gmizzell

Q: How do I get FCPX to render through Compressor?

I have used FCP for many years and I have had an iphone since the first one.  I have the iPhone 6+S and the latest FCPX and so I thought I would import and retime a slow motion video shot on my iphone.  It is about 2 minutes long after being retimed.  FCPX has the Compressor selection on the File menu in gray and no clue as to why I can't send it to Compressor.  Any ideas?  I really want to get the video rendered but FCPX seems to refuse to do it.  I am using my MacBook Pro 16 gb ram - 1 TB retina etc.

 

Thanks

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8.4.1

Posted on Oct 8, 2015 6:12 AM

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Q: How do I get FCPX to render through Compressor?

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  • by gmizzell,

    gmizzell gmizzell Oct 8, 2015 3:47 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Oct 8, 2015 3:47 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Screen Shot 2015-10-08 at 5.46.12 PM.png

    I just used the image capture utility that comes with the mac.

     

    Thanks

    George

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 8, 2015 4:18 PM in response to gmizzell
    Level 10 (118,222 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 8, 2015 4:18 PM in response to gmizzell

    TThe finder info window is useless. Need the info from the inspector in the QT player. I see the markings on the clips in the browser. That's not good. Can't see the clip in the browser, but see it in the timeline. Is that the only clip in the timeline?

     

    OPen the background task window and see what's happening. If anything let us know what. If nothing relaunch the application holding OPT-Cmd to reset the preferences to the default state.

     

    IMage Capture really shouldn't be used for this. Not sure how well it works in a new OS with a new model phone.

  • by gmizzell,

    gmizzell gmizzell Oct 8, 2015 5:21 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Oct 8, 2015 5:21 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Here is the QT inspector

     

    Screen Shot 2015B copy.jpg

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 8, 2015 5:38 PM in response to gmizzell
    Level 10 (118,222 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 8, 2015 5:38 PM in response to gmizzell

    TThe frame rate shows as 41.7.  I see what's happening. Despite the very bright area of the burner, the image is quite dark. To record at a high frame rate you need a very fast shutter speed and that needs a lot of light. I suspect in those lighting conditions the phone goes to the best frame rate it can. That's unfortunate because you end up with these crazy non-standard frame rates. The phone also changes frame rates randomly. I set it to 30fps, the room gets dark and the frame rate drops to 24. It brightens again and the frame rate goes up to 30 again. It's really stupid to do this kind of thing with video, but there it is.

     

    IS this the only clip in the project? Can you export just that one clip? It should work. Did you reset your preferences? What's happening n the background task window.

  • by gmizzell,

    gmizzell gmizzell Oct 8, 2015 8:10 PM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Oct 8, 2015 8:10 PM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Hopefully we are getting close to figuring it out and then we can figure out a solution.  There are no background tasks running.  I tried changing the retime to 20% instead of 12% and that did not let Compressor become an option.  I am wondering if I need to take it over to Adobe Premiere to see if it has better tools.  I just think there is a setting somewhere that if I knew where it was it would go back to working.  On the iphone when the video plays back in slow motion it really looks very good and is exactly what i need.  I just need to render it as an MP4 so i can upload it to my web page where I plan on putting this.  I want it to play in slow motion - not at full speed.  It is too hard to tell what is going on at full speed.

     

    Thanks

    George

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Oct 9, 2015 1:05 AM in response to gmizzell
    Level 6 (12,092 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2015 1:05 AM in response to gmizzell

    You are mixing a bunch of separate issues in this.

     

    One is the matter of importing from iPhone - and you got it covered. Image Capture just copies the file as it is, so I it is not a problem.

     

    Another one is the actual video capture on the iPhone. Tom has already explained why that is not really recorded at 240fps, despite your expectations.

     

    Yet other issues deal with retiming and exporting. Your screenshot shows something is happening with the clips in the browser. One of them is missing, and the second, which appears to be one you are using in the timeline, shows a badge with the rotating thing. I think that is where you need to focus.

    Show us both how the clip and the project appear in the browser.

