Moving between Windows and Mac: capture-edit-convert workflow?
 

Lordsmurf has been immensely helpful in getting me started here, but as I understand he is a bit inundated at the moment, so hoping someone can help fill in the gaps.

I'm looking for tips and recommendations on a workflow from someone with experience moving between Windows and Mac when capturing and converting analog home videos. I have some functioning options I've tested out but I'm looking for the smoothest/least clunky way with as little loss in visual quality as possible.

Capturing: Windows 7 Dell Laptop with VirtualDub 1.9
Basic Editing: FCP7 on iMac 10.10.5 (mask, split, title, fades)
Converting... undecided where and with what

I got Perian working on the Mac, so I'm able to bring in HuffYUV encoded AVI files into FCP7. Just don't know if this is the best way and have some questions if it is.

1. What is the suggested video codec to use for capture for this scenario? HuffYUV? UT Video? (heard some not a fan of this and that it might have a virus?) Is it possible to capture in ProRes in Windows with VirtualDub 1.9?
2. Assuming I capture with HuffYUV, would it be better to convert that to ProRes BEFORE bringing into Mac/FCP7, or is the Perian solution keeping file as HuffYUV just fine? (Not sure what is going on behind the scenes when it's done this way.) I tested and was able to convert HuffYUV capture to ProRes using VirtualDub2 eliminating a need for Perian, so both ways work.
3. Assuming keeping file as HuffYUV and utilizing Perian, need help with FCP7 timeline and sequence settings including the various ProRes options (HQ, LT, "proxy", etc).
4. Export sequence as self-contained QT mov from FCP7 with edits as ProRes to prepare for final conversion
5. Convert on the Mac or send back to the PC? If PC, will ProRes file be ok? I'm told Hybrd/QTGMC is the way to go in either case but I haven't tried this yet.

I know FCP7 just enough to get by and do what I need to do, but I've only worked with DV files so far, so the timeline and sequence compression settings are muddy when working with other formats. I also don't understand pros/cons or even the difference between converting HuffYUV to ProRes BEFORE bringing into FCP vs letting FCP handle it, or if I should be capturing with a different codec altogether if my plans are to bring into the Mac.

Thank you!

Still need some tips?

Getting Perian working will make the Windows>Mac lossless workflow much easier. (You can avoid the ProRes422 reencode using VirtualDub2.)

1. Huffyuv is best for you, with this Perian-enabled workflows. Not Ut (issues, always has been). ProRes422 cannot be captured to, even with VirtualDub2.

2. You can, but not required. Perian uses Quicktime.

3. I've always used the HQ.

4. Export ProRes422.

5. Depends on need. For deinterlaced, QTGMC is best. Hybrid has a Mac version, but development on it stopped. However, it's probably still fine, lots of discontinued software is. (Selur doesn't have a Mac anymore, so no dev.) I'm really not clear on how QTGMC in Hybrid works, but I'm assuming it uses the Linux version Avsiynth ported.

Huffyuv>ProRess422 quality hit is small to non-existent. The important aspect in VirtualDub2 is to edit the codec/encode properties, lower the compression level, and use YUV.

If you mean on MacOS it's more likely it uses vapoursynth, which works fine on MacOS and Linux.

Thanks. I've completely revamped the way I am tackling this since I initially wrote the original post.

Still capturing the same way, with VirtualDub / HuffYUV, but instead of bringing over to the Mac for editing, I've got AviSynth installed on another Windows machine and I'm doing my editing, titling, and QTGMC with AviSynth scripts. I haven't come across any issues so far that have required me to bring the files into VirtualDub for editing - I've been able to do everything with the scripts (so far).

At that point I am using ffmpeg command line to convert the file with edits including deinterlacing with QTGMC to ProRes422/mov ("regular" ProRes422, not LT, not HQ) for an archival version "just in case" that should be future proof for a Mac, including one that's newer and without the old Perian working (assuming I will upgrade at some point), and then converting that ProRes file via ffmpeg command line to H264/mp4.

I had also been considering doing two full separate conversions just to eliminate any potential issues ProRes might introduce rather than using the ProRes file to create the mp4 file. I know I "shouldn't" notice any quality loss with ProRes intermediate file but the time savings is really irrelevant to me when I'm running the files overnight anyway. I've done it both ways and sometimes I feel like I can notice minor differences but it's very hard to tell and probably not worth all the pixel peeping effort I went through.

Good catch. Without verifying, I think you're correct. :congrats: