Is anyone actually using FCP to edit (transcoded) AVCHD?

I ask this question because I recently bought a Sony HDR-SR11 for a project.

I shot 650 clips. About 640 of them came into FCP. I can't get 10 clips to transfer in. They start to come in, then I get a stop sign icon.

Any ideas why FCP is unhappy?

Also, the clip list from the camera is sooo sluggish to scroll through. Lots of beach ball waiting.

Has anyone else been able to overcome these issues?

Thanks in advance!

Check to see if the Perian QuickTime component is installed:
/Library/QuickTime/Perian.component

if it is then drag it out to desktop and then try again

Michael Horton
-------------------

Thanks, Michael

I could not find that Perian.component in my QuickTime.

Any other ideas?

I am looking at one of the small hand held 3 chip HD cameras, e.g. Panasonic, that records to internal HDD or SD card... recording mode is AVCHD...

No firewire, but HDMI mini... will that work with FCP?

Will burn to DVD using a compatible DVD burner. WIll DVDxDV like that?? Is it really 1920 x 1080 on the DVD? Via HDMI??

I'm getting scared.

Independent photographer, film maker and Producer. In the wonderful UK.

These specs are so alien to me after 25 years of tape cameras...

How does HA HG HX HE correlate to files that FCP wants to play with??

And what do I do with a SD card? Is it data for FCP to drag and drop on timeline? Is it something FCP can Import like from tape??

RECORDING & PLAYBACK
Applicable Disc No
Cue and Review No
Skip No
Video Recording Format AVCHD (Motion Image)
Recording Mode HD: HA (17 Mbps/VBR), HG (13 Mbps/VBR), HX (9 Mbps/VBR), HE (6 Mbps/VBR)
Playback Mode HD: HA (17 Mbps/VBR), HG (13 Mbps/VBR), HX (9 Mbps/VBR), HE (6 Mbps/VBR)
Audio Recording Format Dolby Digital (Dolby AC3) / 5.1-channel
Recording Time HDD: 60GB: HA (7hrs 40mins)/HG (10hrs 10mins)/HX (15hrs 20mins)/HE (23hrs)
SDHC: 16GB: HA (2 hrs)/HG (2hrs 40mins)/HX (4hrs)/HE (6hrs), 8GB: HA (1hr)/HG (1hr 20mins)/HX (2hrs)/HE (3hrs), 4GB: HA (30mins)/HG (40mins)/HX (1hr)/HE (1hr 30mins)
Still Picture JPEG Picture Size:
2.1 MEGA: 1920 x 1080 (16:9)
Still Picture Recording Number HDD: 60GB: High Picture Quality: 55470, Normal Picture Quality: 87170
SDHC: 16GB: (13470, 21170), 8GB: (6690, 10520), 4GB: (3290, 5160)
Counter Yes
Remaining Indication Yes
Pre-Rec Function Yes
Intelligent Contrast Control Yes
One-Touch Navigation Yes
Help Mode Yes
Tele Macro Yes (50cm)
AGS (Auto Ground-Directional Standby) Yes
Disc Copy Function Yes (when using a DVD Burner (VW-BN1), data from SD Memory Card can be copied to a 12-cm DVD Disc)
SD CARD FEATURES .
Built-in SD Slot Yes (SD/SDHC)
DPOF Max. 999 stills
PictBridge Compatible Yes
JACKS .
Video Component Yes
HDMI Yes (mini)
USB Hi-Speed USB (USB 2.0)(mini AB)
Analog In/Out Out only
Accessory Shoe No
AV Out
INCLUDED ACCESSORIES .
AC Adaptor Yes
Battery Pack Lithium-Ion
Video Component Cable Yes
AV Cable Yes
USB Cable Yes
IR Remote Yes
Lens Cap No
Software HD Writer 2.5E
Other Cables AC/DC Cables
Free DVD Burner No

Independent photographer, film maker and Producer. In the wonderful UK.

I just bought the HD equipped Panasonic camera for an upcoming vacation. So far so good. The SD card can be used for recording directly to, just like the drive. Clips can be transferred between the SD card & disk (either way). This is convenient. Best to use Class 6 SDHC cards. I bought 3x16GB cards for the trip.

