Ingesting & Importing A Screen Recording .mov into Final Cut Pro

As if we didn't have reason enough to hate QuickTime X here's another:

You can't just ingest a Screen Recording you make into FCP. Nope. You have to convert it first to something else.

I suspect it's because of the odd frame rates that screen recordings are in. Take a look at this example:

8.23 FPS.

If you try and ingest it into FCP you'll see this:

What's going on? How can  you load a QuickTime movie (a format by Apple) made by Quicktime X (software from Apple) into Final Cut Pro (Video editing software made by Apple)?

Insane, right?

I think it has something to do with the frame rate. Although I can't fathom why, FCP seems to want some "normal" frame rates in this case.

Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 29.97 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ "current" FPS (8.23)

Result: FCP will NOT accept.

Test #3 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ "current" FPS (8.23)

Result: FCP will NOT accept.

Test #4 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 29.97 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

Bonus Test #1 - Export using QuickTime 7 to ProRes (non HQ) @ 8 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

Bonus Test #2 - Export using QuickTime 7 to H.264 @ 8 FPS

Result: FCP will accept.

I have no idea why QuickTime X records Screen Recordings at a frame rate that FCP doesn't like. Likewise, I have no idea while FCP won't accept certain frame rates, but at least there's a work-around.

Btw, this is FCP 6.0.6. I haven't tested it under FCP 7.x yet.

I'd recommend transcoding your Screen Recordings into ProRes at 8 FPS which will make them a bit smaller compared to 29.97 (obviously) and less CPU intensive.