Native GH4 files or ProRes into FCP7?

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Level 1

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Native GH4 files or ProRes into FCP7?

When I import .MOV files from a Panasonic GH4 (HD shot at 24p 100mb) into Final Cut 7 they seem to be fine. If I convert these files to ProRes I can notice no difference in how they play. The only difference is the blue-grey bar that appears over the .MOV files in the Timeline. A FC manual I have says: “a blue green bar indicates material that has already been rendered.”

I'm wondering exactly what that means. I know the footage from the camera, the .MOV files, are IPB and that converted to ProRes they are All-I. Yet as far as I know Final Cut works with IPB footage, that it doesn't have to be rendered to ProRes first. (HDV seems an example of this.) So, in what way have my .MOV files been rendered? Or am I missing something?

Can anyone tell me exactly what's going on here.

Thanks.

John

Posted on Oct 13, 2015 12:21 PM

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Answer 1

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Shane Ross

Level 8

43,110 points

Oct 13, 2015 1:07 PM in response to Canada John

Convert. They might LOOK like they work now, but it's deceptive. It's bad that they seem like they work. But you'll notice issues when you export...sync issues, glitching. And you might encounter sync issues as your editing progresses.

FCP can import any Quicktime file. And if you drop it into a sequence and click "YES" when it asks if you want the settings to match...then all will SEEM fine. The sequence will match the footage, so it'll not look like you need to render. But all sorts of issues will crop up. This was a big problem...and still is. And is why FCX can either work natively with some files, or asks "Hey, want to optimize these files to work with FCX?" It addressed the issue that happens when FCP 7 tricks you into thinking things will work fine.

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