exporting HDV for broadcast quality
 

Hi,

I'm having difficulty and maybe someone could help me out. I've captured footage shot on my Canon HV20 in 1080i60 (24F or whatever its called) into Final Cut Express HD 3.0 on my Powerbook G4 15" 1.25 ghz with 2gb RAM.

Now I want to export individual clips in the same file format they were captured in. I captured using the Apple Intermediate Codec for HDV and I just want to export the edited clips individually. I should have captured them in native HDV but my version of FC doesn't give me that option.

Here's what I was told by the people I'm sending the clips to:
>> Please send it in it's native format of HDV Apple
>> Intermediate Codec 1080i60. I belive in Final Cut
>> it's HDV 1080i60.

So is it correct to export by selecting File>Export>Quicktime Movie...? and this will export the native format of HDV Apple Intermediate Codec for 1080i60 without conversion, basically the same format as what the clips were captured in?

When I do this though, I get a DV/DVC PRO NTSC file at 720x480 which takes 2 minutes to export. Or if I export without compression it takes 2 hours, impossible for 100 clips.

Is it supposed to take 2 hours? Does this mean I need a faster system? I'm not even sure if the version of Final Cut Express HD 3.0 can handle this, would the simplest solution be to upgrade? Since this is kind of on a deadline, I was hoping to find a quick solution to give them what they want. Thanks in advance!

Greg

I wonder if the people are confused about what they need. AIC should work fine for them. It also sounds like your sequence settings might be off. I'm not totally familiar with FCE 3 so some of the following may be beyond it's abilities.

Now when you say "edited clips" do you mean selects from larger captured files? Say 10 seconds from a file with 2 minutes of total captured video? If so I suggest that you create a sequence in the same AIC codec you used and string all the 100 selects onto the time line separated by a small slug of black. Then create a Quicktime movie (self-contained) from the sequence which should take place quickly depending on the length of the sequence. Since it sounds like they are using FCP, a self-contained QuickTime movie created this way should work perfectly. This can be put on a FireWire drive and sent to them. Give them a paper log of where each clip is.

Your PowerBook is rather underpowered for the type of work you are asking of it. If you can, you might consider just copying all the AIC clips unedited to a hard drive and sending that to them. That will be the quickest. When you get out of this pickle, consider an upgrade to a MacBook at least.

Hi William,

by edited clips I do mean selects from larger files. I want individual files of the footage between the in and out points.

FCE seems COMPLETELY inconsistent right now, or I'm not using it correctly which is possible. I select Export>Quicktime Movie... which gives me inconsistent clip files. I have managed somehow, one clip file which appears correct.

This clip file does not have the letterbox. Every other clip has the letter box. The correct clip shows dimensions of 1920x1080, "Apple Intermediate Codec, Integer (Big Endian)" and looks fine, while every other clip shows 1440x1080 "Integer (Big Endian), Apple Intermediate Codec" in the get info box. Well I am just completely baffled as to why the first one came out as it should but the other ones aren't correct.

But sometimes the clips are exported 720x480 "Integer (Big Endian), Apple Intermediate Codec" or "DV/DVCPRO - NTSC, Integer (Big Endian)" and the files are way too small.

What should my sequence settings be? How do I export at 1920x1080 without the letterbox, or in other words how do I export the native format in which the clips were captured in FCE?

Well I know that the HV20 shoots 1440x1080 onto tape not 1920x1080, so that's what you are looking for if you are trying to stay native. If you convert to 1920x1080 there will be some image stretching.

If you are getting 720x480(down converting to SD) then you have the setting wrong when you are exporting. Make sure your export settings are the same as the settings in your clip browser. I believe FCE 3.0 has a browser, I may be remembering wrong though.

Upgrading to FCE 4 or FCP 6 would probably solve your issue with capturing, although that wouldn't solve your problem of an underpowered rig. In order to use all of the features of FCP 6 for example, you need a dedicated video card with 128 mb of vram. Also, they are optimized for intel processors.

thanks for the help. I might not have consistent settings, so I will check that the clip browser settings match the export settings. My solution if this doesn't work for this job is to upgrade to the new macbook pro and FCP studio 2.

greg

Hey I figured it out. My version of Final Cut Express HD predates high definition becoming a common standard so it doesn't provide the functionality to export quicktime movies like I need. All the clips are stored on the hard drive in the capture scratch folder at 1080x1920 (or x 1440 I forget how my computer formats captures from the HV20) but when Final Cut Express HD 3.5 exports these it can only do so at 720x480 DV/NTSC or at 1080x1920 but with letterboxing.

Somehow, I am boggled, I have one file exported correctly and perfectly but I have not been able to reproduce it and have spent some time trying already. I believe the sequence settings need adjusting, the frame size is 720x480 when it should be HD resolution 1080x1920 or 1440, but NOT 720x480.

When I click "item properties" the box shows under the "Clip" column the 720x480 frame size while the "V1" column shows the real frame size at 1080x1920.

FCE HD 3.5 won't export 1080x1920 without letterboxing. I need to upgrade.

My temporary solution is to print the selects to video and then recapture the clips on my school's system which has a newer version of FCP, then I should be able to export the selects in their native format for delivery. If anyone out there has any ideas let me know. I'm trying to export the selects as full resolution quicktime movies of HDV, which should be in their native file format but FCE 3.5 can't do that. Thanks for the help.

Greg