Exporting Multiple segments from FCP timeline at DVinfo.net

John Godwin · January 11th, 2010, 09:53 AM

I've edited a number of talking head pieces ... each person is on their own timeline, divided into segments (separated by a second of black), each with it's own title. This is xdcam ex material. I need to get the client what they want (separate h.264 full-rez files of each title and segment, not one long timeline of each person) efficiently.

What I've done so far, for getting them samples, is make each segment into a self-contained .mov, then open that in QT and export it as full-rez h.264. This takes time, of course, to mark and export each one and then deal with each one in QT.

I hoped there is a more efficient way to do this from the timeline, where I can just set up the process and let it run. I'm not very familiar with Compressor yet, and I thought maybe there is a way to do this with compression markers...? Or some other good method?

Thanks in advance ...

John

William Hohauser · January 11th, 2010, 10:21 AM

Bring all the self-contained movies into Compressor at the same time. Once in the Compressor list, select them all and pick the QuickTime 7 web movie codec preset of your choice. Hit submit and off you go. You can change the destination folder, Compressor will default to the folder that the movie files are in.

You can select the timelines in the FCP bin folder and send them directly to Compressor as well.

John Godwin · January 11th, 2010, 10:49 AM

Thanks for the reply ... I was fairly sure I could batch them in Compressor, but I gather there's no way around doing the individual exports from FCP?

William Hohauser · January 11th, 2010, 11:08 AM

Depends how you have set up your project. The easiest is to Command mouse click each timeline in the bin to select them and then select Share in FCP7 or Export/Compressor in FCP6 and under. Now since you seem to have several segments in each timeline maybe you should consider creating a timeline for each segment. You can do this right before using Compressor if this is better for your work method. Just cut and paste from the large timeline into the individual timelines.

John Godwin · January 11th, 2010, 11:19 AM

Thanks again. I can do that, but again I was looking for a way to reduce the time I have to spend actually doing more work, as this has already been more labor-intensive than I bargained for. I guess I'm stuck. Thanks for the advice.

Best,
John

William Hohauser · January 11th, 2010, 01:45 PM

Remember that you are asking FCP to treat a single timeline as several timelines and it is not programed for that. It's programmed to nest timelines into other timelines. When editing long programs, I usually set up smaller timelines and nest them into a larger project at the very end. This way I can send smaller files around if the client needs to check a rough cut of a particular segment and it's easier to edit and organize all around.

Christopher Drews · January 11th, 2010, 07:38 PM

I would send the segments to compressor.
Duplicate the segments, for the complete number of QuickTime files.
For the duplicated segments set a new in and outpoint in compressor.
Then apply a global H.264 setting and submit.

In and Outpoints in Compressor is a feature that is seriously underutilized by many working editors (including myself).

-C

John Godwin · January 11th, 2010, 08:53 PM

Sounds brilliant, thanks.

William Hohauser · January 11th, 2010, 09:30 PM

Yes indeed. Haven't used that technique in a long time, it was very pokey back in the G4 days and I forgot about it. Got to try it again.

January 11th, 2010, 09:53 AM	#1
John Godwin Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 190	Exporting Multiple segments from FCP timeline I've edited a number of talking head pieces ... each person is on their own timeline, divided into segments (separated by a second of black), each with it's own title. This is xdcam ex material. I need to get the client what they want (separate h.264 full-rez files of each title and segment, not one long timeline of each person) efficiently. What I've done so far, for getting them samples, is make each segment into a self-contained .mov, then open that in QT and export it as full-rez h.264. This takes time, of course, to mark and export each one and then deal with each one in QT. I hoped there is a more efficient way to do this from the timeline, where I can just set up the process and let it run. I'm not very familiar with Compressor yet, and I thought maybe there is a way to do this with compression markers...? Or some other good method? Thanks in advance ... John

January 11th, 2010, 10:21 AM	#2
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Bring all the self-contained movies into Compressor at the same time. Once in the Compressor list, select them all and pick the QuickTime 7 web movie codec preset of your choice. Hit submit and off you go. You can change the destination folder, Compressor will default to the folder that the movie files are in. You can select the timelines in the FCP bin folder and send them directly to Compressor as well. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

January 11th, 2010, 11:08 AM	#4
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Depends how you have set up your project. The easiest is to Command mouse click each timeline in the bin to select them and then select Share in FCP7 or Export/Compressor in FCP6 and under. Now since you seem to have several segments in each timeline maybe you should consider creating a timeline for each segment. You can do this right before using Compressor if this is better for your work method. Just cut and paste from the large timeline into the individual timelines. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

January 11th, 2010, 01:45 PM	#6
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Remember that you are asking FCP to treat a single timeline as several timelines and it is not programed for that. It's programmed to nest timelines into other timelines. When editing long programs, I usually set up smaller timelines and nest them into a larger project at the very end. This way I can send smaller files around if the client needs to check a rough cut of a particular segment and it's easier to edit and organize all around. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

January 11th, 2010, 09:30 PM	#9
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Yes indeed. Haven't used that technique in a long time, it was very pokey back in the G4 days and I forgot about it. Got to try it again. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

January 11th, 2010, 10:49 AM	#3
John Godwin Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 190	Thanks for the reply ... I was fairly sure I could batch them in Compressor, but I gather there's no way around doing the individual exports from FCP?

January 11th, 2010, 11:19 AM	#5
John Godwin Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 190	Thanks again. I can do that, but again I was looking for a way to reduce the time I have to spend actually doing more work, as this has already been more labor-intensive than I bargained for. I guess I'm stuck. Thanks for the advice. Best, John

January 11th, 2010, 07:38 PM	#7
Christopher Drews Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 628	I would send the segments to compressor. Duplicate the segments, for the complete number of QuickTime files. For the duplicated segments set a new in and outpoint in compressor. Then apply a global H.264 setting and submit. In and Outpoints in Compressor is a feature that is seriously underutilized by many working editors (including myself). -C

January 11th, 2010, 08:53 PM	#8
John Godwin Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Atlanta GA Posts: 190	Sounds brilliant, thanks.