Transcoding to AIC in Final Cut Pro

[leftPCbehind209]

I usually transcode my footage from Sony NX5U to ProRes in Final Cut Pro. I shoot 1080/30p and transcode to the same ProRes equivalent.

I have a friend I shot footage for and he asked me to give it to him in Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC). When I went to select the 'output' in Final Cut Pro, the only choices for AIC were:

720p 1280 x 720 29.97 fps Progressive
1080i 1440 x 1080 25 and 29.97 fps Interlaced
1080p 1440 x 1080 23.98, 25, and 29.97 fps Progressive

What's the deal? Where is 1920 x 1080, 29.97 fps w/ Progressive at?

 

[martinX]

AIC is very limited. It was originally created to deal with HDV, for which high definition is 1440 x 1080 and it is flagged in the NLE to be anamorphic (i.e. non-square pixels) to it is "stretched" to 1920 x 1080.

Apple's info.

As a codec it holds up OK for simple editing workflows, but, being 8-bit 4:2:0 colour, the professionals turn up their nose at it.

 

[CaptainChunk]

Find out what platform your friend is editing on. The only reason he should ask for AIC is if he's using iMovie or FCE to edit, or a version of FCP older than 6.0. Otherwise, there's no reason not to use ProRes.

Another thing you can try (although I can't attest to the results) is duplicating one of the AIC presets in FCP and customizing it for your video's parameters. I would imagine that you should be able to force a 1920x1080 frame with square pixels and a 30p frame rate. I'm just not sure what the field dominance setting (if any) would be for your camera. You'll want to investigate that.