Comments on: Editing Nikon D90 Footage in Final Cut

By: sebastien

sebastien — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:16:36 +0000

after doing some research i found this site that has a droplet that yo can use with apple compressor to batch a bunch of clips.
http://torres21.typepad.com/flickschool/2009/04/d90-workflow-in-final-cut-pro.html

By: Jack

Jack — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:50:16 +0000

Thanks for doing all the legwork, Michael. I knew dealing with the AVI codec in Final Cut would be a pain, but this is a perfectly reasonable solution.

By: Tre

Tre — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 02:20:12 +0000

I have the lastest version of MPEG Streamclip.. but ProRes or the other isnt there =\?

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:55:47 +0000

Hmm, 1.9.2 is the latest version. What are you doing to get to the export preferences?

Do you drop the movie in MPEG Streamclip, and then click Command-E to get to the Export dialog?

By: Reuben

Reuben — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:39:04 +0000

I have MPEG Steamclip 1.9.2 and see no option for Apple Intermediate Codec. Also, I’m working in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, not FCP. Any recs?

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:03:49 +0000

Great advice, thanks.

Do you know the best FCP sequence settings for these clips?

By: flo

flo — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:17:08 +0000

didn’t work for me. Final cut gives me “the file is not optimized for use with Final cut” when opening files converted like described with MPEG streamclip. I give up.

By: rose

rose — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:31:10 +0000

Oops, my mistake!

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:29:00 +0000

Sorry, Rose, I was responding to Bruce’s last comment.

You’re welcome!

By: rose

rose — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:27:41 +0000

Okay you already lost me. I obviously don’t know enough about DSLRs to know what you are talking about with the Quality slider. What I meant is that the Cameras ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed are preset for the type of sports shoot, they actually put tape over the controls so that they cannot be changed, and so we never get to experiment with the different settings. So even though I have taken several shots with the D80 it might as well have been a Point and Shoot as we did not learn a darn thing. Thanks again for the help!

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:22:52 +0000

I don’t think the Quality slider makes much of a difference in this case. I’m not sure why.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:21:29 +0000

Why do you set the quality setting to just 50%? Would 100% quality setting yield a better picture?

I tested both, and the images appear to be identical (to my eye, at least — I haven’t done much testing). File sizes are identical as well.

By: rose

rose — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:00:36 +0000

Thanks so much I am going to check out that site. I do intend on getting very personal with this camera and learning everything that it has to offer. I would have done the same at work with the D80 had the owners not been so intent on not messing with the settings. Their company, their rules I suppose. I have been doing much research in the past few days on the D90 and on DSLRs in general. I have much to learn as I have never owned a DLSR and do not want to do anything to hurt this camera or the lens. I appreciate the info that you gave me and I will do just that, learn the features of this camera. Any advise you have to offer is appreciated. Happy New Year to you!

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:50:05 +0000

I would definitely recommend the D90 over the Canon 50d. I love the low-light performance, and the shots come out spectacular.

One recommendation I would make: try to learn to use at least some of the settings. They make a huge difference in the resulting photos. A good place to start is here:

http://michaelmistretta.com/2008/introduction-to-photography/

A perfect introduction that will run over most of the basic functions of the camera (or all cameras for that matter).

By: rose

rose — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:46:13 +0000

Thank you so much for your reply as I am planning on buying the camera this Friday from Best Buy, to afraid to purchase online at a lower price after reading all of the bait & switch tactics. Just wondering if you are really liking your D90? I currently have a Leica D-Lux 3 which I used to learn manual controls and now feel ready for a DSLR purchase and have narrowed down my choices to the D90 or the Canon D50. I currently work part time as a Sports Photographer and we use the Nikon D80. I really do not get to mess with the controls on this camera as they are preset for the shoot. We shoot stills of individual sports players (hockey, baseball, volleyball etc.) So even though I have made at least a couple thousand shots with the D80, I really did not get to get a feel for the camera settings, just the camera itself. I pretty much know that come Friday I will be buying the D90, just wondering what you think of it???Thanks so much for your input, I appreciate it!

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:19:42 +0000

Yes, I’m using it with Final Cut Express currently.

By: rose

rose — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:18:36 +0000

I assume that this process will work for final cut express as well?

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:46:52 +0000

Judson: To be honest, I usually export the D90 footage uncompressed as a QuickTime movie, and then compress down to separate versions using VisualHub, so I haven’t encountered any sound post-processing issues.

By: Judson Collier

Judson Collier — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:15:27 +0000

Good work Michael.

P.S. Are you having sound issues post-export? Occasionally I’m getting blank sound and popping noises, but only when I mess around with my exporting settings.

Which by the way, what are you using that for?

By: Michael Mistretta

Michael Mistretta — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 21:46:52 +0000

Marcus: should work now.