Best way to edit MP4 HD video in FCP?

August 22, 2009 6:29 PM

Preventing slowdowns when editing HD video in FCP?

I am editing some H.264 720p video in FCP6. When I am just laying in the raw footage in insert mode, everything plays back fine, but as soon as I add a transition, playback gets really stuttery, and remains so even if I delete the transition and restart FCP.

I'm on a top end iMac so I know I'm probably pushing things a bit but it's frustrating that it plays fine until I add a transition.

Any clues? Should I transcode into something before editing? Would upgrading to the latest help much?

posted by unSane to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

Best answer: Transcode before editing seems to be the consensus of the experts at the Creative Cow. I agree with them, I've never had much luck working directly with H264 in Final Cut. That said, if you're going to try check your sequence settings and make sure that H264 is set as the compressor. But really, save yourself a headache and transcode your footage.
posted by Izner Myletze at 6:57 PM on August 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

H.264 is a processor intensive codec. Transcoding will make a pretty big difference.
posted by sycophant at 2:05 AM on August 23, 2009