Best sequence setting for XDCam HD, EX, HDV

[Ray Ellis]

I'm editing a doc shot on three formats. About 70% of the footage is XDCam HD 1080p24 35Mb/s VBR, 20% is XDCam EX 1080p24 35Mb/s VBR and about 5% is HDV.

I have around 1.2 TB of raw footage that I'm about to edit into an hour long show on a Macbook Pro 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo running Final Cut 7. Initial export will be to film festivals with hopes of selling it to a broadcaster or other distributor later on.

My question is which sequence setting would be best for the FCP timeline given the balance between image quality and ease of edit? My gut tells me to go with the EX Easy Setup since that is the best quality of the three formats, even though only 20% of the footage is EX. I shouldn't have to render as I edit...only when I'm outputting the final show.

My other inclination is to go with the EX Easy Set up but change the compressor to Apple ProRes 422 to make the final outputting to BluRay better.

Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

Ray Ellis
Director
Footpath Pictures
North Carolina