Special note: imx ntsc mov files created for fcp, Special note: adobe cs performance enhancement, Special note: catdv – Calibrated Software IMX Decode v2 User Manual
Page 12
Page | 13
Special Note: IMX NTSC MOV files created for FCP
Even though IMX NTSC video is Upper Field First,
IMX NTSC MOV files created by XDCAM Transfer, FCP ‘Log and
Transfer’, or other hardware devices or software applications that create IMX MOV file’s for FCP editing may ‘tag’ the IMX
NTSC .MOV file-
wrapper as having either ‘Lower-Field’ First or with an ‘Undefined’ Field type. This ‘tagging’ in the MOV
file-wrapper is because the Apple IMX QuickTime Codec that comes with FCP will automatically (on decoding a IMX
NTSC video frame) shift up the picture by one scan-line and fill the last scanline with an all-black line
– thus realtime
converting the IMX NTSC video frame to Lower-Field first during decode. The Apple IMX Codec that comes with FCP
does this because FCP and FC Studio applications work with SD NTSC 30i video with Lower-Field First. The actual
encoded IMX video frame in the MOV file
–wrapper is still encoded as Upper-Field first.
Calibrated{Q} IMX Decode (by default) does NOT automatically shift the fields when decoding IMX NTSC video frames
and thus the IMX NTSC Video frame will be decoded as Upper Field First. This may confuse some applications as the
IMX NTSC will be decoded as ‘Upper-Field’ first but since the .MOV file wrapper is ‘tagged’ as ‘Lower-Field’ first an
application may
‘think’ that the video is ‘Lower-Field’ first and handled it as such (if a IMX NTSC MOV file is ‘tagged’ as
‘Undefined’ field then an application may interpret that as Progressive). This can be easily corrected in most applications
that use Calibrated{Q} IMX Decode (Adobe AE/PPro, Sony Vegas, etc.) where you can override the
MOV file ‘Lower-
Field’ first (or ‘Undefined’ field type) tagging by telling the application you are using that the IMX NTSC MOV file is in fact
‘Upper-Field’ first. This is usually done by a setting in the application – please consult your application’s manual on how to
do this. This is the recommended workflow. If needed there is an option you can set to have Calibrated{Q} IMX Decode
act like Apple’s IMX Codec and decode an IMX NTSC video frame as ‘Lower-Field’ first. Please see the ‘IMX NTSC
Reverse
Fields’ section in the ‘Global Options’ chapter on how to do this. Please note though that this is a very advanced
option.
Special Note: Adobe CS Performance Enhancement
If you are using the following Adobe CS 5/5.5/6/CC/CC2014 Applications:
After Effects, Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and Encore
decoding performance of Calibrated{Q} Decode codecs can be greatly enhanced by installing an Adobe XML patch file
that we’ve created. The XML patch file enables the above Adobe applications to decode from the Calibrated{Q} Decode
codecs at 8-bit YUV422 or 10-bit YUV422* colorspace which will greatly improve decode performance in the above Adobe
applications.
*10-bit YUV422 support is intended for Calibrated{Q} AVC-Intra Decode when working with AVC-Intra files.
You can download the XML patch file here
Special Note: CatDV
IMPORTANT: If you experience any problems in creating proxies and/or playback in CatDV, please enable Protected
Mode in CatDV. To enable 'Protected Mode', go to the CatDV Preferences and select 'Media Playback' and then check
the option 'Protected player: Use separate QuickTime helper process'. Playback performance is a little less smooth in
‘Protected Mode’ but it will be more stable. Also, in newer versions of CatDV you may wish to also disable the ‘scrub
audio when dragging play head’ option in the ‘Media Playback’ CatDV Preferences to make scrubbing in CatDV faster.