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Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy best compression upon output DVCPRO HD 1080i60 Posted by Bradley Greenwell on June 25, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Hello,

Can anyone help or verify that I’m getting the best quality out of my work.

I’m editing a half our show in FCP 6.0.5, the codec being used is DVCPRO HD 1080i60 witch is native to what it was shot in. I,m going to export using compressor(DVCPRO HD 1080i60) to get a 25gig MOV file. Im going to deliver it to the station and they will be loading it into an Avid and dumping it to Sony HDCAM.

Is this workflow going to cause me quality loss?

Any suggestions would be much needed.

Thanks

Bradley J.
Bradley Greenwell replied 16 years, 8 months ago 3 Members · 7 Replies
7 Replies

Shane Ross
June 25, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Well, this workflow won’t work. DVCPRO HD is a codec native to FCP only…their Avid will not have it so when they open the file, it will be white or black…audio but no video. They will have to purchase a DVCPRO HD DECODER in order for this to work.

https://www.calibratedsoftware.com/QDVCProHD.asp

Then they will need to transcode to DNxHD for them to output. This really shouldn’t cause much quality loss. Some, but negligible. You could always install the Avid codecs on your machine and then convert your final output to DNxHD before you give it to them. The LE codecs are free…PE codecs only come with Avid Media Composer or Adrenaline.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
John Pale
June 26, 2009 at 1:17 pm
You could also convert it to Avid’s DVCPRO HD codec, which they call DV100. Its basically a rewrap of the regular Quicktime codec, so it should be fairly quick. Make sure you get all the settings right. The Avid codec interface is pretty clunky and you have to go into options to select everything.

Then you are at least not taking the compression hit to DNXHD. (which is small, but combined with the HDCAM compression, you will be triple compressing)
Bradley Greenwell
June 26, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Hi Shane,

Thanks for responding.

I have the Avid codecs installed. I tried changing my compressor in the sequence setting to Dnx HD and it looked horrible. Then I tried it when I ran it through compressor and it looked sharp but the station said they couldnt read it.

Ive been giving them the DVCPro HD codec shows for the last 10 weeks. They say they bring it in and transcode it to DNXHD, and downconvert to SD upon output to DVC Pro. So from what it sounds like, this is an ok method?

If you dont mind I’d like to ask you another question. In FCP when the timieline is complete and you have all the voice, sound effects, music, do you recommend a mixdown, and if so, how much? And what audio setting do you recommend in the compressor settings. This is for broadcast.

Thanks

Bradley J.
Shane Ross
June 26, 2009 at 5:45 pm
[bradley greenwell] “I tried changing my compressor in the sequence setting to Dnx HD and it looked horrible. “

Don’t do that! This is FCP, not Avid. DO NOT use Avid codecs as your compressor in FCP. No no no…CONVERT to DNxHD…

[bradley greenwell] “They say they bring it in and transcode it to DNXHD, and downconvert to SD upon output to DVC Pro. So from what it sounds like, this is an ok method?”

That sounds like more work than needed. Why transcode to DNxHD and then DV? That is adding a step of unneeded compression. SO they want a DVCAM master? Or DVCPRO 25 master rather? Then just output to that…forget transcoding. I thought you were trying to stay HD. Either output to that format via a capture card, downconverting on the fly (BEST method), or use Compressor to convert to that format.

[bradley greenwell] “FCP when the timieline is complete and you have all the voice, sound effects, music, do you recommend a mixdown, and if so, how much?”

Mixdown? You mean that option in the Sequence settings? That just ensures your audio is fully rendered. I am very unclear on this question…how much do I mix down? I don’t generally do the sound mix, I export an OMF to an audio mixer and they do it.

[bradley greenwell] “And what audio setting do you recommend in the compressor settings. This is for broadcast. “

What compressor settings? FCP works with AIFF 16bit sterero, and WAV. ALL AUDIO must be in that format…period.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
Bradley Greenwell
June 26, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Hi Shane,

The show is edited and output in HD as a digital file. When the station gets the DVCPRO HD MOV file they load it in the Avid Adrenaline and downconvert to SD via hardware for broadcast. I’m unclear on how they import the show in the Avid.

Now it has come time with this season to make SonyHD tapes for distribution which are the same shows that have already been broadcast in SD. SO my plan is to give them the shows on a drive all in DVCPRO HD 1080i60 format and have them dump it to Sony HD tape through there Avid Adrenaline. I’m assuming they have the proper codecs, just because all the previous SD shows have aired.

I just want to make sure its not being over compressed, would it be better for me to rent a sonyHD deck and output myself?

When you said NO NO NO DNXHD conversion are saying just in FCP, or in general?

The audio mixdown I was referring to is actually “audio normalization” in the modify tab. Is that something that might benefit the over all audio?

I don’t have the proper hardware to do this from my editing bay thats why I hand off to the station.

Bradley J.
Shane Ross
June 26, 2009 at 10:07 pm
[bradley greenwell] “When the station gets the DVCPRO HD MOV file they load it in the Avid Adrenaline and downconvert to SD via hardware for broadcast.”

SO they have done this before? You just said that you were GOING to do this. Again, if you export as a DVCPRO HD codec…QT movie, self contained…there is ZERO quality loss, but they will NOT be able to see it unless they have FCP installed, or get that Calibrated decoder. Without those, the file is unviewable.

[bradley greenwell] ” I’m assuming they have the proper codecs, just because all the previous SD shows have aired. “

So this is where I am asking, have you done this before? Given them the file as DVCPRO HD? If so, and they worked with it before, than that is fine. That is the best quality you can give them. What they do with it is up to them.

[bradley greenwell] “I just want to make sure its not being over compressed, would it be better for me to rent a sonyHD deck and output myself? “

It isn’t…exporting a self contained QT movie is the SAME compression…zero loss. And you can always rent a deck, as long as you have a capture card and an HD monitor and know how to prep a show for network delivery.

[bradley greenwell] “The audio mixdown I was referring to is actually “audio normalization” in the modify tab. Is that something that might benefit the over all audio? “

You don’t just mix audio with the press of a button. That is the lazy and WRONG way to do it. Like color correcting with one button. No…either go through clip by clip and correct it, or send it to an audio mixer and let him do it. Audio is not the thing you should pay the least amount of attention to. Audio is by far MORE IMPORTANT than picture. If you have a grainy shot, or something isn’t lit just so…the eye can be forgiving. But a pop or bad audio of any kind, and your ear and brain pick that up…more than visual errors.

Do not skimp on your audio. Don’t just press a button and go “there, all done.” You need to make sure the music isn’t overpowering, that the SFX are properly adjusted, that you can hear people.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it. Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
Bradley Greenwell
June 26, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Hi Shane

I’m not looking for any quick fix on audio. I spend just as much time if not more on the audio. I just wanted to make sure I was not missing something that might make my audio even better.

I am not making a FCP quicktime self contained file. I’m exporting through compressor to give me a MOV file, which comes out to about 25 gigs a show. And the reason for this is it gives me less glitches than a quicktime conversion out of fcp.

the station does not have FCP.

I just want to make sure my workflow is giving me the best quality possible.

My end file, 25 gigs, DVCPRO HD going to sonyHD tape. Is there anything I’m missing as far as making this file better.

Bradley J.

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