XDCAM EX 1080p25 Export from CS 5.5.1 Timeline?

[Andy Wilkinson]

OK, my first question about PPro workflow. I'm on a 2009 Mac Pro with Leopard and FCS2 installed - and now CS5.5.1 Prod Premium too.

One of the things I often do when a project is completed in FCP6 is export a native XDCAM EX 1080p25 (35Mbps VBR) file from the sequence (same as the timeline that I've always used for editing EX3 stuff) to create a "Master" video file (amongst other final cut formats that I create for various uses).

However, all the usual "XDCAM EX flavours" do not appear to be on the drop down list for Media Encoder when exporting a CS5.5 sequence. So I thought I'd just try Match Sequence Settings and it'll work (as this is the project sequence settings I set up before I started editing this first test). Wrong! All I get is a video file which, if I play with Quicktime, gives a white screen throughout and no sound. Why? I can successfully create a wide range of other formats with ease and great speed.

Am I missing something simple and obvious? Thanks in advance for any pointers/help for this newbie FCP defector!

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Andy,

Acquisition formats are necessarily highly compressed, limiting quality. I don't recommend using camera formats for "mastering". Why use Long-GOP MPEG-2 at 4:2:0 when you could master to ProRes 422 and maintain more quality? I shoot HDV, but would never "master" back to it.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Bart Walczak]

I second that. Go for ProRes, if you can. Either HQ or LT.

[Dominik Krol]

Originally Posted by Jeff Pulera

Hi Andy,

Acquisition formats are necessarily highly compressed, limiting quality. I don't recommend using camera formats for "mastering". Why use Long-GOP MPEG-2 at 4:2:0 when you could master to ProRes 422 and maintain more quality? I shoot HDV, but would never "master" back to it.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

Well. You can never maintain more than there is to begin with..

Surely if there is graphics/effects work involved You add more to the whole. But you will always loose something by "reprocessing" the original codec.

In the old days you could take a project and export it without re-coding. What comes in goes out.

Now even if you use Cineform. you unavoidably loose something in the process.

You say that "Acquisition formats are necessarily highly compressed".
I don't disagree that many of them are, but why do you say "necessarily"? as if it's "defacto" while a master needs to be of higher quality?

Semi pro camera codecs like the ex1 have been called: Delivery grade codecs. Not acquisition grade.

You want just as much data if not more, on the input, as you do on the output.. Especially if you are grading your work..
And if you later need a higher quality master, you can simply remaster.
I dont know for what ever reason that may be. Do you usually shoot with Ex3's for cinema?

Television sends out 2-10 Mbps mp4 these days.
Online streaming and youtube? no not really. (have you even tried uploading a proress to youtube..? It wont work)
So when would you really need a Proress master if not for cinema? And then you would probably shoot with something else than Ex3 with native codec.

Andy asked a question. And you answered with: "You are doing it wrong". Without knowing what he needs it for. Why are people like that?
We all have our special ways to do things. And I hate that this industry is so damn conservative and stuck up that there is only one answer to everything.

There actually are some people who can think outside of the box, and make it work even better. (for their personal needs of course)

To answer Andy's question there is simply to say that: No you are not missing something its Adobe.
It may have to do with Sony proprietary codec, but there is a 50Mbps XDcam export option. for 1920x1080 which I sometimes use.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Thanks guys. I appreciate fully why you recommend ProRes but I've liked being able to keep a good quality file for archive which is relatively small in size yet still of relatively high quality. Of course, ProRes can't add quality that's not there in the original footage and if needed it's been easy to create a ProRes version from my XDCAM EX "masters" for any future editing - at any time - yet they are typically much, much smaller in file size than the ProRes version.

After a lot of digging around I found this thread from 2009. See post 30. Looks like I'm out of luck - unless something has changed...

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/adobe-cr...ere-pro-2.html

EDIT: Thanks also Dominik - your reply came in as I was typing!

[Colin Rowe]

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

However, all the usual "XDCAM EX flavours" do not appear to be on the drop down list for Media Encoder when exporting a CS5.5 sequence. So I thought I'd just try Match Sequence Settings and it'll work (as this is the project sequence settings I set up before I started editing this first test). Wrong! All I get is a video file which, if I play with Quicktime, gives a white screen throughout and no sound. Why? I can successfully create a wide range of other formats with ease and great speed.

Am I missing something simple and obvious? Thanks in advance for any pointers/help for this newbie FCP defector!

Mainconcept. Codec Suite: MainConcept

[Andy Wilkinson]

Thanks Colin - but according to the specs that is a Windows only option (unless I missed something when scanning the site linked just now). My CS 5.5.1 Production Premium is on my Mac Pro, not on my Windows i7 box. I can already think of as workaround - but not a very elegant one.