• Brian
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Topic: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

I've already talked to Eddie about this a bit, but I'm still running into trouble, so maybe a little crowd sourcing can get me to a happy place.

I'm trying to transcode footage from some little spy cameras, a button cam and some lipstick cameras into Final Cut Pro. The footage out of the camera is some proprietary AVI and MPG bullshit that doesn't play well with mostly everything. The extremely time consuming process I started with is transcoding the raw footage in a program called Movavi to an mp4, then transcoding THAT to Apple ProRes through MPEG Streamclip. The problem is that second step is taking forever.

Eddie suggested using Log and Transfer, which didn't work, or Media Manager, by importing the raw footage into FCP and then using FCP to directly transcode to Apple ProRes. But when I try to do that, it just spits out the clips with the same file extensions and just as unreadable in FCP as before.

Anybody have any experience with this stuff?

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  • Dave
  • Dave
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

I don't have much experience with this but have noted that things like the JVC cameras use a format which can't be imported into AFX. The issue is the wrapper, and renaming the extension of the footage lets you import it with minimal issue. As you're using spy cameras I doubt you'll want to use the audio which could make things simpler?

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  • Brian
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

Just tried that and no such luck, unfortunately. These things are a little more exotic under the hood, as far as I can tell.

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  • Dave
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

What's the extension of the footage you're getting?

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  • Brian
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

AVI and MPG

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  • switch
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

any i/o connections on these cameras?  Have you tried playing the footage back in VLC?

Last edited by switch (2011-11-01 23:26:59)

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  • Brian
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

Footage came from the camera on cards, I was handed a hard drive with the footage. The stuff plays back in VLC fine, as well as anything plays back in VLC.

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  • Teague
  • Teague
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

One time I tried to play a pancake in VLC, and guess what? It played.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: Buffalo, NY
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

The sound tended to waffle, though.

I write stories! With words!
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  • switch
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

do you have any screen capture software?  maybe you could play the video on your comp while recording it to a suitable format at the same time.  Or something like that...  If all else fails at least...

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  • Kyle
  • Kyle
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

Am I SERIOUSLY the first person in this thread to point out that there are only a limited number of reasons to use a lipstick spy camera, and only a limited number of people Brian lives with?

My money is that as soon as this thread drops to the second page there's going to be a .AVI of Teague singing Menken songs naked in front of the bathroom sink going viral.

When.

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  • Brian
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

Heh, na. Assistant editing on a commercial; a candid camera thing with laundry detergent.

But the producer is probably going to sell the cameras off at half price at some point, and I've totally called dibs on the button camera. That thing is cool.

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  • From: Chicago-ish
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Re: Transcoding Spy Cam Footage For FCP

I've used VLC to transcode (you can has batch mode from the command prompt), but I don't think Prores is on the menu there.  Since I don't know FC, this may be a stupid question: why must you have prores, can't you use the intermediate mp4 you're creating?

I'd also expect the camera's manfuacturer(s) should provide an app or a codec that could herlp you.

Last edited by drewjmore (2011-11-02 20:51:13)

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