How do I convert Mac Quicktime HDV to a usable PC format? at DVinfo.net

Cody Lucido · December 5th, 2006, 06:42 PM

I have some footage that was captured with FCP 5.1.2 as Quicktime HDV and I want to edit it on my PC system in PPro 2. I have the latest version of QT on the PC but it will not recognize the QT HDV.

Does anybody have a suggestion on a conversion software that will allow me to keep the quality with no loss?

Meryem Ersoz · December 5th, 2006, 07:50 PM

the only truly lossless way that i know of is to output what you've done back to tape and re-import it into the PC editor....

Mike Schrengohst · December 5th, 2006, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cody Lucido

I have some footage that was captured with FCP 5.1.2 as Quicktime HDV and I want to edit it on my PC system in PPro 2. I have the latest version of QT on the PC but it will not recognize the QT HDV.

Does anybody have a suggestion on a conversion software that will allow me to keep the quality with no loss?

Encode it as MotionJpeg A at 95%

Cody Lucido · December 5th, 2006, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Schrengohst

Encode it as MotionJpeg A at 95%

When you say 'encode' what do you mean? With a piece of software? Which program?

Or do you mean from FCP export a quicktime that is Motion Jpeg?

Chris Hocking · December 6th, 2006, 06:26 AM

As Mike said, just export it out of FCP using a Quicktime codec that Premiere supports (ie. JPEG 2000/Uncompressed/Animation, etc.). Just use Quicktime Conversion.

Cody Lucido · December 6th, 2006, 08:11 AM

I am able to do a conversion on the MAC with MPG Streamclip, but the resulting file is enormous. From 17mb for the QT HDV to 78 MB for the AVI motion JPG A version. Unacceptable.

Surely there is a way to process QT HDV file into PC friendly m2t? Or some other PC friendly HDV format?

Anybody?

Chris Hocking · December 6th, 2006, 04:56 PM

If you type "Quicktime Converter" in Google you will return hundreds of results.

Have a look at this one: http://www.squared5.com/

Cody Lucido · December 6th, 2006, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Hocking

If you type "Quicktime Converter" in Google you will return hundreds of results.

Have a look at this one: http://www.squared5.com/

Yeah, I love Streamclip on the MAC, but when I tried it with the PC the video came out black.

Somehow QT HDV and the mt2 file are convertable. I shall keep looking....

Anybody have or use Grass Valley ProCoder Express?

Chris Hocking · December 6th, 2006, 05:50 PM

Opps! Sorry, I didn't notice that you actually did the conversion with Streamclip.

What about DiVA? http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=591

Although this isn't the best workflow, how about you use use QT Conversion to go to 8-bit Uncompressed, put that file on the PC and then use the PC to convert to whatever format Premiere likes?

Also, have you got the latest version of QT installed on your PC?

Cody Lucido · December 6th, 2006, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Hocking

Opps! Sorry, I didn't notice that you actually did the conversion with Streamclip.

What about DiVA? http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=591

Although this isn't the best workflow, how about you use use QT Conversion to go to 8-bit Uncompressed, put that file on the PC and then use the PC to convert to whatever format Premiere likes?

Also, have you got the latest version of QT installed on your PC?

That looks like a possibly good work around (Convert on MAC then reconvert on PC), I will give it a shot. Thanks. I will let you know.

UPDATE: Not really working. I can get the QT files to open on PC now, but they are 20x larger than before. How does one convert to a PC HDV codec? I am confused...

Curtis Rhoads · December 7th, 2006, 05:07 PM

I haven't been able to convert from a QT HDV* file to something the PC can read without it being larger than the original file, or the size of the M2T had I captured to the PC. To do that, I use MPEG Streamclip on my Mac to convert the file to a Photo JPEG at 75% Quicktime file. Only other way that I know of to get M2T that the PC can read is to capture again on the PC, or use DVHSCap that comes with the Apple Developer Tools, to capture again on the Mac to an M2T.

*As far as I can tell, FCP doesn't handle straight M2T files, and thus when you capture HDV/M2T in FCP, it writes the information to the Apple Intermediate Codec, which is only available on the Mac (AFAIK).

Cody Lucido · December 7th, 2006, 05:34 PM

Boy I sure wish I knew a programmer that could write a utility to do this.

Shane Ross · December 8th, 2006, 03:31 AM

Why aren't you capturing the footage with your PC if that is where you will be editing it?

It is never advisable to capture footage on one system to edit with on another. And all your conversion solutions might not carry over timecode, and timecode, my friend, is GOLD! If you lost the media drive...it died...and you didn't have timecode reference to your footage, then your edit is gone. Your time wasted. If, however, timecode was retained, simply recapturing the footage would drop it exacty where it belongs and all will be well.

Chris Hocking · December 8th, 2006, 05:17 AM

Or more to the point - why oh why would you want to edit on a PC when you have access to a FCP system!!

Could you please explain your workflow? Why capture on a Mac and edit on a PC? Shane is 100% spot on - you shouldn't be converting stuff left right and centre.

