General Discussion - Canon footage to FCP-Import Canon PowerShot SX500 IS MOV to Bnimen - Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:00 pm Post subject: Canon footage to FCP-Import Canon PowerShot SX500 IS MOV to
Canon footage to FCP-Import Canon PowerShot SX500 IS MOV to FCP
"I have been editing a feature film which uses a FCP 24p HD 1440 x 1080 timeline. The movie was filmed exclusively on a Canon HV40 camera using, of course, 24p HD footage, widescreen. However, I am now adding footage shot on a small Canon PowerShot SX500 IS digital camera which also can shoot decent HD video (.mov files likewise, but not in 24p). When I put this HD video into my timeline, a red render bar appears above the footage, and apparently I have to render the footage before being able to view any of it in "Safe RT" mode. When in "Unlimited RT" mode, an orange bar appears above the footage, and it "plays", but the footage plays very unsteady, stopping and starting, making it nearly impossible to edit fast & intuitively because the eyes/mind don't see the full clips in all their natural wonder/splendor. One just sees images that skip and fumble by, along with their sounds, and it's somewhat headache-inducing. Is there any cure for this?"
That's usually a good indication that the video clip doesn't match the Sequence settings in FCP. If they matched, you wouldn't need to render. Canon HV records to HDV and XDCAM, for example. But the Canon Powershot SX500 IS camera films MOV movies in H.264, and that is not a good codec for editing in FCP. That will have to be converted to Apple ProRes 422 codec that FCP 6/FCP 7 can edit.
Refer to below guide for how to convert PowerShot SX500 IS footage (.mov) to Apple ProRes 422 codec so as to avoid rendering process in Final Cut Pro 7/FCP 6.
Step 3. Press on Format bar and choose "Final Cut Pro" >> "Apple ProRres 422 (*.mov)" format.
Step 4. Press the Settings button to set frame rate to 24fps, which is preferred for film making. You can resize the 1280 x 720 footage to 1920 x 1080 if necessary.
The converted Apple ProRes .mov video is naturally supported by Final Cut Pro 7/FCP 6 and can be imported to FCP instantly. Just run Final Cut Pro, follow "File>> Import >> Files…" to browse and import ProRes encoded video to FCP for post-production.
