretty. The picture was very interlaced (hopefully I am using that term correcly?) When I did the SAVE AS it seemed to work much better and when I burned it to DVD it played fine. I had a bad feeling that the SAVE AS was not the right option so I asked my question here. This is the sequesnce settings that I get if I pull teh AVI files staright into FCP as it, does this look OK to work with?

Also, what does Perian do? Thanks again for the help!

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Answer 3

dsimagry

Level 4

1,275 points

Jun 25, 2012 6:31 PM in response to Nicolatrombley

As a general rule, try not to convert a video file into another format. Everytime you do so, you just introduce artifacts and degrade the quality/clarity of the video.

What PERIAN does, is allow the QUICKTIME ENGINE in your computer to recognize and play a greater number of formats, that way you don't have to convert a video into another format, to be able to view the video, or edit the video. Give it a try, you may like it. And if you don't like PERIAN, you can always UN-INSTALL.

Regarding your settings (posted above), trust your judgement, play around with different settings. They look fine to me.

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Answer 4

Jun 26, 2012 10:37 AM in response to dsimagry

So is the general consensus that I need not convert these files? (or that I can just save as in QT pro to mmake it an MOV, so that I won't have playback problems) I just want to make very sure that this is the case before I start editing this very long project....

I hope my questions aren't coming off as totally ignorant?!

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Answer 5

dsimagry

Level 4

1,275 points

Jun 26, 2012 12:37 PM in response to Nicolatrombley

I think you just answered your own question.

If the video in its current format is not slowing down the performance of your editing software, or causing your editing software to crash, then I see no need to do anything else to it.

If by adding a .mov wrapper to the video, as you are doing when you do a SAVE AS in Quicktime, allows for a smoother playback once imported into the editing software, and it doesn't degrade the quality of the video, then I also see nothing wrong with that being done to the video (avi's).

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