Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

Hi everyone,

I just switched over to a nx5u from an fx1 and it is night and day! The nxcam is unbelievable for the features that it offers! However, i am completely new to avchd and don't know what the best log and transfer settings are for fcp. What are the best sequence settings and import setting for this camera?

Suggestions greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

In Final Cut Pro 7.0.3's Log and Transfer pane, you will see a small drop down menu called preferences. This will give you the ability to pick and choose which flavor of Pro Res that it will automatically transcode your AVCHD footage to. I use the standard Pro Res 422...and others will pick Pro Res LT...a more compact file size.

For audio, pick "plain stereo" over "matrix."

After the footage is transcoded. just create a new sequence, open the sequence, and drag the clip into it from the Browser window. FCP will ask if you want to change the sequence settings to match your footage, just click yes. And then off you go.

This is the bare bones of it to get you started. Just know going in, that Pro Res can multiply your file size between a factor of 4x-5x...so make sure you have a large enough hard drive to support your media.

Hope this helps...John

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

Thanks for your help John!

i am using version 6.0.6 is that going to be to old of a version? although i was still able to change those setting to what you mentioned i am just curious if the latest version works better with it if i need an upgrade or not..? i haven't ran into any problems with audio lag or stuff like and if im not mistaking i think people are running into issues like that with the newest version.

mike

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

Too true. I've just come back from a two camera shoot and in the wedding speeches I had the FX1 in HDV and the NX5 in top-whack 1080i. The picture quality differences are eye-popping, and until I did this A/B test I'd always been pretty chuffed with the FX1.

tom.

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

Tom,

i couldn’t agree more with the stunning picture quality that the NX5 offers over the FX1, i was amazed at the low light capabilities of this camera. when shooting in 24p and putting the shutter speed down at 24 the low light looks amazing! it is still taking me sometime to get use to the menus and especially the picture profiles. other then that i couldn’t be any happier with this camera!

mike

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

Mike, I believe that unless you are using FCP 7.0.3 that the software will not correctly transcode LCPM audio...though it will do AC-3 audio. In the NXCAM you have a choice of using both. So if you are using that earlier verison of FCP, I would recommend AC-3 audio until you upgrade. LCPM is a higher quality format to record in...so if you are striving for the best quality, that's where you would gravitate to...John

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

thanks for your response john,

however, i have been importing my footage into FCP and i still think my settings were a bit off.. i filmed in 1080p 24p and for some reason my sequence settings said it was HDV1080i, how do i change them for the best setting for 24p? could that be that when i exported my footage it wasnt a perfectly clear image? i shot the scene with -6 db gain and for some reason my image still looks grainy.. im assuming its from the settings that i have been working with.. my sequence settings in particular. are there any presets out there that i can use? i feel that all my settings are off.

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

Hi, Mike...

First, you want to make sure in the camera menu that you recorded in 1080 24p FX...the highest quality possible. It could be that if it wasn't FX and something else...that you could have been shooting in HDV mode.

Second, if you were shooting in true 1080 24p FX, then after transcoding to ProRes422 (standard quality), your sequence setting in the Final Cut Pro timeline should look like this....

1920 x 1080 HDTV 1080i (16:9)
Square
Field dominance: None
23.98
Apple ProRes422
100%
48Khz
16 bit
Channel grouped

let's see what you find out in terms of how you shot it with the camera menu and what the Final Cut Pro sequence settings are...John

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

okay i looked at my sequence settings and what you listed is exactly what mine said.. i wonder if its my export settings? what is the highest quality possible for exporting that? because that is where everything can change..

Thanks for your help!

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

In the NX5U camera recording menu, you will find all the different flavors of HD and HDV...what you are looking for if 1080x1920 FX 24p....that is the highest quality of 24p. And the video gain if you are shooting outside should be capped at -3db in most cases...not to be confused with the audio trim settings, etc.

If you don't want the shutter speed fluctuating, you can specify it in manual mode...and look at the manual for how to set it. You might want to lock at 1/60 and see how that works for you. If you go much higher than that, it will start to take on a strobe like quality.

If you need help in finding the camera recording menu, again consult the manual which will show you the steps to take you to it.

What may have been happening is that you were possibly shooting in HDV mode without knowing it and when you dragged that into your ProRes FCP timeline, it was actually blowing up the image to the HD dimensions...possibly accounting for the grainy look that you saw.

Hope this helps...John

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

i went into my visual index to see what recording settings i was shooting at and it was "1920x1080 24p FX"
what i did to to skip over FCP was go directly into the DCIM folder and play the footage back straight from that. that way i knew it was the actual footage withought being imported through any wrong settings. so as i played that back i got the same results it looked a lil grainy and not crystal clear.. maybe its my monitor? although im using an IMac 24 inch screen with 1920x1200 resolution... which is HD so idk why it would look like this.. but yet when i play the footage back on the TV via HDMI cable it looks crystal clear. any suggestions as what it is?

also another question that i have is, why does the slowmotion quality look so bad? does it downgrade the resolution or something?

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

'....slowmotion quality look so bad? does it downgrade the resolution or something?'
It sure does. The 3 sec (12 secs of slo-mo) looks like so-so DV quality, and the longer versions look like VHS SP and LP. But they sure look better than slowing real-time footage in post, so if you must have 200fps, it's nice to have the facility on board.

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

i thought that it was something that i was doing with the cameras settings.. now that makes more sense that it downgrades the quality. just out of curiosity, does the EX1 do the same thing for slow mo?

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

I am a bit stumped as to why you are getting that grainy appearance...I think we covered this, but be sure to make sure in the Log and Transfer window (in the preferences dropdown menu) that it's capturing ProRes and not the Apple Intermediate codec, etc. You may need to find a FCP editor in your area who is experienced with AVCHD and have them come over and consult with you. It's hard to diagnose at this point without seeing firsthand what the issue is...John

Re: Highest quality settings in fcp for nx5u
 

well this is the thing when the video is playing and its minimized the quality looks perfectly fine, but when i go full screen is when it looks a little bad.. could that mean anything?