  • by gmizzell,

    gmizzell gmizzell Oct 9, 2015 1:21 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Oct 9, 2015 1:21 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Luis/Tom

     

    Thanks for working through this issue.  I took these videos in China about 2 months ago and I am using them in a report so I need to figure out how to use them.  I have had success jumping over to Premiere but I like FCPx better and want to see how to do it in FCPX.   I am assuming by "Browser" you mean the full screen shot of FCPX and here is the screen shot.  If you need something else let me know.

     

    Screen Shot 2015C.png

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Oct 9, 2015 5:32 AM in response to gmizzell
    Level 6 (12,092 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 9, 2015 5:32 AM in response to gmizzell

    I am assuming by "Browser" you mean the full screen shot of FCPX and here is the screen shot.  If you need something else let me know.

     

    The browser is the area where you see what clips and projects are in your events - marked in red in the image below.

    What we'd like to see is how clip IMG_4374 appears there. We can see a clip IMG_4572 in red and with a camera badge on it.

    When a project uses such a clip it won't export. Does IMG_4374 also appear in this way in the browser?

     

    Screenshot 2015-10-09 at 1.27.16 PM.png

  • by Russ H,

    Russ H Russ H Oct 9, 2015 5:45 AM in response to gmizzell
    Level 7 (21,800 points)
    Quicktime
    Oct 9, 2015 5:45 AM in response to gmizzell

    Revisiting this thread, and throwing in my 2¢.

     

    It seems to me that Final Cut often  does get confused with unusual frame rates.


    As a test,  I might duplicate the file and bring it into Compressor (or AME) and in Pro Res 422 retime it to something like 59.94 – using one of the better re-timing quality choices.

     

    Then bring that file into FCP,. It may be a hash of a result, but it's worth a try.

     

    Russ

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 9, 2015 7:04 AM in response to gmizzell
    Level 10 (118,222 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 9, 2015 7:04 AM in response to gmizzell

    Did you trash your preferences?

     

    If you select the project in browser and click the share button and nothing happens I would give up on this library because it's clearly a bit of mess. Make a new library. Import the clip. Make sure it's fully imported. Make a new project. Set the custom project properties; you can't use the default setting because the clip is vertical and the format/frame rate is non-standard. Put the clip in it. Make the speed adjustment and export.

  • by gmizzell,Solvedanswer

    gmizzell gmizzell Oct 9, 2015 7:37 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Oct 9, 2015 7:37 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Tom and Luis - thanks again

     

    OK, the latest is that I have closed the original Library and created a new one.  I also opened the file in compressor directly and rendered it as ProRes 422 and it turned into a 1.1 GB video file that plays back exactly as it does on the iphone with the middle section being in slow motion which is awesome to see.  Then i imported it into a new library and the Send to Compressor is now an option but it does not play in slow motion so now I am exploring how to get it to retain the settings that the iphone had and that Apple ProRes has.   Almost there - thanks for all your help and we may never know why FCPX didn't like it the first time but as is usual in computer world - we get things finally working and move on.  My primary objective for getting it into FCPx is to crop the image and enlarge it so it is most of the frame and then export it and upload it to my video hosting site.  Thanks

     

    George

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 9, 2015 7:40 AM in response to gmizzell
    Level 10 (118,222 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 9, 2015 7:40 AM in response to gmizzell

    Put the clip in the project. Select the clip and in the inspector set spatial conform to fill. Select the clip and set the retiming menu to automatic speed. Use the speed controls to adjust the speed to whatever you want.

  • by gmizzell,

    gmizzell gmizzell Oct 9, 2015 8:59 AM in response to Russ H
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Oct 9, 2015 8:59 AM in response to Russ H

    Russ - thanks - this helped fix the problem so I am back in business:)

    Thanks

    George

  • by gmizzell,

    gmizzell gmizzell Oct 9, 2015 11:17 AM in response to Tom Wolsky
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iPad
    Oct 9, 2015 11:17 AM in response to Tom Wolsky

    Tom - in case you want to see how the final clip turned out - I put it on this temporary page

     

    http://www.allpencilsdown.com/Burner4B.html

     

    Thanks so much:)

    George

  • by Tom Wolsky,

    Tom Wolsky Tom Wolsky Oct 9, 2015 11:53 AM in response to gmizzell
    Level 10 (118,222 points)
    Apple TV
    Oct 9, 2015 11:53 AM in response to gmizzell

    Glad you got it going.

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