FCP7 L&T and Processor Usage
 

Hi,

I understand that this has been posted here many times before but I haven't seen people talking about the processor usage while importing these clips through the L&T window in FCP.

Has anyone noticed that if your clip is about 2mins or more, then the processor usage of transcoding goes down? It starts of using 100% and then depending on how long the clip is, sooner or after the processor usage starts to fall until it only uses 20% (longer clips).
I am using a quad core 2009 macpro..

Regards
Yannick

I've noticed that but it only happens if the audio is LPCM.

Hopefully Apple will soon have an update to correct this annoying behavior.

Joe

Have you guys developed a solid, reliable workflow with FC 7? This is the main reason I haven't bought into this camera.
I've read that there are issues using PCM audio and clip mark in & out settings with L&T. Other than that, have you been transcoding to ProRes as a standard? If so, Pro Res 422 or Pro Res LT?
thx
dave

David, I have 2 of these cameras and use FCP7. I have not had any issues and I love these cameras. Here's my workflow. Set the audio on the camera to record Dolby Digital instead of the LPCM. Log & transfer does not handle the LPCM well and will cause the transcoding to slow down. I mount the card in Log & Transfer and import everything. I don't bother trying to set in and out points. I've been transcoding to ProRes 422. It is faster then realtime to transcode. The other issue is that Log & Transfer does not recognize the recorded timecode of the AVCHD file. This has not been a deal-breaker for me. Eventually there will be an update to FCP and I'm sure these issues will be addressed.

Bill Carnicelli
Carnicelli Media Productions, Inc.

thx for the reply. Very clear. Wonder if you have experience in low light with these units? I guess I'm spoiled from the days of my PD-170. I'm using 2 Canon XH-A1's now. Work well in theatre lighting with CCD chips but horrible under real low light conditions.

NX5U replacement for PD170
 

Hi David,

I added 3 - NX5U cameras back in February to replace my PD170's I shoot a lot of dance recitals with lighting that varies from poor to great (professional lighting). What I have found is the NX5U cameras have been fantastic with low light and the clarity is much sharper. My customers have remarked how much better the clarity is with the final product is this year versus the previous years. (shot with the PD170's).

Most of the time I don't run the cameras past +6db gain at f4.2 - f5.6. If I need more light I can open the iris with out running up the gain.

I am glad I made the change. I still have some PD170's for those jobs I need tape at SD.

Steve

thx, Steve, the news is encouraging.

Have you had any flash band issues?
2- Have you tried the SD mpeg 2 workflow? I frequently shoot shows for another company that is still primarily working in the DV realm. (He does have a 2/3" chip camera however). Instead of handing him tapes recorded in DV, I would have to give him the mpeg files, either transferred to a hard drive or I could just give him the SD cards. I would be buying the bolt on 128 gig backup drive so I could record simultaneously anyway. He uses Adobe Premiere 4

Hi David,

I have been offering my customers SD DVD for dance. It did not make sense for me to shoot the NX5 in HD and go through all of the conversion to arrive at SD. This year all of my dance work has been in SD mpeg 2 format. this gives me with a 16GB card close to 4 hours of shooting in SD. If I need HD, I record to the FMU at the same time and record HD 1080.

I have one client that is thinking about offering HD to their parents as an option next year. With this camera I'm covered.

I did some samples using HD and SD recorded at the same time and found that the final output to SD DVD was about the same quality. Going the mepg-2 route it was a much faster work flow.

I edit in FCP 7.0, I use StreamClip to convert the meg-2 files to DV Streams. I am currently using a 4 year old Mac Pro 2.0Ghz Quad system.

Steve

Whoo man, this seems too easy. I agree with you on the HD downconvert to SD process. I'm not happy with the results or the extra steps. I think, at least at this level (not broadcast) if your going to shoot HD then it should stay in HD all the way to Blu-ray or the web. If not, then SD but 16 x 9 is still the way to go.

FCP 7.0.3 Update
 

There is a thread for the newly released update 7.0.3 With this update FCP can now L&T the MPEG2 SD footage and convert to Apple ProRes 422. Once brought in, your ready to start editing. Using StreamClip you still need to render the audio. The only problem I have found is the time code is still reset to 00:00:00:00 for each clip.

Steve