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April 11, 2008

Panasonic HDC-SD9 and Final Cut Pro: Perian to The Rescue

UPDATE 2008.06.11:

QuickTime 7.5 adds support for Panasonic HDC-SD9 and other newer AVCHD camcorders.

Hans Eklundh left a comment and confirmed that the 25p PAL version (Europe) also works with QuickTime 7.5

“Good news, everyone! We finally can use Panasonic HDC-SD9 and Final Cut Pro.”

AVCHD Final Cut Pro Icon

UPDATE:
So far, I have not been able to import 1080p/24p clip from HDC-SD9 into iMovie correctly. I’m still looking into it. I don’t have Final Cut Express 4 to test the import.

Good news, indeed. After 6 weeks, I finally get to import 1080p/24p clip from Panasonic HDC-SD9 correctly. The audio and video are in complete sync. The remedy is none other than Perian 1.1. Previously, Perian QuickTime Component was conflicting with Final Cut Pro.

Numbers of people raised the concern regarding Panasonic HDC-SD9 compatibility with Mac OS X applications (iMovie ’08, Final Cut Pro 6, and Final Cut Express 4). I was exploring this issue because I want to use my Panasonic HDC-SD9 in 1080p/24 mode.

I asked some Apple employees regarding this problem, and the non-answer I got is that Apple is working on camera compatibility issues. I’m hoping that Apple would update their applications to support Panasonic HDC-SD9 in particular and newer 1080p/24p camcorders in general.

On Thursday (2008.04.10), Apple released Pro Applications Update 2008-001 and brought Final Cut Pro to version 6.0.3. I was hoping that Apple would have resolved the issues with HDC-SD9 camcorder. Unfortunately, the issue persisted.

I decided to spend some times for trial-and-error in making Final Cut Pro playing nice with HDC-SD9. It was 03:00 hour, and I had an epiphany. Previously, some people were recommending ShedWorx’s VoltaicHD Converter to import AVCHD clip in Mac OS X. I went to ShedWorx’s site and read the System Requirements for the VoltaicHD Converter:

System Requirements for the VoltaicHD Converter:

OSX 10.4 or 10.5 (Intel and PowerPC)

QuickTime 7.3

Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC)

iMovie (HD or 08) or Final Cut Express/Pro

Perian if you are using Final Cut

VoltaicHD requires Perian QuickTime Component!

I checked Perian site, and compared the version I previously had installed on my MacBook Pro. The current version 1.1 and I had version 1.0 installed on my MacBook Pro. I downloaded the latest version and installed it. This time Final Cut Pro converts the 1080p/24p clip from HDC-SD9 correctly.

I will test if I could import HDC-SD9 1080p/24p video using iMovie ’08 and Final Cut express with Perian 1.1 installed.

NEXT:
Video sample from Panasonic HDC-SD9, 1080p/24p, audio and video in complete sync.

Note:

15-inch MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.0GHz 2GB RAM
Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.2
Final Cut Pro 6.0.3 (with Pro Applications Update 2008-001)

March 9, 2008

Panasonic HDC-SD9: Screen Capture

Despite its compatibility problem with Mac OS X, Panasonic HDC-SD9 is a great HD camcorder. If you are using Macs and wanting to get this camera, it is best to wait until Apple releases updates to iMovie ’08, Final Cut Express 4, and Final Cut Pro 6.

In the meantime, check out the screen capture from Panasonic HDC-SD9 and compare it to the one from Panasonic HDC-SD5. Notice the interlacing on Panasonic HDC-SD5 screen capture.

Panasonic HDC-SD9 Screen Capture

Panasonic HDC-SD5 Screen Capture

March 8, 2008

Panasonic HDC-SD9: The Trouble with Mac OS X

UPDATE (2008.04.11):
I finally get it to work with Final Cut Pro!!! just search for HDC-SD9 on this blog.

Panasonic HDC-SD9 is capable recording video in 1080p and 24 mode. This is one great feature on a compact camcorder. The quality of the video is amazing.

Unfortunately for Mac users, this camcorder is not fully compatible with iMovie ’08, Final Cut Express 4, and Final Cut Pro 6. The three applications crash during playback or import of videos recorded in non-“24p Digital Cinema” mode. When the “24p Digital Cinema” mode is turned on, iMovie ’08, Final Cut Express 4, and Final Cut Pro 6 can playback and import the recorded video. Even though the three applications can play and import the video, some problems persist.

To illustrate the problems, please check-out the following videos. Both videos were recorded at the same time, one is using Panasonic HDC-SD5 and the other is using Panasonic HDC-SD9. You’ll see how the HDC-SD9 video is playing faster than the actual recording.

Both videos are resized to 960×540 resolutions. This is done due to the sheer monstrosity of the 1920×1080 file size. QuickTime 7 is required for proper playback.

Panasonic HDC-SD5 Recording (H.264 13.2MB)

Panasonic HDC-SD9 Recording (H.264 9.2MB)

The imported video plays faster while the audio plays at normal speed. Somehow the video and audio go out of sync during the import. By default iMovie ’08 transcoded the AVCHD video to Apple Intermediate Codec, while Final Cut Pro transcoded the AVCHD video to Apple ProRes 422. I will try importing the AVCHD video to another format using Final Cut Pro later.

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note: I blame Carrie for making me re-learn “Greensleeves“