Footage digitized in FCE that I edited in FCP, but it doesn't look very good

Question

Level 1

9 points

Footage digitized in FCE that I edited in FCP, but it doesn't look very good

I have some old HD footage that was originally digitized via Final Cut Express 4 and is in Apple Intermediate Codec 1080 at 29.97 format.

I wanted to re-edit and remaster this old footage into something new, and actually used FCP 6.0.6 to do it, but the resulting footage looks choppy and has almost a strobe-like quality to it, even though the settings in FCP are set at HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i60 at 29.97

I'm not sure why the footage in FCP 6 isn't nearly as smooth as it would have/should have been in FCE 4, but now I would like to see what this project looks like if I do it in FCE...

The only problem is that my FCP file isn't readable by FCE and I can't seem to export or re-save it into an FCE file either.

Is there any way to do this so I don't have to start from square one and manually go back and re-edit this entire thing again in FCE?

Thank you in advance.

iMac G5 2.1 ghz

Posted on Jun 13, 2015 12:05 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,561 points

Jun 13, 2015 12:32 PM in response to DVDon3

Before you start over, try to fix what is wrong in FCP6.

Looking at the workflow as you described, it might be a field dominance issue.

In FCP6, click anywhere on the timeline and then type Command + 0 {zero} to see your sequence settings. Either report those settings (in full) or take a screen shot of the sequence settings and post that here.

Next, in the FCP6 Browser, select one of your source clips. Once selected, type Command + 9 to see the item properties. Either report those properties here, or take a screen shot of the item properties and post that here.

Where are you seeing the "strobe like quality"? In FCP on the canvas, in the viewer, both? Or when you export the finished file?

If it is when you export, describe your exporting process, and how you are viewing the exported file.

MtD

Reply

Answer 2

DVDon3 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 13, 2015 12:51 PM in response to Meg The Dog

Okay thank you.

I took screen shots of the two areas you requested and attached them here. Hopefully I did that correctly.

And the "strobe" like quality is more of a jittery/choppy look to the footage when played and it occurs in the FCP canvas when I play back the fully edited project.

Reply

Answer 3

DVDon3 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 13, 2015 12:54 PM in response to DVDon3

Reply

Answer 4

Nick Holmes

Level 7

30,018 points

Jun 13, 2015 1:41 PM in response to DVDon3

Look back at your opening post and then compare what you wrote with what it says on the screenshots.

Frame size, editing timebase and compressor type in the Sequence Settings do not match your source footage attributes at all.

Reply

Answer 5

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,561 points

Jun 13, 2015 1:50 PM in response to Nick Holmes

As Mr. Holmes says, you are editing conventional anamorphic HD material into a sequence set up with very unconventional settings, which is undoubtably causing stuttering in playback.

Was this your intention? Best practice is to edit in your source format (if possible) and then, when the edit is complete, create the specialized deliverable formats required.

MtD

Reply

Answer 6

DVDon3 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 14, 2015 9:10 PM in response to Meg The Dog

My intention was only to re-master some old footage that was originally digitized in FCE and make it into something new in FCP, because that's the program I have and use now, as opposed to FCE.

I just want it to work and look right -- so how do I do that?

Apologies, I'm unfortunately not a master of the minutia details of frame rates and obscure FCP settings -- I just know the basic stuff and how to put it together.

How can I fix this without re-doing it entirely from scratch in FCE? Or is that not possible?

Layman's terms would be appreciated. 🙂

Thank you for your help.

Reply

Answer 7

Meg The Dog

Level 6

13,561 points

Jun 14, 2015 10:07 PM in response to DVDon3

In FCP-6, create a new (empty) sequence. Don't worry about the properties of that sequence at this point, just create it.

Click on one of your source clips and drag it into the (empty) sequence you just created . FCP should prompt you to match the sequence with the source properties, say yes.

Once you have done that, click on the clip you just placed on the timeline to select it, then delete it so the sequence is empty once more.

Go to the sequence that you had done all your editing on and click anywhere on the timeline. Type Command + A to select all the clips on that timeline.

Return to the new empty sequence you have created and click on the (empty) timeline. Type Command + V to paste all your edited clips into the sequence.

Once you have done that, if the video does not look correct - it is zoomed in, or squeezed, for example, then click anywhere on the timeline and type Command + A to select all the clips.

Control-click on any one of the selected clips, and from the drop down menu, choose Remove Attributes.

When the Remove Attributes Pane opens, if they are not grayed out, check the box for Basic Motion and Distort, and the click OK.

Because the sequence you have copied from has a different frame rate than the (correct) sequence you have created, you will need to watch through the edit and make sure the clips are placed correctly on the timeline and that there are gaps in between them, etc. There is no workaround for that, but you may get lucky and have minimal adjustments to make.

MtD

Reply