Multicam, Multi-format Workflow 101 Help Needed
 

I have Final Cut Studio 2 and have been mostly using Final Cut Pro and haven’t even looked at Color, Compressor, Cinema Tools, or Motion yet.

I now want to learn to create and edit multi-camera shoots but have the added complexity of my cameras having differing frame rates, resolutions, and codecs. My Sony FX7 shoots at 1440x1080 @ 60i only, Canon HV30 shoots 1440x1080 @ 60i, 30p and 24p, and my Panasonic GH2 shoots at 1920x1080 @ 60i and 24p. I ran a test shooting with all three in various modes. Log and Captured/Log and Transferred the files into FCP and when I select Item Properties -> Format I get a Vid Rate for 29.97fps for all three. What happened to 60i? And how’d the GH2 get a 29.97? Capture settings wrong?

When I selected the clips and tried to create a Multiclip I got a codec mismatch error. So, I assume that I either need to change how the clips are loaded into FCP or use something else to convert them so they’re all to be the same codec. I searched forum and found several threads with bits and pieces of the answer but nothing detailed enough or down to my current level of understanding. If you can give me some basic steps or a link to solve this I’d appreciate it.

Thanks.

Re: Multicam, Multi-format Workflow 101 Help Needed
 

You have to have indentical codecs (including frame rate and pixel dimensions) for multi cam to work. Use Compressor to convert the files to a common size in ProRes. 60i is considered to be 29.97f and HDV cameras will record everything into a 60i container, regardless of the frame rate selected. The GH2 does the same recording in the AVCHD codec although I was under the impression that Log and Transfer converts 24p in a 60i container into a true 24p file (23.97f).

Re: Multicam, Multi-format Workflow 101 Help Needed
 

Thanks. It's a tad more involved than I'd thought but I need to look at the other FCS components anyway. Will dig into Compressor this morning. Luckily, this is just a learning process I've decided on and not a pressing project with ten hours of mixed footage and a tight deadline like some of the posts I've read around the net in researching this. Thanks for the help.

Re: Multicam, Multi-format Workflow 101 Help Needed
 

You might think in terms of acquisition codecs, editing codec and delivery formats.

It took me several 5 minute projects to get the wrinkles ironed out. Whatever I shoot in, it all gets transcoded into ProRes 24p for editing, then upon completion, exported to a Self Contained file, which goes into Compressor for transcoding into H.264, MPEG2 etc.

Consider PluralEyes from Singular Software for syncing between multiple cameras. It's amazing and the support is great.

Re: Multicam, Multi-format Workflow 101 Help Needed
 

Thanks for the reply. I was going to dive into it and research what I needed to do a few days ago but client work got in the way. I've never transcoded or used Comressor so that's two new learning curves right there. Hopefully, I'll benefit from all this pending new knowledge. :-)