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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Image sequence in FCP

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chocblu

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Hi All,

This is a really stupid question and i think i already know the answer but i need some confirmation.

When importing an image sequence into FCP, I seem to be getting each frame as a seperate file. Is there a way (without additional plugins) to get an image sequence into FCP as just a single clip?

As an aside to this does anybody know how to automate the creation of Quicktime reference Files. ie , see that folder there full of DPX/TIFF, make it into reference file.

cheers!

Mark
 
Glue Tools for FCP for importing and exporting DPX or Cineon files.
 
Hi Kaku,

I know about Gluetools. And thats on my list of possible solutions...

But I wanted to know if i was missing something when importing these Image Sequences. For example AE and Premier both treat Image Sequences off the bat as one clip.

I basically wanted somebody to confirm for me that by default FCP doesnt treat an Image sequence as one clip. And thats why people use Glue tools?

Cheers

Mark
 
chocblu said:
And thats why people use Glue tools?
Click to expand...

No, mainly because FCP can't handle DPX.

QuickTime player can convert other image sequences into .mov files.
 
So DPX files without Gluetools is out.

When you use quicktime Pro to convert the files tho, that recompresses them to another format tho doesnt it? Or can you get it to create Reference movies?
 
Quitcktime Pro can encapsulate the stills into a single quicktime file using the compressor the stills are encoded in, by default. It will be a file that can stand alone, and not be recompressed.

A series of JPGs, for instance from a DSLR, encapsulated as above will be read as Photo-JPEG inside FCP.
 
So if i open the image sequence in quicktime pro, and the export to quicktime movie and select "none" as the compressor type. Will this do no recompression? just create the image files inside the mov basically?

I was hoping for a reference file, as they dont take up any room.
 
The process to have a non lossy version of a TGA/TIFF sequence brought into FCP is to go to Quicktime, open image sequence, then SAVE AS REFERENCE MOVIE (not as self contained). This will make a quicktime that is like 4kb, and will only point to the original tga files and run them in sequence. You can import that quicktime reference file into FCP but it will not edit nicely, more of a last step so you can assemble things (especially if they're high rez).

We use this workflow when doing animation a lot.

As of yet, I haven't found a way to automate it.

Cal
 
Another route is to go via After Effects. AE does understand DPX/TIFF stacks, so simply import your clip to AE's project bin, create a new comp for it (drag clip to comp creator button), and then render out to QT in a codec of your choice (AJA or BM Uncomp 10-bit I would imagine in your case).

This allows semi-automated, render queue-able transfers for multiple clips, and a route to any codec installed on your machine.

Just another angle on it, in case it helps...

Cheers,
Dom.
 
Thanks Cal,
thats exactly what i was looking for. Thanks also Dominic. We are actually coming from AE and rendering out to tif. We will probably render out a low res for realtime playback as well, but really just want a master timeline in tiff.

Its an indie feature so each scene will be one image sequence out of AE, and then re-assembled with sound in FCP.

thanks for all your help!
And if i work out any way to automate it i will give you a yell.

Cheers
Mark
 
There is also a FREE and FAST option for AJA Kona users...

Simply download the free DPX to QT and QT to DPX converters from AJA's support site. Click on your product's download section (Kona 3, etc.), then scroll down. The links are near the bottom. The converter allows you to set frame rate and colorspace. The only downside is that there's no batch process window. BUT there's an automator script...

Enjoy!

Ian
 
You can run an automator script to batch your QT to DPX (and vice versa) processing. I'm pretty sure the script gets installed when you install the conversion software. I didn't do anything special and it was just there....

Applications>automator>library
 
Yeah ive heard about the AJAtoDPX thingo. But its not totally what i want.

I dont want another lot of large video files. Id much prefer to have some quicktime ref's to the actual image sequence. The films coming in at about 90mins or so, so thats quite a bit of hdd space.

Im actually working on a script that if i finish it should go through a directory structure and create quicktime Ref's for each Image sequence in encounters.

Will post a link when done.

thanks again for all your help.
Mark
 
Well, you need Gluetools then.
 
The AJA translator gives you the option to make new files or to make reference QuickTimes.
 
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