MPEGSTREAM: MPEG2TS to Final Cut supported format

[Floris van Eck]

I am using Canon Console software to capture footage to my notebook. The problem is that Canon Console records the footage as MPEG2TS. This format is unsupported by Final Cut Pro. If I want to edit the footage I capture with Canon Console, I have to covert it to a Final Cut Pro supported format.

I have been looking for a good application and I have two candidates: MPEGSTREAM and HDLINK (Cineform). I think the best solution is MPEGSTREAM. My question is: which settings should I use to convert my MPEG2TS (shot with Canon XL-H1) to a Final Cut Pro supported format?

Compression: ?
Framesize: 1920x1080
Quality: ?
Framerate: ? (I guess 50 for 50i and 25 for 25F)

Then they have deselect for progressive movies:

Interlaced scaling
Reinterlace chroma
Deinterlace video

The first two are checked by default.

If I add this to my workflow, I want to make sure that the converted files are not degraded in quality. Who can give me some advice?

[Dylan Pank]

Originally Posted by Floris van Eck

...
Compression: ?

If you have Final Cut Pro 6 you can choose one of the ProRes settings, which should show up in the Export to Quicktime menu. If you have FCP5 (and a TON of hard drive space) you can choose Apple Uncompressed 8bit 4:2:2. If space is an issue there's DVCproHD, but this is definitely a compromise.

Framesize: 1920x1080

This depends, though with Uncompressed setting you can stick with the unscaled 1440x1080 size and then either the anamorphic stretch will carry over into FCP

Quality: ?

Ignore it. This is for variable bit rate, non editing codecs like DivX.

Framerate: ? (I guess 50 for 50i and 25 for 25F)

No, it's always 25 for 50i or 25p. 50 would only be used for 50p or some other esoteric functions.

Then they have deselect for progressive movies:

Interlaced scaling
Reinterlace chroma
Deinterlace video

The first two are checked by default.

Ignore/uncheck these if you are not scaling your footage, but make sure the field option is set correctly. For Apple Uncompressed or ProRes I believe this to be Upper field. For DVCproHD I genuinely don't know.

If I add this to my workflow, I want to make sure that the converted files are not degraded in quality. Who can give me some advice?

Pro Res is only available in FCP6 but is probably the best filesize/quality compromise. Rendering to it via Streamclip will be SLOOOOWWWW. Apple Uncompressed will eat a ton of HD space and not be realtime. DVCproHD will do realtime FX and use the least space but will introduce some mild compression artefacts and very slight loss of resolution.

[Floris van Eck]

I do not see the Apple Pro Res option. I do have Final Cut Studio 2 and do have Apple Pro Res settings within Final Cut. What about the audio settings? They are on uncompressed by default? Should I leave them like that?

[Dylan Pank]

Strange, it should be there.

Yes, audio should be uncompressed.

[Floris van Eck]

I found it now. I see "Apple ProRes" two times. The first is the high setting and the second one is the normal setting.I tried Apple Final Cut uncompressed but that was 1100 Mbps which is a bit too much. 4,5Gb for 36 seconds. Ai.

Thanks for your help. The Apple HDV 1080i50 setting creates a 113Mb file where the MPEG2TS file is around 116Mb. So that seems to be the matching quality with the Apple ProRes as high-end alternative. And I see that there is a Cineform setting which might come handy in projects where I work together with people that are editing on a Windows platform.

[Andy Mees]

Hi Floris

Why are you using the CONSOLE app to bring in your footage to your notebook? Can you not capture the footage directly using FCP?
Using FCP's Log and Capture you have the option to capture directly as native HDV, or transcode in realtime during capture to Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) or Apple ProRes422.

Unless there is a special reason otherwise I would respectfully suggest you are pursuing an overly complicated workflow.

Hope it helps
Andy

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Andy Mees

Hi Floris

Why are you using the CONSOLE app to bring in your footage to your notebook? Can you not capture the footage directly using FCP?
Using FCP's Log and Capture you have the option to capture directly as native HDV, or transcode in realtime during capture to Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) or Apple ProRes422.

Unless there is a special reason otherwise I would respectfully suggest you are pursuing an overly complicated workflow.

Hope it helps
Andy

The Canon Console software offers quite a bit of real time control via software and is much more than a simple capture application. Think of it as HDV Rack with specialty functions just for the Canon camera.

-gb-

[Andy Mees]

Fair enough Greg, though "if" Floris is using it simply to capture then it does seem that it may be creating more problems than its solving on this occasion.

Just did a bit of digging and the software sounds pretty impressive though. We're getting a bunch of the XL-H1's soon so I guess I'll be trying to sneak the Console app to the budget!

best
Andy

[Floris van Eck]

The biggest reason why I use the console application is that my notebook is not a Macbook/Macbook Pro but a high-end Asus laptop. I started out working with Adobe Premiere on a PC/notebook. That resulted in a lot of problems which made me switch to Apple/Final Cut Pro. However, after buying a Mac Pro I had not budget to exchange the laptop so I still use it.

Canon Console however is a great program where you can basically control the whole camera (except for the ND filters). It is great for setting up a shoot and it also gives you a proper focus monitor (XL-H1 LCD is way too small/dark). And the Waveform/Spectrum meters in Canon Console are very handy.

So capturing in Final Cut would be an option, but not possible. And I must say that the conversion in MPEGSTREAM goes remarkably fast.