Archive for the ‘iMovie’ Category

iMovie: Project Creation & Media Ingest

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

Having obtained a ProRes version of my footage, how does one edit a movie using it in IMovie?  I have never used iMovie before, just played with it, and even that was quite a while ago.

  • iMovie
    • Intro-Help movie assumes you’re importing from a camera
    • Tried dragging video ( [.MOV] file) from location (Videos folder) to iMovie. No-go.
    • Created a new event (how?).  Named it [2009-11-20 Lady of the Silver Wheel]
    • Dragged video file to that Event.  It was accepted.
      • Q: Does that also put it in iPhoto?
        • doesn’t look like it.
      • Q: So should I ideally have imported it first to:  iPhoto (somehow?

XDCAM-EX to ProRes: How

Saturday, December 10th, 2011

I have a Sony XDCAM-EX clip at 1280x720p25 to be transcoded to ProRes, so it can be used as source for iMovie (for another user on another machine).

In principle it should be very simple: go on Mac, use Compressor to transcode the XDCAM footage to ProRes.  But as usual, things are pernickety…

Sequence:

  • First tried dragging the XDCAM [.mp4] file into compressor.
    • Not recognised.
    • Likewise the BPAV folder.
  • Next, I transcoded the XDCAM footage to “MXF for NLEs” format, using the Mac version of Sony Clip Browser
    • Not recognised.
  •  Next, opened the XDCAM Transfer app.
    • In this app, open the XDCAM’s BPAV folder.
    • The footage displays OK but how do I export it to a QuickTime [MOV] file?
    • Looks like I can’t.  It only offers to export to an [MP4] file.
    • Instead, I guess I’ll have to open it from FCP.
  • FCP
    • I opened a random existing FCP project.
    • The footage is 720p but the project/sequence settings are arbitrary (unknown to me)
    • FCP: File > Import > Sony XDCAM…
    • It imported to somewhere … but where?
    • FCP Browser: file > RightClick > Reveal in Finder
    • It was at [/Volumes/GRm HFS+/_Media/_Projects/2010-05-30 (Esp) Alison Doggies/020 Source/Sony XDCAM Transfer/SxS_01]
  • File System:
    • In other words, at whatever destination was last used by some app – presumably XDCAM Transfer or possibly FCP
    • The destination path was in fact specified in XDCAM Transfer, under its Menu: [XDCAM Transfer > Preferences > Import]
    • Moved the file instead to [/Volumes/GRm HFS+/_Media/_Projects/2009-11-22 (JRM) Lady of the Silver Wheel]
  • Compressor:
    • Open it in Compressor
      • Drag it to the “job-strip” (my term) in Compresor.
    • Compressor displays data about that clip (e.g. 1280×720, 25 fps)
    • Select jobstrip settings:
      • Select Setting
        • Settings: Apple > Formats > QuickTime > Apple Pro
          • Name: Apple ProRes 422
          • Description: Apple ProRes 422 with audio pass-through. Settings based off the source resolution and frame rate
      • Apply (Drag) Setting to Jobstrip
    • Destination
      • Leave destination unspecified.  Then it will be the same folder as Source.
    • Processing (transcoding) of this footage (1280x720p25) took about 3 minutes (on MacBook Pro 2009).
    • Result was not that much bigger than the original:
      • Originally recorded [.MP4] file: 1.19 GB
      • Rewrapped [.MOV] from XDCAM Transfer: 1.14 GB
      • ProRes [.MOV] from Compressor: 1.97 GB

Mac OS Upgrade: Snow Leopard: Apres-Install

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Before checking for updates, install the bundles, iWork and iLife.  Reasoning: they were designed at the same point in time, at which they were most likely to be compatible; it is possible that later Mac OS updates could (in principle) detract from this – so I opt to “play safe”.

  • Install iWork
    • Occupies about 1 GB
    • Installed in about 10 mins
  • Install iLife
    • Occupies about 3 GB
    • Installed in about 30 mins
  • Apple Update
    • Estimated duration 6 hours – so do it overnight instead (set a reminder!).

iMovie Preferences & Directory Structure

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
  • General
    • Show advanced tools [No] -> Yes
  • Video
    • Import HD video as: [Large 960×540] -> Full – Original Size

No way I can see to define the iMovie work-area folder, where media gets imported to for example.  Maybe there’s no choice over this, which would be a shame (don’t want movies filling up my system drive).  In my case the iMovie work-area was:

  • /Users/davidesp/Movies
    • iMovie Events.localized/
      • New Event/
        • iMovie Data
        • iMovie Cache/
        • iMovie Thumbnails/
        • <a source media file>
    • iMovie Projects/
      • My First Project.rcproject

Mac Workflows – YouTube Tutorials

Friday, January 8th, 2010
  1. iMovie rough-cut to XML to FCP to QT (reference) to Compressor
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTrxEAPGY5Y
  • ScreenFlow for screen captures
    • e.g. 5 minutes exported as ProRes 422 gives 10GB
  • iMovie:
    • Rough edit in iMovie
      • Trims, cuts and AutoAdjust (for levels)
    • Share > Export Final Cut XML
  • Final Cut:
    • Refined cuts, transitions etc. and add soundtrack
      • e.g. Soundtrack Pro (STP), find music etc from library, reveal in Finder and just drag to FCP project, no obligation to make an “official” STP project.
    • Export to QuickTime – uncheck the “Make self-contained” option if only to be used on same system (e.g. to send to compressor for render-on to some other format).
  • Compressor:
  1. x