XDCAM HD 1080 30p okay w/ FCPro?

[Thierry Humeau]

Hi,

I know the AVIDs quite well but I do not know much about FCPro. I am planning a XDCAM HD project for a client that only has FCPro edit bays. Here are a few questions:

- We are planning to shoot 1080 30p, is that frame rate well supported by FCPro. I suppose you would use a 1080 30i project for this right?

- The field footage (1080 30p) may have to be mixed with SD 60i footage. How does FCPro handle this? Also, can you mix XDCAM HD 23.98 footage in and FCPro 1080 30p timeline?

Thanks.

Thierry.

[Nate Weaver]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

We are planning to shoot 1080 30p, is that frame rate well supported by FCPro. I suppose you would use a 1080 30i project for this right?

30p is supported, but only at 35mbits for right now. It was mentioned somewhere that 25mbit 30p support is forthcoming.

There is a specific sequence setting for this setup...for the framerate and codec together. Technically you could drop into a 1080i30 sequence of any other codec and the 30p would convert cleanly, it would have to be rendered.

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

The field footage (1080 30p) may have to be mixed with SD 60i footage. How does FCPro handle this? Also, can you mix XDCAM HD 23.98 footage in and FCPro 1080 30p timeline?

This situation is handled really badly in FCP at the moment. You can put any sort of footage at any framerate on any timeline, but if your framerate and codecs don't match EXACTLY, you go into real-time effects mode. And in 1080p HD, that means about 1fps real-time playback.

In Avid, this problem would be handled by bringing in everything as DNxHD via 1080i30. In FCP, the counterpart would be to bring all formats in via a Kona or Blackmagic card via HD-SDI, which would digitize to 1080i30 DVCPRO HD.

Most FCP editors like to work with the native data/codec, since FCP handles so many formats well. In this case though, since FCP can't put multiple codecs/framerates on the same timeline without playback problems, I'd investigate using DVCPRO HD as you'd use DNxHD.

Right now, FCP is not the best tool for mixing rates and codecs. Most FCP folks I know are assuming this will be addressed in FCP 6 @NAB.

[Thierry Humeau]

Originally Posted by Nate Weaver

30p is supported, but only at 35mbits for right now. It was mentioned somewhere that 25mbit 30p support is forthcoming.

There is a specific sequence setting for this setup...for the framerate and codec together. Technically you could drop into a 1080i30 sequence of any other codec and the 30p would convert cleanly, it would have to be rendered.



This situation is handled really badly in FCP at the moment. You can put any sort of footage at any framerate on any timeline, but if your framerate and codecs don't match EXACTLY, you go into real-time effects mode. And in 1080p HD, that means about 1fps real-time playback.

In Avid, this problem would be handled by bringing in everything as DNxHD via 1080i30. In FCP, the counterpart would be to bring all formats in via a Kona or Blackmagic card via HD-SDI, which would digitize to 1080i30 DVCPRO HD.

Most FCP editors like to work with the native data/codec, since FCP handles so many formats well. In this case though, since FCP can't put multiple codecs/framerates on the same timeline without playback problems, I'd investigate using DVCPRO HD as you'd use DNxHD.

Right now, FCP is not the best tool for mixing rates and codecs. Most FCP folks I know are assuming this will be addressed in FCP 6 @NAB.

Thanks Nat. So basically you recommend to forget the "file base" workflow and just capture through HD-SDI. This way, you can take advantage of the XDCAM HD decks ability to add pulldown to 24p (23.98) XDCAM HD footage and output 60i or convert 30p to 60i.

Thierry.

[Nate Weaver]

Originally Posted by Thierry Humeau

Thanks Nat. So basically you recommend to forget the "file base" workflow and just capture through HD-SDI. This way, you can take advantage of the XDCAM HD decks ability to add pulldown to 24p (23.98) XDCAM HD footage and output 60i or convert 30p to 60i.

Thierry.

Yup. It's all about the lowest common denominator.

It's funny how there's two schools of thinking between Avid and FCP. FCP folks love to edit in the native codec without transcoding, because we can do it in a fair amount of formats. But it don't fly when mixing materials.

But an Avid guy by default would just be working in DNxHD, ingesting via decks...slower but dead reliable. Most Avid folk know DNxHD, or uncompressed, and that's it.