How do I convert Mac Quicktime HDV to a usable PC format?
 

I have some footage that was captured with FCP 5.1.2 as Quicktime HDV and I want to edit it on my PC system in PPro 2. I have the latest version of QT on the PC but it will not recognize the QT HDV.

Does anybody have a suggestion on a conversion software that will allow me to keep the quality with no loss?

the only truly lossless way that i know of is to output what you've done back to tape and re-import it into the PC editor....

Encode it as MotionJpeg A at 95%

When you say 'encode' what do you mean? With a piece of software? Which program?

Or do you mean from FCP export a quicktime that is Motion Jpeg?

As Mike said, just export it out of FCP using a Quicktime codec that Premiere supports (ie. JPEG 2000/Uncompressed/Animation, etc.). Just use Quicktime Conversion.

I am able to do a conversion on the MAC with MPG Streamclip, but the resulting file is enormous. From 17mb for the QT HDV to 78 MB for the AVI motion JPG A version. Unacceptable.

Surely there is a way to process QT HDV file into PC friendly m2t? Or some other PC friendly HDV format?

Anybody?

If you type "Quicktime Converter" in Google you will return hundreds of results.

Have a look at this one: http://www.squared5.com/

Yeah, I love Streamclip on the MAC, but when I tried it with the PC the video came out black.

Somehow QT HDV and the mt2 file are convertable. I shall keep looking....

Anybody have or use Grass Valley ProCoder Express?

Opps! Sorry, I didn't notice that you actually did the conversion with Streamclip.

What about DiVA? http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=591

Although this isn't the best workflow, how about you use use QT Conversion to go to 8-bit Uncompressed, put that file on the PC and then use the PC to convert to whatever format Premiere likes?

Also, have you got the latest version of QT installed on your PC?

That looks like a possibly good work around (Convert on MAC then reconvert on PC), I will give it a shot. Thanks. I will let you know.

UPDATE: Not really working. I can get the QT files to open on PC now, but they are 20x larger than before. How does one convert to a PC HDV codec? I am confused...

I haven't been able to convert from a QT HDV* file to something the PC can read without it being larger than the original file, or the size of the M2T had I captured to the PC. To do that, I use MPEG Streamclip on my Mac to convert the file to a Photo JPEG at 75% Quicktime file. Only other way that I know of to get M2T that the PC can read is to capture again on the PC, or use DVHSCap that comes with the Apple Developer Tools, to capture again on the Mac to an M2T.

*As far as I can tell, FCP doesn't handle straight M2T files, and thus when you capture HDV/M2T in FCP, it writes the information to the Apple Intermediate Codec, which is only available on the Mac (AFAIK).

Boy I sure wish I knew a programmer that could write a utility to do this.

Why aren't you capturing the footage with your PC if that is where you will be editing it?

It is never advisable to capture footage on one system to edit with on another. And all your conversion solutions might not carry over timecode, and timecode, my friend, is GOLD! If you lost the media drive...it died...and you didn't have timecode reference to your footage, then your edit is gone. Your time wasted. If, however, timecode was retained, simply recapturing the footage would drop it exacty where it belongs and all will be well.

Or more to the point - why oh why would you want to edit on a PC when you have access to a FCP system!!

Could you please explain your workflow? Why capture on a Mac and edit on a PC? Shane is 100% spot on - you shouldn't be converting stuff left right and centre.

Cody, again, are you sure you have the latest version of Quicktime installed on your PC? Can you play the HDV Quicktime file in the Quicktime player? I presume Premiere can handle any Quicktime codec having never used it myself? Maybe try reinstalling? See: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/310605.html

I have started my own stock buisness and create my product on a MAC. I want the people who use a PC to also be able to purchase and use my footage as well so I am seeking a solution.

I am not a MAC snob like many people can be. I love/hate both platforms and want to support them both.

Yes, I have the latest QT installed on all my machines. I find QT to be superior to AVI in many ways.

PPRo 2 will not support that particular flavor of QT, yet.