FCP Export at DVinfo.net

Ben Hickson · February 9th, 2011, 09:31 PM

When I export from FCP, the skin tones come out looking pink. I've spent extensive time grading this project, and don't want to have to re-bias all of the pink out of it.

I followed the steps on the Cineform Tech Blog, but it seemed to be for an older version of Final Cut or Cineform or something... the screengrabs and all that were different.

Please can you walk me through the proper step by step to export? I'm on all the latest versions of everything (10.6.5, FCP 7.0.3).

It should be some sort of direct stream copy right? All grading is in FirstLight and I made all the files I-Frame only .avi's when I rendered from the 7D-PL mov's. So there should be no additional layer of anything rendered, just copying all the frames from the individual files, and putting them in one .mov file.

Does it matter that we edited with CFHD .avi files? and now we're rendering to CFHD .mov? Should we be outputting an avi from FCP instead?

David Newman · February 9th, 2011, 09:43 PM

First rule, don't use AVIs in FCP, it does weird things. All the gamma issues FCP is known for are far for prevalent if you use AVIs as FCP is only going to decode then with 1.8 gamma 8-bit RGB (this is not the AVI fault, it is all FCP.) If you color correction is good inside First Light but you can't get FCP to behave, you should consider rewrapping you sources to MOV, then linking that media in your FCP project, then you can enable 10-bit or floating point renders which do not have a gamma shift. You don;t want to do a direct stream copy, do you would to do a finishing render, yet FCP has not means to do a good renders from AVIs.

Ben Hickson · February 12th, 2011, 11:39 AM

Ok thanks will do. How exactly do I do I rewrap these days? tried it in the past but was buggy. And it will retain its GUID right? for color correction?

After I rewrap, what are the settings I should use in Final Cut to get a 10-bit floating point render?

I'm trying to get to h.264 for delivery. What is best option? Should I skip the cineform export and go straight to h264 in FCP or should I export to cineform then make my h264 in MPEG Streamclip? or is there another best way?

Thanks

Craig Davidson · February 12th, 2011, 07:11 PM

Use ReMaster to re-wrap the AVIs to mov. It does not do a transcode, so the GUIDs remain the same and the metadata will all apply.

In FCP make sure "Render all material in high precision" is checked, this will force FCP to use the 10-bit floating point.

For going to h.264 from a CineForm project, you can go directly from the FCP timeline to h.264.

February 9th, 2011, 09:31 PM	#1
Ben Hickson Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New York, NY Posts: 55	FCP Export When I export from FCP, the skin tones come out looking pink. I've spent extensive time grading this project, and don't want to have to re-bias all of the pink out of it. I followed the steps on the Cineform Tech Blog, but it seemed to be for an older version of Final Cut or Cineform or something... the screengrabs and all that were different. Please can you walk me through the proper step by step to export? I'm on all the latest versions of everything (10.6.5, FCP 7.0.3). It should be some sort of direct stream copy right? All grading is in FirstLight and I made all the files I-Frame only .avi's when I rendered from the 7D-PL mov's. So there should be no additional layer of anything rendered, just copying all the frames from the individual files, and putting them in one .mov file. Does it matter that we edited with CFHD .avi files? and now we're rendering to CFHD .mov? Should we be outputting an avi from FCP instead?

February 9th, 2011, 09:43 PM	#2
David Newman CTO, CineForm Inc. Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California Posts: 8,095	First rule, don't use AVIs in FCP, it does weird things. All the gamma issues FCP is known for are far for prevalent if you use AVIs as FCP is only going to decode then with 1.8 gamma 8-bit RGB (this is not the AVI fault, it is all FCP.) If you color correction is good inside First Light but you can't get FCP to behave, you should consider rewrapping you sources to MOV, then linking that media in your FCP project, then you can enable 10-bit or floating point renders which do not have a gamma shift. You don;t want to do a direct stream copy, do you would to do a finishing render, yet FCP has not means to do a good renders from AVIs. __________________ David Newman -- web: www.gopro.com blog: cineform.blogspot.com -- twitter: twitter.com/David_Newman

February 12th, 2011, 11:39 AM	#3
Ben Hickson Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: New York, NY Posts: 55	Ok thanks will do. How exactly do I do I rewrap these days? tried it in the past but was buggy. And it will retain its GUID right? for color correction? After I rewrap, what are the settings I should use in Final Cut to get a 10-bit floating point render? I'm trying to get to h.264 for delivery. What is best option? Should I skip the cineform export and go straight to h264 in FCP or should I export to cineform then make my h264 in MPEG Streamclip? or is there another best way? Thanks

February 12th, 2011, 07:11 PM	#4
Craig Davidson Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Solana Beach, CA Posts: 142	Use ReMaster to re-wrap the AVIs to mov. It does not do a transcode, so the GUIDs remain the same and the metadata will all apply. In FCP make sure "Render all material in high precision" is checked, this will force FCP to use the 10-bit floating point. For going to h.264 from a CineForm project, you can go directly from the FCP timeline to h.264.