Displaying a HDV 1080i50 clip in FCE

[C4E1]

Hi
I cannot display (in Final Cut Express) a clip in a .mov file that contains HDV 1080i50. The file was created on a different Mac computer running Final Cut Pro. The source was a Sony Z1 camera. No hardware card was used.

I get the error message in FCE - "Codec not found. You may be using a compression type without the corresponding hardware card"

Can Final Cut Express work with HDV 1080i50 created from FCP?

 

[spinnerlys]

Can you open the clip in QuickTime and open the Movie Inspector (CMD+I) to see what codec it uses?

It may use ProRes, which is only available in FCP but not in FCE, which uses the Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) for its HD content.

 

[C4E1]

Quicktime will open the file but the video screen is just black - audio is fine. The video inspector reports

HDV 1080i50, 1440 x 1080 (1888 x 1062), Millions
16-bit Integer (Little Endian), Left, 48.000 kHz
16-bit Integer (Little Endian), Right, 48.000 kHz

 

[spinnerlys]

I'm out of wits right now. Can you contact the source of that video and let them send you another, FCE compatible version?
Maybe the HDV codec is not included with FCE, I don't really remember right now.
I can also offer, if the clips is not too big (10GB+) and confidential, to take a look at it and make it compatible with FCE.

 

[KeithPratt]

Maybe the HDV codec is not included with FCE, I don't really remember right now.

It's not.

You need the video in Apple Intermediate Codec to edit it in FCE. You can re-capture from tape in FCE (or FCP) or find someone with the HDV codec on their system to transcode.

 

[C4E1]

Thanks to everyone for your assistance. I had the files exported with the Apple Intermediate Codec selected from FC and my FCE can now see the video.