High-Speed Importing?

relivemagic · #1 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 06:06 PM

Hi,

I have about 75 hours of footage I need to edit, and all of it has to be imported onto my Mac. Currently I use iMovie, which of course can barely handle something like this, so I'm thinking of upgrading to Final Cut Pro.

Here's my question: is there a setting in Final Cut that allows you to somehow "fast import"? Import the footage onto the computer quickly, instead of second-by-second? To just sit around hour after hour importing seems kind of futile. I would love it if I could import an hour of footage in half the time, or even just minutes. Even if quality is lost it doesn't matter in this case.

If Final Cut can't do this, are there any applications for a Mac that can? I actually only need to import it to then have it in MPEG or MOV format -- it doesn't need to be edited beyond just importing it onto the computer.

Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

JT · #2 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 06:12 PM

Someone may correct me but my understanding is that there is now way to do what you want to do. I know it's a pain but you have to just let it run minute by minute I'm afraid.

Mihai · #3 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 06:13 PM

DV capture is a real-time process.

relivemagic · #4 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 06:46 PM

Hi! Thanks for your responses. What I'm really trying to do is import video with the intention of turning every few seconds of it into a photo. Right now I'm just importing it in real-time into iMovie, taking the .mov file created by bringing it into iMovie, and then exporting from the Quicktime file as an image sequence.

Are there any programs that allow you to import footage and it automatically just creates photos out of the footage at set intervals? Maybe with a program like that it's possible to to a high-speed import?

Marc Peters · #5 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 06:59 PM

Yes software exists to do this, but I'm afraid I can't suggest anything on a Mac.

relivemagic · #6 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 07:04 PM

What is the software for a PC? I would be willing to buy a PC just to be able to use the software.

Marc Peters · #7 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 07:11 PM

DV Rack Express from Serious Magic $149.95 is the first that comes up in google

Also LEAD Capture can save a stream of JPEGs at $89 with a free trial.

relivemagic · #8 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 08:15 PM

Does DV Rack Express import footage faster than real-time? Or did you mention it because it can save images from footage as still frames in sequence? I'm still searching for a program that can import video from a camera faster than real-time.

Marc Peters · #9 (**permalink**) 12-09-2005, 08:17 PM

It can't be done.