Tag: AVCHD

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Troubleshooting: AVCHD and Mac OS X

Final Cut Pro: Unexpected Quit during AVCHD transfer.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306922

Issue
Final Cut Pro 6 may unexpectedly quit when attempting to transfer AVCHD media, if the third-party Perian QuickTime component is installed.

Products affected

  • Final Cut Pro 6.x
  • Perian

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

Drag the component to the Desktop or to the Trash, and test for the issue.

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iMovie does not see Sony AVCHD camcorder videos.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305919

When the Sony HDR-SR1, HDR-SR7 and HDR-SX7 cameras contain both HD (AVCHD) and SD (MPEG-2) content, iMovie ’08 will be able to import the SD (MPEG-2) content. However, to import the HD (AVCHD) content to an Intel Mac, you must first erase the SD (MPEG-2) content on the camera.

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iMovie ’08: Previewing footage when importing may not work when filming footage in “Pre-Record Mode” on some camcorders
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1148

Symptoms
Some camcorders have a new Pre-Record function which, when enabled, continuously records several seconds of images into an internal buffer memory which helps capture sudden shooting opportunities. Enabling that mode, however, may cause not being able to preview footage while importing in iMovie ’08.

Camcorders known to have this option include:

Panasonic HDC-SX5 AVCHD DVD
Panasonic HDC-SD5 AVCHD Flash Memory

Products Affected
iMovie 7.0

Resolution
Do not use of the Pre-Record function on your camcorder while capturing footage if you want to preview captured footage when importing.

Note: If you capture footage with the Pre-Record function enabled, you can still play back and edit your footage in iMovie ’08 once it has been imported.

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Sony HDR-CX7 AVCHD Video Sample

Sony HDR-CX7

Sony HDR-CX7 was one of three solid state AVCHD Camcorders I considered buying back in 2007. The other two are Sanyo Xacti HD1000 and Panasonic HDC-SD5. After some testing and deliberations, I bought Panasonic SDC-HD5. In addition to that, my friend bought Canon HG10.

I tested Circuit City‘s store display unit sometimes in October 2007. I didn’t even bother setting up the time and date of the camera.

Download the sample here (22.4MB).

Sony HDR-CX7 AVCHD Video Sample

  • H.264 format 960×540 Resolution
  • 3914.68 kbits/s
  • Imported and edited using iMovie ’08 on my 15-inch 2.0GHz MacBook Pro Core Duo
  • Recommeded application to view the video QuickTime 7, MPlayer or VLC

Accessories for HDR-CX7:

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AVCHD and Mac OS X

AVCHD

iMovie ‘08 Final Cut Pro Icon

On TWiT 128 (10 minutes and 40 seconds into the show), Patrick Norton asked if AVCHD is natively supported in Final Cut Pro. Alex Lindsay didn’t think so, but Leo Laporte said there is. Leo then pointed out that Final Cut Express and iMovie ’08 support AVCHD.

Now, let’s see where things really are right now for Mac users. Final Cut Pro 6, Final Cut Express 4, and iMovie ’08 do support AVCHD format, but not quite natively. It takes roughly 3 minutes to import a 58-second clip in iMovie ’08 on a 2.0GHz MacBook Pro Core Duo with 2GB RAM and 7200 RPM hard-drive (via USB 2.0). On the same MacBook Pro Final Cut Pro 6 consistently crashes in the middle of importing the same AVCHD video clip. UPDATE: There is an apparent conflict caused by Perian Quicktime Component (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306922). As for Final Cut Express 4, I don’t know because I don’t have it yet.

I installed Sony’s Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition on a Windows XP PC that my friend and I put together. It has Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6550, 4GB of RAM, and Intel® Desktop Board DP35DP. Sony Vegas took a short amount of time to import the same AVCHD video clip. As a matter of fact, Sony Vegas recognize the “.mts” file format. This is no surprise because AVCHD was developed jointly by Sony and Panasonic.

The advantage of using a disk-based camcorder is the ability to transfer the video clip faster than tape-based camcorders. Videos from tapes are transferred in real time to the computer, because of the limitation of the tape medium. Unfortunately for Mac users, AVCHD is a little bit inconvenient; because it takes almost forever to import those video files. AVCHD requires a lot of processing power, but if the system/program natively supports AVCHD, it’d be easier to copy the actual streams to another hard drive and import them later.

