OK, I'm looking for a good FCP workflow to use in the field, and with the availability of the E1 plugin which I've installed, the below seems ideal to my novice mind, but there clearly is something wrong with it as I can't seem to get it to work...

1. Copy card full of 5DmkII stills and video files to Folder X on MacBook Pro.
2. In FCP Log and Transfer the video files from Folder X, converting to ProRes Proxy codec to minimise disk usage.
3. Edit the project using the ProRes Proxy files.
4. On project completion, tell FCP to render/export using the original H.264/MOV files.

What is wrong with this workflow?

In (2) above, when I try to point FCP Log and transfer to Folder X, it has an error warning stating Folder X:

"contains unsupported media or has an invalid directory structure. Please choose a folder whose directory structure matches supported media."

The Folder X is named the same as the card i.e. EOS_DIGITAL and the directory structure is unchanged, so I don't understand what the problem is. If I Log and Transfer direct from the card it works fine, but I'd prefer to Log and Transfer from a folder on the hard disk (mostly because at the point I'm likely to edit the video, I will have already copied the whole card to disk for editing the stills and maybe have erased it, and anyway it seems dumb to have to copy it again)

In (4) above, how at the end of the project do I tell FCP to render/export from the original H.264/MOV files, instead of from the proxy files? I've searched all over the net but can't seem to find a simple solution.

I realise a simpler workflow would be to convert it all to plain ProRes 422 or LT, but that would take up a lot more disk space. Proxy files seem to me an elegant solution but despite searching a lot on the net I can't seem to find any elegant workflows....

Thanks in advance if you can help....

Your problem is that you're breaking the format that FCP is expecting to "see" by copying the files via the finder to your hard drive.

The EASIEST way to Log and Transfer files is to just mount your CF card on the deskop and do your immediate L&T from there.

If you need to wait - make a DISK IMAGE of the card.

To do that use the Disk Utility software that came with your computer.

Mount the CF card, launch Disk Utility - and select "New Image" from the top menu bar.

FCP L&T will read the Disk Image - it won't read random files on a finder copy of same.

Thanks Bill, I figured it was something like that... though I don't understand what the point of the "Add Custom Path" dropdown option in the Log and Transfer window is... if it doesn't do what I am looking for. I don't understand why it can't L&T from a hard-disk folder containing an identical directory structure and identical files as the mounted card does.

I realise the easiest way is to L&T directly from the card, also that I can make a disk image (I think you can also make an image using the E1 plugin directly but I haven't tried it.)

The problem is say I get back from shooting, with an 8GB card full of 6GB stills and 2GB video. I need to edit the stills ASAP, so I ingest the card using Photo Mechanic which copies all the stills and video to a folder on my disk and start editing the stills. The video I might edit much later, or even days later. However I don't have time to copy the card twice (the 2nd time to do a disk image) and may need to erase/re-use it before I get around to editing the video.

I guess that's just a problem specific to my circumstances...

OK, so it does seem that it is possible to L&T from a folder on a hard disk. I came across this very nice tutorial, and when I followed it exactly, it worked:

Chris Fenwick's Custom Tutorials - Home - Tutorial - Canon EOS Plug-In forFCP (http://chrisfenwick.com/home/2010/3/20/tutorial-canon-eos-plug-in-for-fcp.html)

So it seems as if it is something in the Photo Mechanic ingest process that breaks something... I'm just trying to figure out what exactly...

OK, here is what I have found about the structure requirements, it's not quite as fussy as I'd thought....

1. The main problem seemed to be that Photo Mechanic was copying the files with .mov extension, instead of .MOV (i.e. uppercase), even though the filenames were the same. Seems it MUST be in uppercase.

2. It does not require the MISC folder to be present.

3. Adding IPTC info during ingest (automatic captioning) to stills does not affect it.

To sum up, so long as the files have .MOV extension in uppercase, and the directory structure is as follows, it should work:

/Your Folder Name/DCIM/100EOS5D/

I wrote a tutorial on how to make the Photo Mechanic Ingest and FCP Log & Transfer work with folders on a hard disk, instead of directly from mounted cards....

http://www.snappertalk.com/index.php/20100328/canon-e1-plugin-workflow/

Hope it's of help... I am however still confused as to a suitable ProRes Proxy codec workflow....

(Edit) - there's actually a much simpler way to do things, see this second article:

http://www.snappertalk.com/index.php/20100328/canon-e1-plugin-workflow-ii/

What is the benefit of converting to proRes with the Plug-in.
FCPro seems to work with the .Mov files straight off the card
(or copied to a folder)
?
J

ProRes uses less resources to play back, so you get smoother playback in FCP when you convert, as well as RT transitions & effects. I've had some issues with FCP locking up and crashing if I'm jumping around a lot in native camera files too.

Interesting.
I haven't tried transitions but somewhere between to Apple ProKit update and the firmware update, I am playing the native footage without a hiccup on my laptop
J

John - I've also edited the original files directly in FCP, and as you say it's quite possible. On my 2.66Ghz MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM it's pretty doable, the footage plays back a little jerky most of the time but it doesn't hinder the editing process too much. I think transcoding is more important when you start applying effects, which may be as simple as fade-in/outs, colour correction, transitions, etc. In this case with ProRes you may get the effects shown realtime, whereas with the original files you probably wouldn't.

Thanks Ben, Evan

I came up with a new suggested workflow for this, see here:

http://www.snappertalk.com/index.php/20100503/canon-e1-plugin-workflow-iii/