Flip camera clips in FCP at DVinfo.net

Reed Gidez · July 13th, 2010, 10:47 AM

I am working with some client supplied clips from various Flip camcorders with the files arriving in the usual mp4 format. Using DV Kitchen, I converted them to Pro Res 422 720p for the edit but it appears that the footage is somewhat 'jumpy'. Is this normal or am I missing something in the conversion?

The clips are from about a dozen different cameras and at least that many operators and I can't believe all of them had shaky hands!

Thanks in advance.

Reed

Robert Lane · July 13th, 2010, 11:08 AM

Nope, you're not doing anything wrong. I thoroughly tested all the consumer-grade POV cams recently (a review to be posted soon) and none of them hold up to commercial-grade standards, especially the GoPro HD, Flip and Contour HD.

Although the Contour is the only model that has a global shutter rather than rolling none of them can hold a decent frame-rate and in fact "frame skip" as it were during their recordings. In fact the video they produce is little better than a web-cam, from all aspects.

Unfortunately there's no fix I'm aware of that can smooth out this frame-jumpy behavior; you can't make up for data that just isn't there to begin with.

July 13th, 2010, 10:47 AM	#1
Reed Gidez Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Oradell, New Jersey Posts: 283	Flip camera clips in FCP I am working with some client supplied clips from various Flip camcorders with the files arriving in the usual mp4 format. Using DV Kitchen, I converted them to Pro Res 422 720p for the edit but it appears that the footage is somewhat 'jumpy'. Is this normal or am I missing something in the conversion? The clips are from about a dozen different cameras and at least that many operators and I can't believe all of them had shaky hands! Thanks in advance. Reed __________________ Reed Gidez

July 13th, 2010, 11:08 AM	#2
Robert Lane Go Go Godzilla Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ USA Posts: 2,788 Images: 15	Nope, you're not doing anything wrong. I thoroughly tested all the consumer-grade POV cams recently (a review to be posted soon) and none of them hold up to commercial-grade standards, especially the GoPro HD, Flip and Contour HD. Although the Contour is the only model that has a global shutter rather than rolling none of them can hold a decent frame-rate and in fact "frame skip" as it were during their recordings. In fact the video they produce is little better than a web-cam, from all aspects. Unfortunately there's no fix I'm aware of that can smooth out this frame-jumpy behavior; you can't make up for data that just isn't there to begin with. __________________ Robert Lane Producer/Creator - Bike Pilots TV