HA HG HX HE are just quality settings. HA is the highest as I recall, HE is the lowest. I'm testing all levels. Obviously the choice will affect available recording time. The manual has the charts. I can post if you like. None of the formats "correlate to files that FCP wants to play with." They just result in different sized files the higher quality you go. Which by the way, at the highest quality setting, is about 10x the recorded size once imported into FCP. So recorded 40GB= ~400GB once in FCP. That's a bit of a trip.

It's a bit weird not having a lens cap. I put a "UV Protector glass" filter on the cam to protect the lens when it's exposed. Doesn't seem to affect the picture too much.

File transfer - which i haven't done yet - only seems possible via USB directly from the cam into a connected computer. That is, the SD card cannot be thrown into a card reader & transferred from there. Has to be via the connected cam AND won't work under battery power, the cam MUST be plugged into the wall. There's also a chart as to how long transfer takes, and another chart detailing how long SD-to Disk & Disk-to-SD transfers take, and both operations take SERIOUS time.

The biggest drawback as I see it in early days is battery capacity. Whether writing to HDD or SD, battery times are similar. The battery that comes with the cam provides about an hour for both. There are 2 optional battery options, one providing 2 hours of recording time, the other 4 hours. Apparently the very scarce 4 hour battery is actually heavier than the camera itself & requires an adapter kit to hold it in place. Doesn't matter at the moment since it doesn't seem to be available anywhere. Plus it's fairly expensive (~$250.00 USD) AND takes like 9 hours to charge back up. ALL the batteries for this cam seem to take a long time to charge. There's also a chart for that.

Anyway I'll be reviewing the shots I've done in the next couple days. We'll see how the pictures hold up.

Reid C

I absolutely wonder what is Panasonic thinking, building a camera and have it be so clunky in terms of interfacing with Macs?

Don't they have a clue that video from the camera has got to do to a computer to do something with it...

I burn to DVD all the time, but that's SD not HD!

I just don't get it! What are they expecting us to do with the video - that they aren't telling us? Do they ever contact Mike to be part of LAFCPUG meetings?

Independent photographer, film maker and Producer. In the wonderful UK.

I'll know today how clunky it is as I'll be attempting to transfer. Apparently iMovie can deal with it but I've also been reading threads that say the latest version of FCP can ingest it.

Remember, when you go to transfer the AVCHD into FCP, go to the file menu, then down to "Log and Transfer", not your old familiar friend, "Log and Capture".

And yes, the file size does indeed grow quite a bit from camera to FCP. There will be storage issues down the road.

I still haven't figured out the problem that started this thread, but I'll let y'all know if I do.

Later.

Thank You for the Log and Transfer tip.

That does get the product back in the running.

What I'd like to read about next:

* Log and Capture is a 1:1 realtime process. 59-minutes of tape takes 59 minutes to capture. Is Log And Transfer 1:1 or shorter or longer time duration process? How long does it take to Transfer 59 minutes of video?

* Are there issues with file sizes in Log And Transfer? Is an hour of SD still 13GB, and HD the equivalent around 15 or 17GB?

What happens when these sizes start reaching FCP and OS maximum limits with video that is 1- to 23- hours long?

After all, the camera's HDD is 60GB.

Do we need to manually set ins and outs around 1 hour, or will FCP/OSX break for us?

* Is SD 720x480 and HD 1920x1080 across the board in those funky new HA HX HE terms?

Independent photographer, film maker and Producer. In the wonderful UK.

1. That depends on the computer. It's faster than real-time on some machines, slower than real-time on others. Speed of the processor is the most important factor. It is a background process to some degree so you can be ingesting some material while continuing to log other material.

2. The second question is unclear. AVCHD material can be converted to either the Apple Intermediate Codec or to ProRes. ProRes will run about 62G per hour. AIC about 36G per hour.

"What happens when these sizes start reaching FCP and OS maximum limits with video that is 1- to 23- hours long?"

I don't know what this means. There is no limit. You just need drives that are fast enough and large enough.

"Do we need to manually set ins and outs around 1 hour, or will FCP/OSX break for us?"

I don't know what this means either. Disc based formats are recorded as individual files. There is no continuous stream of media like tape.

"Is SD 720x480 and HD 1920x1080 across the board in those funky new HA HX HE terms?"

This is manufacturer specific terminology. There are a great number of different formats in SD and HD, using different frame size and compression schemes. Do a net search and you can find a lot of information on this.