AVCHD to Apple ProRes 422 Playback Issue.

[Hugh Walton]

I just purchased a Canon HF-S10 and did my first "Log & Transfer" in to Final Cut Pro 6. I transcoded the 30p footage I shot to Apple ProRes 422 (box checked to remove pulldown). After transcoding, all of the footage in which the camera pans from side to side appears jerky (not smooth). Is this an issue with my settings in FCP or does this mean my Macmini does not have enough horse power to playback 30p Apple ProRes 422? Or is this kind of jerky movement typical of AVCHD camcorders? Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Hugh

[Nate Morse]

Hard to say without seeing the footage, but I would suspect it has to do with hardware. What are the specs on your mini? Is the footage stored on an external drive? If yes, what type of connection does it use (USB, FW400, FW800, etc)?

If you try transcoding a test sequence to your final format, does the output still look jerky?

[William Hohauser]

If the footage is on the MacMini's drive then yes you are pushing the limits of the computer. But the pulldown removal might not have worked correctly. Check the footage by going frame by frame. If the motion seems normal then it's the drive, if the footage is holding onto frames in an odd way then you have to look at the footage directly, in it's native AVCHD format, to make absolutely sure that it's a transcoding error.

[Hugh Walton]

Originally Posted by Nate Morse

Hard to say without seeing the footage, but I would suspect it has to do with hardware. What are the specs on your mini? Is the footage stored on an external drive? If yes, what type of connection does it use (USB, FW400, FW800, etc)?

If you try transcoding a test sequence to your final format, does the output still look jerky?

The Macmini is a 2GHz model (about a year old) with 2GB RAM. The footage was transferred directly to the Mini's hard drive, so no cables.

Thanks for the fast response,
Hugh

[Hugh Walton]

Originally Posted by William Hohauser

If the footage is on the MacMini's drive then yes you are pushing the limits of the computer. But the pulldown removal might not have worked correctly. Check the footage by going frame by frame. If the motion seems normal then it's the drive, if the footage is holding onto frames in an odd way then you have to look at the footage directly, in it's native AVCHD format, to make absolutely sure that it's a transcoding error.

When you say "the footage is holding onto frames in an odd way" what exactly do you mean? What should I be looking for when reviewing the footage one frame at a time?

Thanks a lot,
Hugh

[William Hohauser]

Let's say you had 24p footage transcoded to 60i, you would see doubled frames or blended frames at regular intervals. This is typical for pulldown. When I say an "odd" way, I mean that single frames stay on for more than 2 frames. 30p transcoded to 60i should go from frame to frame evenly (some forms of 30p is actually recorded onto a 60i frame rate). When you go frame by frame you are not taxing the computer's system so if you are getting each frame then your problem lies either with the MacMini's weaknesses or checking that Pulldown box is the problem. 30p has no pulldown to remove.

[Hugh Walton]

I shot in 30p, but had the "Remove Pulldown" check box checked, so hopefully this or my CPU horse power is the issue. Once I test things out I will try and post what I discovered.

Thanks again,
Hugh