Im using a dual 2.5 GHz Power PC G5 8GB ram OSX 10.4.11 and FCP studio 2 w/all the latest
updates.

I get a WARNING " AVC-intra codec is unsuported on PPC" when I try to log and transfer
a avc 100 file from my 32GB P2 card .

I downloaded the codec from panasonic but its not working.

I read that it need to have an intel based mac, is this true?

I spoke to a Panasonic rep at HD Expo and he told me that you do indeed need to have an Intel Mac.

People say lots of things at trade shows so I don't generally consider any information received there as the truth but that does appear to be the case.

The demo of the AVC codec was impressive...

The reason it's telling you need an Intel box is that the Panasonic codec does not yet run natively in Final Cut Pro. What you are effectively doing is using the codec to convert from AVC-I to ProRes 422 for editing in FCP.

Interestingly (of frustratingly), in order to capture ProRes, Apple sys. req. are a Intel chipset, but playback is supported on a G5. I don't know specifically why you are having trouble since you are not really doing a realtime capture. It's really more of a file copy & convert, but it seems that this would be the issue.

- Jackson

I know that you can capture HDV as ProRes on a G5 now so not sure if thats really the issue. I know back in the day i used to have to use iMovie to transfer HDV to AI and that's still what it iMovie uses. Perhaps you can use that work around to get your AVC clips on your system as AI. Better than nothing!