Cody, again, are you sure you have the latest version of Quicktime installed on your PC? Can you play the HDV Quicktime file in the Quicktime player? I presume Premiere can handle any Quicktime codec having never used it myself? Maybe try reinstalling? See: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/310605.html

Cody Lucido · December 8th, 2006, 08:10 AM

I have started my own stock buisness and create my product on a MAC. I want the people who use a PC to also be able to purchase and use my footage as well so I am seeking a solution.

I am not a MAC snob like many people can be. I love/hate both platforms and want to support them both.

Yes, I have the latest QT installed on all my machines. I find QT to be superior to AVI in many ways.

PPRo 2 will not support that particular flavor of QT, yet.

December 5th, 2006, 06:42 PM	#1
Cody Lucido Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 206	How do I convert Mac Quicktime HDV to a usable PC format? I have some footage that was captured with FCP 5.1.2 as Quicktime HDV and I want to edit it on my PC system in PPro 2. I have the latest version of QT on the PC but it will not recognize the QT HDV. Does anybody have a suggestion on a conversion software that will allow me to keep the quality with no loss? __________________ www.CodemanStudios.com

December 6th, 2006, 08:11 AM	#6
Cody Lucido Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 206	I am able to do a conversion on the MAC with MPG Streamclip, but the resulting file is enormous. From 17mb for the QT HDV to 78 MB for the AVI motion JPG A version. Unacceptable. Surely there is a way to process QT HDV file into PC friendly m2t? Or some other PC friendly HDV format? Anybody? __________________ www.CodemanStudios.com Last edited by Cody Lucido; December 6th, 2006 at 08:46 AM.

December 7th, 2006, 05:34 PM	#12
Cody Lucido Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 206	Boy I sure wish I knew a programmer that could write a utility to do this. __________________ www.CodemanStudios.com

December 8th, 2006, 08:10 AM	#15
Cody Lucido Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 206	I have started my own stock buisness and create my product on a MAC. I want the people who use a PC to also be able to purchase and use my footage as well so I am seeking a solution. I am not a MAC snob like many people can be. I love/hate both platforms and want to support them both. Yes, I have the latest QT installed on all my machines. I find QT to be superior to AVI in many ways. PPRo 2 will not support that particular flavor of QT, yet. __________________ www.CodemanStudios.com

December 5th, 2006, 07:50 PM	#2
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	the only truly lossless way that i know of is to output what you've done back to tape and re-import it into the PC editor....

December 6th, 2006, 06:26 AM	#5
Chris Hocking Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 595	As Mike said, just export it out of FCP using a Quicktime codec that Premiere supports (ie. JPEG 2000/Uncompressed/Animation, etc.). Just use Quicktime Conversion.

December 6th, 2006, 04:56 PM	#7
Chris Hocking Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 595	If you type "Quicktime Converter" in Google you will return hundreds of results. Have a look at this one: http://www.squared5.com/

December 6th, 2006, 05:50 PM	#9
Chris Hocking Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 595	Opps! Sorry, I didn't notice that you actually did the conversion with Streamclip. What about DiVA? http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=591 Although this isn't the best workflow, how about you use use QT Conversion to go to 8-bit Uncompressed, put that file on the PC and then use the PC to convert to whatever format Premiere likes? Also, have you got the latest version of QT installed on your PC?

December 7th, 2006, 05:07 PM	#11
Curtis Rhoads Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Orem, UT Posts: 76	I haven't been able to convert from a QT HDV* file to something the PC can read without it being larger than the original file, or the size of the M2T had I captured to the PC. To do that, I use MPEG Streamclip on my Mac to convert the file to a Photo JPEG at 75% Quicktime file. Only other way that I know of to get M2T that the PC can read is to capture again on the PC, or use DVHSCap that comes with the Apple Developer Tools, to capture again on the Mac to an M2T. *As far as I can tell, FCP doesn't handle straight M2T files, and thus when you capture HDV/M2T in FCP, it writes the information to the Apple Intermediate Codec, which is only available on the Mac (AFAIK).

December 8th, 2006, 03:31 AM	#13
Shane Ross Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Los Angeles, USA Posts: 539	Why aren't you capturing the footage with your PC if that is where you will be editing it? It is never advisable to capture footage on one system to edit with on another. And all your conversion solutions might not carry over timecode, and timecode, my friend, is GOLD! If you lost the media drive...it died...and you didn't have timecode reference to your footage, then your edit is gone. Your time wasted. If, however, timecode was retained, simply recapturing the footage would drop it exacty where it belongs and all will be well.

December 8th, 2006, 05:17 AM	#14
Chris Hocking Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 595	Or more to the point - why oh why would you want to edit on a PC when you have access to a FCP system!! Could you please explain your workflow? Why capture on a Mac and edit on a PC? Shane is 100% spot on - you shouldn't be converting stuff left right and centre. Cody, again, are you sure you have the latest version of Quicktime installed on your PC? Can you play the HDV Quicktime file in the Quicktime player? I presume Premiere can handle any Quicktime codec having never used it myself? Maybe try reinstalling? See: http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/310605.html