Final Cut Pro AVCHD glitches after L&T

Question

Final Cut Pro AVCHD glitches after L&T

I am shooting a doc on the AF100 and using Log and Transfer to create ProRes 422 files. ( I got rid of my MacPro for financial reasons a few months back and thought I could work on my MacBook Pro.) But all my ProRes files have tiny glitches in them, probably 2-3 frames of digital glitchiness in some part of the frame every 2 minutes or so. My AVCD files are on an external drive connected with a 800 FW cable, and the files are going back to that drive. I am not using my computer at the same time to do any other heavy duty stuff. I am working on FCP 7.0.3. I have about 80 gigs free on my internal HD so not enough to store the final files (though I could try to put the AVCHD files on the desktop and see if that helps-- I will try that next.)

I had this problem about a year back and solved it by using my MacPro...unfortunately that's no longer an option. Any ideas how I can get clean ProRes files on my MacBook Pro? Maybe there's another software to create ProRes files from AVCHD files? Thanks very much for any help.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.4Ghz Intel Core Duo, 8 GB Ram

Posted on Oct 23, 2012 8:07 AM

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Answer 1

RatVega™

Level 4

2,005 points

Oct 23, 2012 10:08 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you solved this problem using your Mac Pro then you presumably know what causes the problem. Although there may be pros and cons for laptops vs. towers, your MBP should be capable of performing the same work.

Please post what it was you did with the Mac Pro that cured the problem and let's see if we can figure a work-around.

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Answer 2

Oct 23, 2012 10:32 AM in response to RatVega™

Thanks for your response RatVega. I didn't do anything special with my MacPro -- it just did the job without creating any glitches. I did have to get rid of my MacPro, though, so I am really hoping I can find a solution on my laptop. I would imagine there should be a way to create clean ProRes files on a laptop of this caliber?? I did once take this laptop on location with me and was able to use it to create clean ProRes files from AF100 footage, but that was over two years ago. I can't imagine what might have changed. The only thing I haven't tried yet is setting my destination for the Prores files to the hardrive itself, but I really can't do that because I don't have enough space. All other configurations (FW drive-FW drive, desktop-FW drive) have failed to produce perfectly clean footage.

I may try switching to a different drive/firwire cable and see if that yields any results.

Are there any softwares out there that do this transcoding outside of FCP?

Thanks.

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Answer 3

Oct 23, 2012 2:05 PM in response to cameragirlnyc

Do you see the glitches in Quicktime player as well as FCP?

DM

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Answer 4

Oct 23, 2012 3:27 PM in response to David Mclaine

Hey David, yes, I see the glitches in QT as well.

I tried another firewire drive and cable (G-Raid that has it's own power source) and it seems there are fewer glitches but I do still see a random pixelated moment (it's usually just one small part of the screen) every few minutes in the footage.

Thanks.

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Answer 5

RatVega™

Level 4

2,005 points

Oct 23, 2012 6:49 PM in response to cameragirlnyc

Yes, it is possible to transcode outside FCP. I'm not familiar with your camera, but it should be possible to get the "native" footagge off and onto a hard drive. If nothing else, you could always log and transfer without the ProRes transcode (there are options in the L&T prefs.) From there, you can batch process the clips in Compressor and bring them into FCP as transcoded data using Import.

Set up a test of a clip or two to see if the resulting clips are glitch free.

The big difference between "then" and "now" is that your laptop doesn't have the processor or disk transfer bandwidth of the Mac Pro and therein may be the cause. This would worsen if your system drive and Firewire drive are not 7200 RPM. You can check the disk specs in Apple System Profiler.

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Answer 6

Oct 25, 2012 5:32 AM in response to RatVega™

Thanks RatVega- I think the computer may be too slow- it looks like it's 5400 RPM (the info was not in System Profiler though...not sure why, but I found it on the Apple site). It's a real bummer because I got rid of my desktop and invested in this MacBook "Pro" (before that I had the MacPro and my sturdy Powerbook laptop) because the MacPro did not have the right inputs for my new screen. I rarely edit anymore, mostly just shooting and transcoding the files for producers, many of whom require footage to be submitted ready to import into FCP. So...not sure where to go from here. It looks like I may have to buy a desktop just for transcoding purposes. It will probably be cheaper to get an older desktop that can do the job than to upgrade to better laptop. It's a real bummer because budgets just seem to be getting tighter these days and the pressure just gets higher to deliver high end product.

