FCP X Question.

[Darker Times]

Hi

After much messing around with various editing software, I decided to download the trail of FCP X. I really like the editor and have made a fantastic looking Blu-ray movie, which is what I had been trying to do with other editors. I just have one minor issue, which I am sure is my error and I would like to resolve it.

I have imported AVCHD footage 1080p/50 fps. Editing this is not an issue, but when I try to export this using the Blu-ray share option, it drops the quality down to 720p. I realised after looking on this forum that I would need to set the project as 25fps in order to retain a 1080 output. This again was no issue and everything worked as it should. On watching the Blu-ray disc back on my TV, I noticed that there is a very slight lip-sync issue. I wondered if this is due to the frame rate being altered? Can anyone throw any light on this.

Thanks

Philip

 

[joema]

...I have imported AVCHD footage 1080p/50 fps. Editing this is not an issue, but when I try to export this using the Blu-ray share option, it drops the quality down to 720p. I realised after looking on this forum that I would need to set the project as 25fps in order to retain a 1080 output. This again was no issue and everything worked as it should. On watching the Blu-ray disc back on my TV, I noticed that there is a very slight lip-sync issue. I wondered if this is due to the frame rate being altered?...

The need for 25 fps is because the original Blu-Ray standard only supported 1080p/30 and 1080p/25. I think it was later extended to include 1080p @ 50/60 fps but this was long after mastering software and hardware players were standardized on 25/30 fps.

Some newer Blu Ray players can playback a disk mastered at 1080 @ 50/60 fps, but since optical media dying out out, there are a lot of 25/30 fps players that may never be upgraded.

Re the lip sync problem, is this for all Blu Ray discs or only the one you made? Is played back via hardware player or on your computer? Can you play it on a hardware player to double-check? Doing tests like that is the only way to track down whether it happened during mastering or is a playback artifact.

 

[Darker Times]

Hi

Thanks for replying.

It has only happened on the disc I have burnt using Final Cut. All my other B/R discs play fine.

I have a Panasonic player and a Sony player and the issue is the same on both. I did burn a B/R disc using Premiere Elements 12 a few weeks back, and did not have this issue. There again, I did not have to alter the frame rate with PE12. Sadly, PE12 was a nightmare and kept crashing, so was not realistically useable.

Thanks

Philip

 

[joema]

Unfortunately I don't know why the problem. I have made several DVDs with FCP X and never seen this problem. Can you export the video to a playable H.264 file and see if it exists there, or just on the Blu-Ray disc?

Note in FCP X the fastest way to export is using single-pass H.264 to a file:

Share->Master File->Settings->Computer:

Format: Computer
Video codec: H.264 Faster Encode
Resolution: 1920 x 1080

If that plays OK, I'd suggest exporting to ProRes 422, verifying that plays OK, and if so re-importing that to another library and try burning it from there.

Format: Video and Audio
Video codec: Source - Apple ProRes 422
Resolution: 1920x1080