Most compatible file type across platforms

[Philip]

I'm on a current project with a marketing research company. They send me a bunch of video they shot with a Canon handy cam in 1440x1080 29.97p mp4 format. My job has been to go through the footage and catalog the content using sequence markers. Most projects I then create video clips for their clients from all the info I have found in the cataloging process.

For this project the client is Nickelodeon and they will make the videos but wanted me to send them all the timecodes and content of the video. I will export a csv file from the Sequence Markers and create a spreadsheet for the timecode and information.

My problem is I can't talk to anyone at Nickelodeon as the people that will deal with this content aren't available till they are ready to look at it. I have no idea what system they will edit the footage on. A colleague did a similar project a few years ago for the same client and sent them DV AVI files since the footage was in SD. Now the footage is all native HD mp4 files. From what my colleague told me they end up having interns edit the footage.

What format should I encode the footage to so I have the best chance of them being able to edit with out needing to transcode or re-wrap the files. Is there a codec I should use that could be natively edited on any NLE on a PC or Mac including FCP or FCPX? I know I can export as HQ Quicktime but I don't want to make the end user have to install the codec. I want them to be able to take the files, drop on the timeline and start editing. I'm not too worried about the client if they are on PC with Adobe or Avid. I can send whatever and they should be ok. It's the Mac people I am worried about. It needs to work on any system.

I have a friend I have sent a few sample files to that edits on FCPX and FCP7 and so far he has been unable to open them natively. I sent MPEG2 1920x1080 29.97p files and also 1440x1080 hdv (m2t) files.

I don't have a SandyBridge i7 so encoding back to mp4 is going to take forever with over 20+ hours of footage. I am hoping for an option to encode to mpg2.

[Andreas_Gumm]

Use XDCAM HD422 for export. It is a very common format which can be read with the help of the SONY FCP import plugin.
I will bet, they can read it because all footage from SONY XDCAMs needs that plugin to make it read in FCP & I'm shure,
if they have been done serious editing a longer time for broadcast they have been confrontated with such footage before.

Andreas

[Philip]

Use XDCAM HD422 for export. It is a very common format which can be read with the help of the SONY FCP import plugin.
I will bet, they can read it because all footage from SONY XDCAMs needs that plugin to make it read in FCP & I'm shure,
if they have been done serious editing a longer time for broadcast they have been confrontated with such footage before.

Andreas

Thanks for the response. Since this footage is just consumer level 4:2:0 footage is there a reason I should use the 422 export? Would the regular XDCAM HD setting work just as well with FCP.

Of course since this is a broadcast codec it should also work in Adobe or Avid as well.

Edit....I actually tried export as standard XDCAM HD and it wouldn't let me but the 422 setting did. Guess I will go with that. I checked the Sony page for the plugin information and it listed the 422 files as working with the plugin but not the standard XDCAM HD. Guess that solves the problem for me. Thanks for your help.

[Andreas_Gumm]

If they will edit the footage for broadcast, they will be fine with XDCAM HD422.
The better the delivery format is the less complaints you will get! ;)
I think you wouldn't do anything wrong.

Andreas

EDIT:

I checked the Sony page for the plugin information and it listed the 422 files as working with the plugin but not the standard XDCAM HD. Guess that solves the problem for me. Thanks for your help.

That was new to me. I have thought that all XDCAM file will work with SONYs FCP plugin.
AVID & Premiere will work with these files.

In SONY's legacy section is another tool which should work with the most other XDCAM formats.
PDZK-P1 XDCAM Transfer Software (is called qualified to work with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion)

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-downloads-PDZKP1XDCAMTransferSoftwareTC

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-downloads-XDCAMSoftwareDownload.shtml#apps

[Philip]

If they will edit the footage for broadcast, they will be fine with XDCAM HD422.
The better the delivery format is the less complaints you will get! ;)
I think you wouldn't do anything wrong.

Andreas

EDIT:

That was new to me. I have thought that all XDCAM file will work with SONYs FCP plugin.
AVID & Premiere will work with these files.

In SONY's legacy section is another tool which should work with the most other XDCAM formats.
PDZK-P1 XDCAM Transfer Software (is called qualified to work with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion)

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-xdcam/resource.downloads.bbsccms-assets-micro-xdcam-downloads-PDZKP1XDCAMTransferSoftwareTC

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-x...oad.shtml#apps

Because it didn't list XDCAM HD as compatible doesn't mean it wouldn't work. It very well may but the last thing I want is a month after the project is done for them to be calling me and asking what I screwed up. :-).

BTW. The reason I was trying to bypass the extra 422 is because this is not for broadcast. The footage are focus group interviews for marketing for an internal marketing presentation. It will never go beyond the boardroom. I was hired to catalog it and send them timecodes to the good content. I could have done each separate clip independently but it would have been a boatload of nested sequences and a nightmare to maintain. I put all clips from a single interview in their own sequence and used sequence markers to catalog the content. I will end up with about 10 sequences of about 2 hours each and about 300 comments on each clip. Lots of typing...not exactly exciting but dang Edius made the process easy....and they paid well too so I didn't mind being bored.

[Andreas_Gumm]

BTW. The reason I was trying to bypass the extra 422 is because this is not for broadcast. The footage are focus group interviews for marketing for an internal marketing presentation. It will never go beyond the boardroom.

I think in that case QT H264 (high quality settings) with embedded PCM audio could be good enough to export.
I'm using the format for EPKs & trailers intended for web distribution & later usage in broadcast environment.

Andreas