Optimized Media still listed as h.264 in FCP X

Hi Ken,

Can anyone explain to me why a scene shot with the Canon 5D Mark III that I imported into FCP X as Optimized Media is still listed in the Inspector as h.264?
As a control, I imported the same clip into FCP 7, hit Command+9 and it is identified there as well as h.264. I thought when I optimized media, it was transcoded to Apple ProRes 422. As a second control in FCP 7, I used Log & Transfer and the Canon Movie Plugin E1 to import the same scene and it was appropriately listed as Apple Pro Res 422.

Thanks,
Phil

Hi Phil,

You should not compare FCP X and FCP7, they are from a totally different universe (-:

- When you import via Log&Capture in FCP7 and you convert the clips to ProRes while importing, FCP7 only imports your clips as ProRes. FCP7 lists your imported clips as ProRes media because that's the only media it has.

- When you import in FCP X and your create optimized media your clips actually refer to two different kinds of media: the original media and the optimized ProRes media. FCP X correctly lists your original media in the Inspector (e.g. "H.264"). And it also indicates wether you have optimized media or not: if you have optimized media you will see a green dot next to "Optimized". It does not need to list your optimized media as ProRes because all optimized media are always ProRes. The optimized media don't replace the original media, you only create them to achieve better playback and editing performance. You can delete the optimized media any time you wish (e.g. to save drive space) and you will still have the original media to work with.

Best wishes,

Ronny

Got it, Ronny. I just did not know where it was listed as optimized. Thanks for clarifying.