AVCHD Import

Hello everyone, I am not a professional but do work for theater groups and music groups. I am getting some AVCHD material on a Sony HDR-CX150 camera. How do I get it into FCP? There is a tutorial with the camera for transfer to iMovie but no mention of FCP. I suppose I should be grateful for that as it is mostly geared towards Windows. Can I import directly into FCP or first into iMovie and then into FCP? Is there a disadvantage to going into iMovie first and how do I get it from iMovie to FCP? The camera has a USB connection and an HDMI out. I am running FCP 6.0.6 on an iMac 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with Mac OS 10.5.8. Thanks. . ....Ian wright

That camera shoots to AVCHD, so I'd imagine Sony would have either its own software for converting it, or a plugin for FCP that allows Log and Transfer to recognize the files and import them. Strangely, the documents are very fussy to find (usually you can find exactly the right plugin just by typing "Canon AVCHD FCP plugin" or something similar). This following document actually seems to suggest that the Sony AVCHD format doesn't require a plugin:

[pro.sony.com]

(Yes, I know the title of the manual is for NXCAM, but it has an AVCHD section)

I've actually read users who say you should connect the camera and then Log and Transfer. Never, ever do that. You never Log and Transfer directly from a memory card or a camera's internal storage. Always mount the camera on the Mac, copy the contents (including all folders and files, even ones you don't know are useful -- up from the very root of the file structure), and backup the contents to at least three different drives. Then you choose one active drive for your editing and mount the files into Log and Transfer from there.


www.derekmok.com

Derek was badly injured in a data explosion when someone didn't make three backups when he was a child. But seriously, it is a great idea to have several copies of your original before you start work. Since the cards rarely go on the shelf, and quickly get formatted, the footage is vulnerable. The only emergency fallback you have is what you have designed for yourself.

I've found that quite a few of the little camera's cards will mount right away in FCP's Log and Transfer window. Just open log and transfer, and if you have to, press the add button and find your (backup version of) your card on your computer, and it should all load into the browser area of the L&T window ready to go.

Thanks for the attention. The data is on the drive in the camera not a card. I really need some step by step help, as I am not a real crack at this. The main problem for me is that FCP only recognizes a Firewire connection and the camera has a USB (also an HDMI out). I guess I need to spend more time with the camera and find out what I can squeeze out of it, as I am not very familiar with it. I gather in the future that it makes more sense to record to a card as this seems less problematic. Thanks for any help.
....Ian

Have you read the section in the manual on log and transfer?

All the best,

Tom

> The main problem for me is that FCP only recognizes a Firewire connection and
> the camera has a USB (also an HDMI out)

This is why you copy the contents to a drive first. Just do it. Mount the camera via USB and copy the files from it, then Log and Transfer.

> I gather in the future that it makes more sense to record to a card as this
> seems less problematic. Thanks for any help.

That makes no difference. Unless the camera is incompatible with Macs (and I haven't yet used a tapeless camera that doesn't work with Macs), you connect it just like a drive, and you copy.


www.derekmok.com

And let me stress this part- create a folder, name it (this will be the reel name), then copy the entire contents of the card, not just the mts files.



www.strypesinpost.com