Hi there,

Next week I'm shooting with two cameras - - my Sony EX-1 and a borrowed Panasonic P2.
Is there anything I have to do (re camera set-up), to make sure that editing in FCP7 will go smoothly? I know I can record my EX-1 footage at 24, 30 or 60fps. I guess I'll see what the P2 can record in, and make sure the two cameras are set to the same thing. I know the size is different (EX-1 is 1920x1080, P2 is 1280x1080. Does that matter?)

By the way, this project is not for broadcast... it'll end up as a flash file, so I don't have to worry about colour-correcting and things like that.

re editing: on the FCP forum, someone advised me to export footage from both cameras as Pro Res.
Until now, I've only edited my EX-1 footage in Avid... I use Sony Clip Browser (v. 2.05) to export to MXF.
This time I'm editing in FCP, which I know many of you do, so... can I use Clip Browser to export my EX-1 footage directly to Pro Res?

This might be the wrong place to ask about the P2... but if any of you know, I'd love to hear from you: can I export the P2 footage as Pro Res?

I did a bit of searching on this forum and see that Mitchell Lewis suggests this workflow:
1) Choose Easy Setup>XDCAM EX 720 50P
2) Create a New Project
3) Select the Sequence that's created by the New Project
4) Go to Sequence>Settings
5) Go to the Render Control tab and choose Codec: Apple Pro Res 422

Is that the right workflow for what I want to do? It seems to me that I still have to export the footage from the camera cards, before I get to this workflow.

I'm clearly a little confused on this subject, so would welcome your advice.
Thanks,
Malcolm

FCP will convert, render files to match whatever you set the timeline up to.

I would definitely shoot both at the same frame rate.

And I would spend a bit of time messing with both cameras to try to match them before shooting. Scopes are great for doing this, if you don't have access to them at least use an evaluation monitor to try to match profiles before the shoot.

And try some tests into FCP as well if you have time.

The day of the shoot, or the day after, is not the time to find a problem.

FCP will convert, render files to match whatever you set the timeline up to

Good to know that FCP is so flexible. Avid (v.3 anyway, which is what I'm using) isn't quite as open.

I would definitely shoot both at the same frame rate

O.K., I'll bet I can use 30P for both. If so, that's what I'll do. (I can't corroborate this re the P2 until the day of the shoot, unfortunately, but I'm pretty sure it can record 30P).
Does the size difference matter? Sony EX-1 is 1920x1080; P2 is 1280x1080.

The day of the shoot, or the day after, is not the time to find a problem.

Very true, which is why I'm thankful to get advice like this a few days ahead of time - - I'm not shooting until Wednesday of this week. I'll be expected to edit on Thursday, so I'm hoping to know everything I need to know by then.

Just to double-check: will FCP 7 convert and render both the Sony files and the P2 files, to Prores? Does it do this on import? Mitchell Lewis's workflow seems to me to suggest that the conversion happens after import:
2) Create a New Project
3) Select the Sequence that's created by the New Project
4) Go to Sequence>Settings
5) Go to the Render Control tab and choose Codec: Apple Pro Res 422

Thanks for your help, Olof.
Malcolm

[QUOTE=Malcolm Hamilton;1451038]Good to know that FCP is so flexible. Avid (v.3 anyway, which is what I'm using) isn't quite as open.

You should definetly give a try to Avid 4.0. No complicated timeline setting, just drop anything you want in the timeline and it will most likely play back realtime without render. Also, a cool feature is AMA (avid media access) which allows for direct access and editing from SxS cards or xdacm ex bpav folders on a hard drive.

Thierry.

FCP will render to whatever you set your timeline/sequence "render settings" to, either when computer is inactive (this can be set up in prefs) or when you tell it to.

Depending on your hardware (speed of drives/raids, ram and cpu.) FCP will play back w/o rendering. There are lots of different settings for real time playback, if you use unlimited the quality may be reduced, but it will play back different size video.

You always need to render for final output, unless you play back to tape. And even then it is a good idea to render everything first. FCP will warn you about this.

Thierry - - yes I plan to upgrade to v. 4 as soon as it's Snow Leopard compatible, which should be in a few weeks, as I understand it. Looking forward to this.
And Olof, thanks again for the advice.
Malcolm