Can FCPX really edit DSLR (Canon T2i) footage natively without converting to ProRes?

[Brandon Paschal]

DVinfo Family ... I have been using FCS2 (and FCS 6) on my macpro and have feared moving to FCPX because:

1. if it ain't broke - don't fix it and ...
2. it's always good when you are familiar with the interface & workflow

Having said that, I'm grabbing a new laptop, which is a fresh canvas to see what FCPX is really all about.

My typical workflow is as follows:

1. Record on a Canon T2i/550D and copy media from SD to the Computer
2. Convert to ProRes 422 using MediaStreamClip
3. Use the ProRes files to edit

Question - with FCPX - is it true the compresed footage is editable without conversion?!?!

Reference on Apple's Site: Apple - Final Cut Pro X - System Requirements and Tech Specs

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks,

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

I can't comment on the Canon T2i in particular, but to test this, I just grabbed some H.264 Film trailers of the iTunes Movie Trailers pages, and FCP X edits them without a problem.
So yes, it's true.

IF you decide to test out FCP X, PLEASE, get some tutorials first. Getting to know where the buttons are, is simple, or what the new shortcuts are. But FCP X also has a completely different way of media management in comparison with FCP7, and a whole different editing paradigm (primary storyline and connected clips instead of tracks).
It's very useful to get to know a lot of these things before you start, because otherwise chances are big you will tear your hair out at moments.

I did that first, and ditched it.
After the 10.0.3 update, I came back. Learned more, took some time, got frustrated, but kept going with it.
It's still very incomplete, and there are a LOT of things I think that can be better, but there are also a lot of very strong points in the program that I didn't recognize at first. And I'm very curious to see how the future of FCP X is going to be, considering the upgrades we have had up until now and the ones that are coming (R3D support, 'dual viewers', multichannel audio editing, MXF support, ...)
I don't edit mission critical work on it, but dabbling in it sure has been interesting.

[Chris Hsiung]

I can edit Canon 60D footage (which is H.264) natively on FCP X. I copy the files over and import.

[Simon Wood]

Yes you can.

However, I am led to believe that ProRes is a more robust codec, especially if you are going to be grading aggressively.

[William Hohauser]

FCPX renders everything in ProRes regardless if you edit in the native codec. It also exports everything from the timeline in ProRes unless you specifically tell it not to. Transcoding to ProRes before editing is a wise idea if you need to do a lot of rendering while editing or you are working with multicam editing (both of these also depend on the computer you are using).

[Brandon Paschal]

Thanks to each of your for your responses. It certainly sounds promising. Given much of the work I do is music videos, it sounds as like ProRes conversion would be a good idea. Knowing that some folks have had success with native H.264 editing, I'm encouraged!

It looks as though this is one I'll just have to try and see if it works out ok.

Just one last question: if it does record in ProRes when you drop an H.264 file in the timeline, does that it imply it will convert it "in the background" thus taking up a bit more hard drive room? With these SSDs and limited space (macbook pro line) it's just a good one to know.

Thanks again all ---Brandon

[Mathieu Ghekiere]

If you check of the right preferences it will NOT transcode to Prores. If you don't, it will do this in the background (and can bring your computer to a halt).

But it RENDERS and EXPORTS in Prores. So if you have effects on them, and you render them = that is Prores. (they have to render anyway).
If you export, it will recompress all frames anyway.

But the editing in itself can just happen in H.264.

[Craig Seeman]

For multicam I believe you can import H.264 and "optimize for multicam" so you don't need to convert in advance. You can have it optimize to ProRes generally after importing H264. I find that most times it's best to leave off optimization unless you need it. In most cases H264 works fine as is.

A lot of this may depend on the CPU though. I've had no problem with AVCHD and H.264 .mp4 files (from live encodes). I'm doing a job with GoPro files and they are a bit sluggish when skimming. What I suspect is happening is that FCPC takes advantage of Grand Central Dispatch by using AVX built into Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors. Those processors though are not used in MacPros as of yet. That means that a 2011 iMac or 2011/12 MacBookPro may better handle some things than a 2010 MacPro.

[Brandon Paschal]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. Looks like I'll be taking a dive into FCPX and see where it leads me. Though change is tough, I think I'll have to make it happen.

Appreciate it ... --bP