But the transcode to Prores was done on a Mac, correct?

Yes, I edit with FCP on the Mac. It was the other guy who was stuck with Premiere Pro on the PC.

Yes, I edit with FCP on the Mac. It was the other guy who was stuck with Premiere Pro on the PC.

Where he'll no doubt see the error of his ways and turn away from sin to the light :)

Thank you Aaron,

What version of FC and QT are you using?

Appreciate the help since tomorrow I send todays footage off to the PP PC editor.

I have the latest Final Cut Studio. Pretty sure the ProRes422 codec is identical as the older version of FCP though. It should work with any version of FCP that can output ProRes422. I actually used Color to output my files since I sent them over color corrected.

Dear David,

I checked with MainConcept.

They have confirmed that "We officially only support Adobe Premier Pro with our Plug-In."

I am still researching this.

Dan, please let us know if you find out anything about support in Ae for C-D mxf files. That would be my main concern.

David
AllinOneFilms.com

Thanks Aaron for your help.

Dear Friends,

I have been in touch with MainConcept.

They will be testing this shortly, in the next few days.

We will have an answer then.

Interesting the footage I have rendered out from FC on my Mac Pro Prores HQ for my client to edit on their PC in Premier Pro does not look that great. When I view the footage in XDCAM 422 time line it is sharper.

Not impressed at all. Is there a different option since the client will not do the plug in.

Have anyone tried from FCP to PP by XLM? Adobe says CS4 PP imports XLM from FC.

I have to find a better way unless I am doing something very wrong with Prores HQ. There is not a smooth straight line in any clip on the Prores HQ timeline or with the exported files.

I have just talked with the client and looks like they might go for the plugin.

With a few test now I am shocked how much noise is in ProRes HQ. It is not even close to the quality off the CF card or even on the XDCAM 422 timeline.

Hi Paul. I am guessing you are doing something wrong. The prores files I exported are not distinguishable from the source file.

Interesting Aaron I have tried a few other shoots I did with the Nano and with out the Nano and the clips in Prores HQ are very noisy.

Are you exporting the raw clips directly with Compressor or from the timeline in FCP. Also, I solved the FCP XML to Premiere issue too. Premiere is expecting an older XML format so it will choke on new XML format. I have a fix for this.

I imported the clips to FC then put them on a Prores HQ timeline with no render needed. Then I export them out from the FC timeline.

But now I am sending the client MXF from the raw clips and I will buy them the plug in since it has to go Priority in 10 min. But figuring this out so next time I can use XML or other options works for me.

I tried this again right now. I can't see the difference between the original clip and the prores. Can you shoot a short clip and post both versions. I can post my clips you if like.

Aaron,

I was on a shoot all day and again tomorrow. Monday I should be able to post the same clip from both but they will be downgraded for the web. If it still shows well it will at least make my point at what I am seeing.

Thanks for the help.

Paul, you can upload the clips directly to my server. There's terrabytes of storage there. You may want to shoot a short clip, maybe 10 seconds or so. Then the files size of the original and the ProRes will be pretty small.

Compressing them for the web really won't help me understand what's going wrong.

Excellent I have a short clip and maybe tomorrow I will have a chance if not Monday will work. Out the door now.

Did you send my your FTP once before? I will see if I still have it or deleted it.

Thanks Aaron.

Careful in purchasing the plug-in from Main Concept.

You have to make sure they send you the correct link or you will end up paying full price.

Dear Friends,

I will attempt to assist anyone that has a problem with the reduced price offer for the MainConcept Plug-In for Adobe CS3/CS4.

Our contact with MainConcept is very responsive.

Please let me know if I can assist.

Dan,

Astrid helped me out. The problem is they do not have a options for buying with the discount. So they are in the process of adding that options. The store is run by a different company.

Astrid did a great job helping me.

And I have not heard from the client so no news is good news when it comes to how the plug-in works.

Aaron I put two clips in your folder. Thanks for checking them out.

Looking at them right now Paul.

Stay tuned.

Great just getting ready to send the hard drive out today.

Paul. I see what you mean. That ProRes422 file is unacceptable. I'm not sure what noise you're talking about but the jaggies on the building edges are enough for me to reject them.

I'm looking into what might be causing this now.

Well as least I know it is not my machine or monitor. Could I be missing a setting on the timeline or output?

Timeline settings:
Frame 1920 x 1080 HDTV 1080i (16x9)
Pixel AR square
Field Dominance None
Editing Time base 29.97

QT Video Settings
apple ProRes 422 HA
Quality 100%
Compressor Interlaced not checked
Enable 4.4.4. not checked

Video Processing
Render 8-bit YUV
Process Max white at White
Motion Filter Best

Render Control
Filter Checked
Frame Blending Checked
Frame Rate 100%
Resolution 100%
Codec Same as Seq
Mater Templates and Motion Best
Always use Best Quality Checked

Paul, I think I see what your problem is. I'm pretty sure you're output file is being rendered from the timeline and not the source files. There are a multitude of ways to export files out of FCP only a couple of them use the source files at 100% quality. This is why I always recommend using compressor either standalone or from FCP, or use the Media Manager. This always uses the source files at 100% quality.

* Don't ever use "Export Using Quicktime Conversion", ever, for any reason.

* Only use "Export Using Quicktime Movie" if you are exporting the exact same codec, frame rate, etc (for example to trim away garbage footage and get new source files without re-encoding). This is not useful for what we are trying to do here.

I'm uploading a ProRes422 conversion that I did and you can clearly see the difference between the ProRes422 file I made and the one you made, although they are the same size. My ProRes422 file was made using your ORIGINAL media though, not a degraded copy of your media from the FCP timeline.

Check out the file I am uploading when you get a chance and tell me what you think. It'll be a few hours before the upload is complete though. I can do frame grabs if you'd like to see it faster though.

Aaron could you give me a call? 401 481 3811

Aaron thanks for the call. This method looks so much better and very close to the source. The only difference is QT is not as smooth with the higher bit rate.

Also I can not copy the files to the external hard drive. (error code 0) A new problem.

Solved (error code 0) The clip has to be unlocked prior to going into compressor

By the way the error code 0 was due to ProRes HQ increasing the file size over the 3.5GB, so the Fat32 drive I have formated on my Mac would not accept the larger files. Lesson learned if you do this method make sure you keep your files under the Fat32 3.5GB limit.

Again Aaron thanks for you help with the Final Cut to Premier Pro PC transfer.

Paul, the smoothness issue is the higher bitrate creating a larger file, probably running into a disk i/o constraint. Quicktime may stutter on playback but they should playback fine in FCP, since FCP can dynamically adjust quality so it plays back smoothly.

Agree Aaron the disk i/o seems to not keep up at the bit rates over 100Mbps. Hope Premier Pro does not have a issue.

Unfortunately Paul, I don't think Quicktime can do the dynamic quality adjustment on playback like FCP can. From what I've been able to uncover, the dynamic quality adjustment on playback is built into the ProRes codec but no apps, other than FCP seem to actually do the dynamic quality adjustment. None that I've used at least.

Agreed I have found the same that it has to be on a FC timeline to play over the 100Mbps back smooth.