1080/60p from new Panasonic hdc-tm700 incompatible with FCP??!

According to camcorderinfo.com no current editing software is compatible with Panasonic's hdc-tm700's latest and apparently wonderful 1080/60p format:
"When you shoot with the HDC-TM700's native 1080/60p setting, the camcorder uses a proprietary MPEG-4 codec that isn't really compatible with anything other than Panasonic's provided software. Yes, the video shot with the 1080/60p setting looks stunning when you play it back on an HDTV, but the only way you can really do this is by playing back the footage directly from the camcorder. We couldn't find any third party software that would import or recognize the 1080/60p clips shot with the HDC-TM700, although we expect this to change if 1080/60p recording becomes more prevalent in the future.

Using the 1080/60p setting on the HDC-TM700 is somewhat of a conundrum. The video recorded in the mode looks great, the setting offers a very high bitrate (28Mbps), and the image is recorded progressively rather than interlaced. The problem is, if you want to edit or import the video to your computer your only choice is to use the limited software that ships with the camcorder."

Any suggestions?

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When you shoot with the HDC-TM700's native 1080/60p setting, the camcorder uses a proprietary MPEG-4 codec that isn't really compatible with anything

Bit misleading, that. It's not proprietary; it's MPEG-4 Part 10 High Profile Level 4.2. But it is true that that's a very obscure codec.

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Yes, the video shot with the 1080/60p setting looks stunning when you play it back on an HDTV

The ATSC only adopted 1080p50/1080p60 in July of 2008. Precious few televisions can display that format.

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the setting offers a very high bitrate (28Mbps)

I betcha that was a typo. Twenty-eight megabits is a very low bitrate. Lower than anything but HDV, which is 25 megabits. (And of course OTA HD, which is 19 megabit MPEG-2, and cable and satellite HD, which can go even lower. But those are delivery formats, not acquisition formats.)

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Any suggestions?

Yeah, but you're not gonna like it. My suggestion is "don't shoot 1080p60." It's technically an ATSC standard now, but nobody has any interest in supporting it. The frame right is nearly three times as high as it needs to be for Internet-delivered content (meaning you need three times the data rate to deliver it), the Blu-Ray spec, to the extent that that's relevant, only goes up to 1080p24, and adopting 1080p60 for live transmission would require whole cabling plants to be ripped out and replaced with 3 gigabit SDI. It's just not gonna happen any time soon, in my opinion.

Agree. It's going to be a conversion issue for a long time with broadcasters. Shoot whatever you like, DOPs, but we still have to deliver what the TV station wants to play, so we have to convert, and that takes time. Some times LOTs of time, for quite crappy results compared to the originals.

Actually yesterday I spent about two hours writing a convertor droplet to suit some tiny 'track cams' that get semi buried in motorsport tracks. They shoot 30fps, some weird ass tiny square frame size and are in AVI. Pain in my ass, since I have to deliver 25fps, 720x576 anamorphic on tape out of FCP, and none of those things are the least bit the same. Every 30 seconds of clip takes up to 2 minutes to get from the camera to the point of editability. So that's four times the budget in post even BEFORE editing.

>and adopting 1080p60 for live transmission would require whole cabling plants to be ripped out
>and replaced with 3 gigabit SDI

It doesn't go that high, if I'm not wrong. It's almost always compressed into Mpeg2 or Mpeg4 at a small fraction of that.



www.strypesinpost.com

Not until it gets to the transmitter. SDI is always uncompressed, obviously, and 1080p60 won't fit inside standard SDI. It requires 3-gig.

So, is this camera worth buying. The price is really down and I'm looking to get three. I'm impressed with other specs like dia., features, 3mos, external mic & hp jks., and manual ring, etc., when compared to the equiv. Sony & Canon; but concerned about ingest. That's how I got here. Thanks so much for the info.

Scotty

Rule of thumb. NO matter now cool a new camera is, don't get it unless edit systems support it. It's pointless to shoot, and then not be able to do anything with it.


www.shanerosseditor.com

Listen to THE EDIT BAY Podcast on iTunes
[itunes.apple.com]

Also, does anyone know if the other modes on the hdc-tm700k are compatible with FCP, i.e. the HA (1080i60) mode?

1080 / 60p : MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (original format)
HA / HG / HX / HE : MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (AVCHD standard compliant) / JPEG

Any other recommendations for a small camera (digital media) compatible with FCP?

Also found this thread on the issue:

[www.2-popforums.com]

sgscott,

FCP 7.0.2 will recognize the HA setting.

I'm testing Toast, Voltaic, Aunsoft, and Clipwrap to convert the 1080 60P to Pro Res in order to edit that setting.

The Panasonic white paper on AVCHD doesn't include 60p just 60i.

Toast and Voltaic hold up the best so far.

If you find a good solution please pass along.

Thanks,

Dickie

FCP 7.0.2
Intel Macbook
Power PC G5

Thanks Dickie, much appreciated.

I listened to a a clip someone put on youtube to demo the fan noise. It sounded quite prominate at times. Any opinions on this.

Also, what would you recommend from the Sony/Canon line in leu of the Panasonic, or would you recommend another Panasonic model.

Thanks, Scotty