Final Cut Pro
 

Forgive me if this has been discussed but what is the workflow for editing the Xacti HD1 with Final Cut Pro. I can import the .mp4 files into the Browser and play them unrendered in the Viewer, but as soon as I load them into the Timeline they need to be rendered before they can be played.

I tried using iMovie and it seems to work, but it also crashes, A LOT. Anyway, using iMovie is a comedown when you are used to FCP.

Again if this has been explained elsewhere, please point me there.

I took the camera on a vacation in Europe and got some great footage, which now I'm anxious to edit.

Jim B

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The early bird may get the worm, but the second
mouse gets the cheese.
Steven Wright

Jim,

I'm not having any crashes editing Xacti files, but since you have FCP, what you can do is to let iMovieHD import all of the files, save the project, go to the file in the finder and option-click to display inside of the package, the import all of the files from the media folder into the FCP. For FCP, you can select AIC preset for editing then you should be able to use the realtime editing. This is the same trick that Frederic Haubrich's AIC editing idea which was introduce when FCP wasn't directly supporting FX1.

I have also had good luck editing HD1 footage in iMovie, then rendering in the same Apple Intermediate codec, which takes only slightly longer than the running time of the project. When I am entirely satisfied with the result, I convert in Quicktime to MP4 H.264. This takes a little while, but reduces the file size to about one seventh, without any noticeable loss of quality.

Getting there
 

Thanks for the help but I've got a few questions. When I import into iMovie, the .mp4 files become .dv files; about 3.1 times bigger. These appear to use the DV codec and import into standard FCP files, sort of. The video is native but the audio still needs to be rendered. When I open FCP using the 720p AIC codec, they have to be rendered as before with both audio and video.
So, is there any way of resetting iMovie to convert them to AIC files?

Jim B


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Jesus saves, Allah forgives, and Cthulhu thinks you would make a tasty sandwich.

This indicates that your sequence settings don't match the clip settings. Make sure your sequence matches the capture settings.

-gb-

If you set iMovie project settings to 1280 x 720P HD, the HD1 files should be converted to Apple Intermediate Codec "little endian" when they are imported; I don't use FCP, but I should think these could then be imported there.

Thanks, folks
 

I loaded into iMovie and then imported into FCP. As you suggested, it was just a matter of tweaking the import format so that they matched the AIC. Seems to be working fine now though I'll let you know if there is any residual wierdness in FCP.

Again, thanks

Jim B

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Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage; now that's a different story...

with apologies to Buckaroo Banzai

That's the ticket.
Some examples here (along with other formats).