P2 File Size vs. FCP File Size at DVinfo.net

Brian Hoodenpyle · April 5th, 2006, 03:47 PM

When recording 720p/24 to a P2 card you get 1GB minute per but when I use FCP 5.0.4 and record using "Capture Now" the file size is about 335MB per minute. (My "Capture Now" setting is DVCPRO HD - 720p/24.) That's a third of the file size. Why is this? Is the footage that I'm recording in FCP compressed even more because it is a Quicktime file? What is this doing to my image?

Also I notice the data rate in FCP shows that the P2 footage has a data rate of 14.1MB/sec and the footage captured via "Capture Now" has a data rate of 5.7MB/sec. Does this matter?

What am I lossing by going directly to a hard drive and not using the P2 cards?

Barry Green · April 5th, 2006, 04:02 PM

You're losing nothing, going direct to the hard drive means that Apple is stripping out the duplicate frames and only recording the 24 active frames.

You can do the same thing on the P2 card by choosing 720/24pN mode (not 720/24P mode).

April 5th, 2006, 03:47 PM	#1
Brian Hoodenpyle New Boot Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 12	P2 File Size vs. FCP File Size When recording 720p/24 to a P2 card you get 1GB minute per but when I use FCP 5.0.4 and record using "Capture Now" the file size is about 335MB per minute. (My "Capture Now" setting is DVCPRO HD - 720p/24.) That's a third of the file size. Why is this? Is the footage that I'm recording in FCP compressed even more because it is a Quicktime file? What is this doing to my image? Also I notice the data rate in FCP shows that the P2 footage has a data rate of 14.1MB/sec and the footage captured via "Capture Now" has a data rate of 5.7MB/sec. Does this matter? What am I lossing by going directly to a hard drive and not using the P2 cards?

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April 5th, 2006, 04:02 PM	#2
Barry Green Barry Wan Kenobi Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 3,863	You're losing nothing, going direct to the hard drive means that Apple is stripping out the duplicate frames and only recording the 24 active frames. You can do the same thing on the P2 card by choosing 720/24pN mode (not 720/24P mode).