The funny thing is that I am pretty sure I remember being on a shoot in Colombia in early 2011 with my Powerbook (probably dating to about 2006 or 7), and being able to use it to successfully make ProRes files out of AF100 footage on location!

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Answer 7

Oct 25, 2012 5:58 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

I take that back -- I think I had this MacBook Pro with me on the shoot in Colombia -- and it worked perfectly back then! What could have gone wrong...?

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Answer 8

Oct 25, 2012 6:11 AM in response to cameragirlnyc

You can also try BlueXFree which is a free download on the Mac App store. BlueXFree will rewrap the AVCHD into a Quicktime movie really fast or convert the video to ProRes. You can also set "in" and "out" points, so you don't have to convert the entire movie.

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Answer 9

Oct 25, 2012 12:42 PM in response to cameragirlnyc

in your first post you said you would try copying the card to your internal hard drive. Have you tried that yet?

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Answer 10

Oct 25, 2012 6:19 PM in response to Michael Grenadier

I have tried copying the card to my internal drive and it didn't fix it -- it may have cut down on the number of glitches, though. It seems that all but the newest models of the MacBook Pro have the 5400 RPM drives...I'm still not sure what to do -- don't want to buy a new computer if there may be a fix that will let me use log and transfer with AVCHD files on this one. I have not tried the other software yet.

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Answer 11

Oct 25, 2012 6:26 PM in response to cameragirlnyc

I honestly don't think it's the drive speed. This is not like a capture where the drive has to keep up with the data coming from the tape/deck. firewire 800 should be fast enough for this process.

Have you tried deleting your fcp preferences?

www.digitalrebellion.com has a program called preference manager that will do it.

Also, I'd try running diskutility: disk repair on all drives and run diskwarrior if you've got it on all drives.

Also, are all drives formatted macosextended?

I'm assuming you're in NYC. If so, and you'd like to bring your macbook pro by my edit room, I'd be happy to take a look and see if there's anything obvious. My email is mgrenadier@gmail.com

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Answer 12

RatVega™

Level 4

2,005 points

Oct 25, 2012 8:01 PM in response to cameragirlnyc

Michael is absolutely correct; a file copy transfers at the speed of the slower device, so it should come in as clean as the original. My comments deal with playback from disk to FCP.

If you have glitches in the source file you copied to your system drive, the problem may be with the camera.

And don't fret about having a 5400 RPM system drive, many people do. You shouldn't have source on the system drive anyway. 7200 RPM is an option on some MBPs and makes them a little snappier. Your external (source) drive is the one that really needs to be 7200 (and use FireWire or Thunderbolt) to maintain playback speed.

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Answer 13

Oct 26, 2012 3:40 AM in response to RatVega™

as RatVega suggests, the problem may be with the camera. Have you tried to playback the material on the camera?

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Answer 14

Oct 27, 2012 2:36 PM in response to Michael Grenadier

Thanks for the advice. I have not deleted my prefs. The source files are fine though, because the glitches end up at different spots each time I Log and Transfer the same files.

So my story took an unfortunate turn on Thursday...I spilt a cup of tea all over my laptop. My boyfriend insists it was a kind of Freudian slip where I was acting out on my anger at the inanimate (mostly) object. In any case, the computer is at Digital Society in NYC. They're supposed to give me an estimate on repair by about Tuesday. Fantastic!

I'm glad to hear I don't necessarily have to upgrade to a 7200 RPM laptop b/c there aren't many options with that.

Thanks, Michael for offering to look at the computer! That's very nice of you. IF the computer is worth fixing and if the other ideas don't work I'll def. hit you up.

OK, please keep your fingers crossed...

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