Maybe the next updates to iMovie and Final Cut will address this issue. Until then, Mac users has to be patient when dealing with AVCHD camcorders.

I own a Panasonic HDC-SD5, and also use my friend’s Canon HG10.

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Canon HG10: The Screen Control

For those who consider buying Canon HG10, check out a short video of the screen control. The Video is taken using Panasonic HDC-SD5, another AVCHD camcorder. This one is almost like a double reviews. Check out the control on Canon HG10 and the video sample from Panasonic HDC-SD5.

The Screen Control

Get it here (27.6MB)

About the video clip:

  • Recorded in 1080i AVCHD using Panasonic HDC-SD5
  • Imported using iMovie ’08 in 1920×1080 resolutions
  • Exported to H.264 with 960×540 resolutions
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Canon HG10 AVCHD Camcorder: Video Transfers

In a continuing review of AVCHD Camcorders, let’s take a look at at transferring videos from Canon HG10 to the computer.

AVCHD camcorders are typically equipped with and connect to computers via USB 2.0 port. Canon HG10 is a hard-drive-based AVCHD camcorder, and the only way to transfer the data from the hard drive is to connect it to the computer via USB 2.0 port. That’s excluding the options to open up the camcorder, take out the hard-drive, mount it in an external USB 2.0 (or FireWire; but importing is not supported), and then connect it to the computer. Don’t do that. Just connect the camcorder to the computer via USB 2.0 port.

One other important note is that the camcorder has to be connected to the power source in order to “import” the video clips.

The placement of the USB 2.0 port of Canon HG10 is a little bit awkward. The USB port is located on the inside, covered by the LCD screen. It is not the best place for the USB port.

Canon-HG10-USB-Port

Once the camcorder is connected, turn the camera to “PLAY” mode.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition can natively read movies in AVCHD format, it can directly read the “.mts” files. It takes a relatively short time to import the video clips from the camera to Sony Vegas. Sony Vegas users can copy the AVCHD folder to another hard drive, then import the video clips from the hard drive instead of the camcorder.

Mac users are at a disadvantage, because iMovie ’08, Final Cut Express 4, and Final Cut Pro 6 do not recognize the “.mts” files. Those Mac programs have to convert the AVCHD videos on the fly during imports. Because of this, the import process on the Mac is taking a lot longer in contrast to Sony Vegas. After all, AVCHD is developed by Sony and Panasonic. There are other ways to make the process a little bit easier for Mac users, I will get to that later.

Buy Sony Vegas Movie Studio 8 Platinum Edition from Amazon.com
Buy Final Cut Express 4 from Amazon.com

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Reno 911! Kicks Off Fifth Season

Reno 911! is back. The show kicks off its fifth season with more questions than answers, intentionally.

RENO 911! (501)
Did Garcia steal Dangle’s husband? What’s happening to Wiegel’s Baby? Find out the answers to these and other exciting questions on the season premiere of Reno 911!

Well, that’s all I wrote for now because I spent the the whole day at Paramount Studio. Yelling at those WGA strikers……. well, in a good way. Cloverfield premiered earlier tonight, and I was expecting a lot more WGA strikers there.

Anyway, I’ll update this post with more relevant Reno 911! stuff. Why? Because I promised Sheriff Deputy James Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui) to do it.

Carlos Alazraqui from Reno 911! and Taco Bell Chihuahua fame is scheduled to perform at the Ice House in Pasadena, California. Carlos will be performing on the following date and time:

View Carlos’s Video here.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lQLXRIBWgOE

Ice House Comedy Club
http://www.icehousecomedy.com/

Carlos Alazraqui
http://www.carlosalazraqui.com/
http://www.myspace.com/carlosalazraqui/

…….to be revised.

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Canon HG10 AVCHD Camcorder – Another Video Sample

Thanks to my friend I get to use the Canon HG10 AVCHD 40GB High Definition Camcorder and write about it. I posted a short video clip from this camera a few days ago. The first clip doesn’t really represent the quality of the video captured by this camera, since I show mostly “Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory” on the LCD screen. I’ll post the review for this camcorder in the near future.

Canon HG10 AVCHD 40GB High Definition Camcorder - Meatloaf T. Cat
Check out another video clip taken using Canon HG10 AVCHD 40GB High Definition Camcorder here.

  • 22.1MB
  • Encoded in H.264
  • 960×540
  • 29.97fps
  • Auto setting in camera
  • The game in the clip is “Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory”

Notes: