NTSC to PAL for Final Cut Pro 7

[jsykes]

Hello there,

I have a 'Flip' HD video camera that shoots in NTSC, I live in the UK (Pal).
I want to be able to edit the footage I shoot in this camera in Final Cut Pro 7.

Can anyone tell me the best settings to convert the footage (using Apples's Compression) from this camera to Pal for editing in Final Cut Pro 7 without the need for rendering in the timeline.

I have managed this using Compression's DVPAL preset but I would like to, if possible retain the HD quality.

Here is what the Flip camera shoots:
MPEG-4 File
1280 × 720
H.264, AAC, 44100 Hz, Mono
FPS: 30

Many thanks,

Julian
London,UK

[LethalWolfe]

NTSC vs PAL is really only an SD issue. For HD (which uses ATSC standards) there are uniform frame sizes and a more 'global' approach to frame rates. First thing you need to do is convert the footage from MP4 (which FCP hates) into ProRes or ProRes LT. I'd say LT will be fine given quality of Flip cameras. You can edit the 30p footage if you want. It's not like putting an NTSC clip into a PAL sequence and having two totally different video standards smashed next to each other.

[jsykes]

Thanks for your reply.

I just tired converting some material to apple pro res LT like you suggested but still when I import the files into Final Cut 7.03 I still get the red render line in the timeline and Final Cut says it does not recognise the clip or any of the sequence presets.

This is the file details that I have after putting my clip through compressor.

Apple ProRes 422 (LT), 1,280 x 720 (1,248 x 702)
AAC, 44100 Hz, Mono
FPS: 30

What am I doing wrong? How can Final Cut not recognise this file format?

Thanks,

Julian

[jsykes]

Hello there,

I think I've figured it out.
Once I changed the audio settings in Compressor to 48khz from 44.1 I could import the clip just fine straight into Final Cut timeline without the need for any rendering.
Rather strange that Final Cut does not like audio at 44.1khz right?

Thanks,

Julian

[initialsBB]

Originally Posted by jsykes

Rather strange that Final Cut does not like audio at 44.1khz right?

'Strange' depends on your sequence preset as broadcast standard is 48KHz, so any FCP preset defaults to that. Nothing is stopping you from changing the audio sample rate to 44.1 KHz in your FCP sequence, but the red line probably has more to do with the audio format you chose to transcode to (AAC), than the sample rate. Had you chosen the AIFF format (uncompressed) for the audio track, FCP might have displayed a yellow line meaning realtime playback even though there is a sampling frequency mismatch.

[KeithPratt]

Why is it you want to change the frame rate? And in Compressor does it list the frame rate as 30 or 29.97?

[jsykes]

Well I thought I had to convert to Pal but now realise this is not needed to edit. The clips show us as 30 fps in Compressor.

Thanks,

Julian