422 vs XDCam Export

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Perrone Ford

I do not understand FCP well enough to say whether or not how you set your render parameters holds for what is on the timeline. I'd feel a LOT better if someone who know FCP well enough would answer this.

For the time being, lets assume you are right, and the re-render on the timeline is actually pro-res 4:2:2. Your comment that you did a lot of color correction would indicate to me that you have done significant shifting in the available color space. If indeed you are working in the 4:2:2 space this should all be just fine. If you are not, then certainly this is not preserving all the color information it should.

What the latest version of FCP does is called 'smart rendering'. It ONLY renders items that need it. And this is where the confusion sets in. So if Dan applied CC to just one clip, that's the only thing that would be rendered in the process of applying the filters. The render control determines what codec is used for that one section. This can be different than the actual sequence settings.

That's my understanding of how FCP 6 does its thing. It's not the way FCP 5 and earlier work.

-gb-

[Dan Brazda]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

What the latest version of FCP does is called 'smart rendering'. It ONLY renders items that need it. And this is where the confusion sets in. So if Dan applied CC to just one clip, that's the only thing that would be rendered in the process of applying the filters. The render control determines what codec is used for that one section. This can be different than the actual sequence settings.

That's my understanding of how FCP 6 does its thing. It's not the way FCP 5 and earlier work.

-gb-

That's correct Greg. What is confusing to a lot of people is that they think you are gaining an advantage by injesting XDCam HD footage as ProRez from the start even if only a portion of the final product will require color correction and other render-necessary effects. If you setup your original FCP timeline as XDCam HD Native and set your render control to ProRes you are getting the best of all worlds.

My original question really had to do with what happens when you are finished editing. Assuming you setup your timeline as I said, when you go to export your final master do you "Use Current Settings" or export as "ProRes 422 1440x1080 HQ" for the cleanest final? I did both and see no difference other than the ProRes file is over 4 times larger than the "Using Current Settings" XDCam HD file.

[Alister Chapman]

It really depends on how you intend to store your final output. If it's going back to an XDCAM disc then I would export XDCAM HD. Otherwise I would export as ProRes. The file is bigger but if you then decide to use that clip in another show, that is then saved out to ProRes and then that gets used in another show.... and so on.... at least by always saving as ProRes the material will standup better over multiple generations. If you are sure you will always be working in the XDCAM HD codec then there is little to be gained by saving as ProRes.

[Dan Brazda]

Originally Posted by Alister Chapman

It really depends on how you intend to store your final output. If it's going back to an XDCAM disc then I would export XDCAM HD. Otherwise I would export as ProRes. The file is bigger but if you then decide to use that clip in another show, that is then saved out to ProRes and then that gets used in another show.... and so on.... at least by always saving as ProRes the material will standup better over multiple generations. If you are sure you will always be working in the XDCAM HD codec then there is little to be gained by saving as ProRes.

Excellent point Alister. We currently master to XDCam HD but plan to move on soon to any of a number of HD 422 varieties making an impression out there. Future-proofing is always a challenge but necessary nonetheless.