Can I use mpeg-2 inside Fianl Cut Studio 5.1?

October 28, 2006 10:58 AM

I'm going to be getting Final Cut Studio 5.1 at work. Can I edit mpeg-2 files in it? I couldn't in the old versions, and I can't figure out the tech specs to know whether I can INPUT mpeg-2 to edit or just export to it.
posted by Mayor Peace Love and Unity to computers & internet (3 comments total)

You'll very likely need to buy the codec. I have not found using that a particularly satisfying experience with FCP4.5 on a dual 1.42 G4, but perhaps it works better now.
posted by mzurer at 11:18 AM on October 28, 2006

Could you import the mpeg-2 file into ffmpegX and then export the file as something FCS can read?
posted by Thorzdad at 11:26 AM on October 28, 2006

Kinda. Kinda not.

FWIW, I dropped an M2v file, directly to my FCP 5.04 timeline on a PB 1.33. It dropped frames.

Just to understand, MPEG-2 is not an I-frame codec. The only non-iframe codec that FCP works with is HDV.

Get MPEGStreamclip or DVDxDV.

Realistically here's why:
FCP can only truly play/edit in whatever the native codec of the sequence is.

You can see this, merely by adding something in a different format to your timeline. So, adding DV to an DVCPro50 timeline causes...you guessed it, red (or orange) render bars, based on your RT settings.

You could reconfigure your timeline settings to MPEG-2 (rather than the default of DV); but Apple won't let you. But even if you could tell FCP to "edit" in a specific (non standard) editing format, like MPEG2, you'll have two problems:

No RT effects.
And with MPEG-2, you will get a very non-standard GOP pattern (which would be a mess if you just cut it out to MPEG-2). You'd need a recomform pass (which is what FCP does with HDV)
posted by filmgeek at 11:36 AM on October 28, 2006