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AVCHD Headache.
I really hope someone here can help me.
I have a client that is recording in-home interviews on a Sony HDR-CX110.
I can bring the files into FCP transcoding them to Apple Pro Res. This takes a while but is no problem.
My client needs to be able watch the interview footage and make notes based on clip name and counter number (timecode would be better, but there is none)
I have had them watch them in iMovie, Premiere Elements and other 3rd party software.
The main problem is that any software other than apple sees a different number of files than FCP. I would like them to be able to just watch them natively without having to convert.
Final Cut and iMovie see 5 clips. Premiere and finder see 7 clips. Which means their notes don’t match up with the clip names when I ingest them into FCP.
I don’t know why there is a discrepancy or if FCP and iMovie are somehow merging clips together.
PLEASE HELP… THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!
The only other solution I can think of is bootcamp and windows with the sony software – which is a path I don’t want to go down if I don’t have to.
Thanks
David Rodd
Lightning Rodd -
10 Replies
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No idea on the different number of clips thing but here is what I would do.
When you are making the ProRes you also make a Proxy version of the clip, for directors I normally make a good but much lower res H264 and turn on the TimeCode generator filter. Even if there is no TC in the clip itself, the counter will start at 00:00;00. You will be able to match up your clips to their notes. They also can view the clips on any computer.
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Yeah this was my plan (I was actually going to make a screener that had all the clips slammed toghether with the timecode generator) but I was hoping to have them be able to watch the clips and make notes before I had to bring anything into FCP.
Any other ideas?
Thanks
David
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Well how many clips are there really on media?
It sounds like a case where FCP and iMovie cannot import two clips due to unsupported format such as 1080p60 or similar.
You might want to try using a separate transcoding software which doesn’t have these limitations such as Toast for instance.
HTH
Matt -
Look into ProxyMill from Imagine Products.
Steve Eisen
Eisen Video Productions
Vice President
Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group -
Maybe this is a stitching problem with whatever file based media the camera shoots in? For example, RED files can be more than 1 clip but show up as only 1 to the editor.
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I would keep clips as they are, as in not stringing them together. So in Compressor you have each clip and a setting to make the ProRes for you and FCP, and then the H264 with BITC for them. If you setup a destination preset you can control the naming of each of the clips and have them sent to a Proxy and a ProRes Folder. This is really the power of Compressor.
This way their notes are based on the clips and not a movie that you are not really working with.
This is definitely a, spend a little extra time up front and save a lot of time and headache later on.
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On one card there are 13 files, but they show up as 6 clips in FCP and imovie.
I think the issue may be spanning. I’ve noticed that many of the files are 2.12GB is this a limit of AVCHD? And if so is there any 3rd party software that can join the spanned clips back together like FCP and iMovie are so that they can be viewed that way.
I’m going to check out Proxy Mill as well but $299 is a little steep for this project.
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Ah it is the FAT32 filesystem used on SDHC cards which limits the filesize to 2GB.
/matt
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So if the limit is set by the format of the card, how does FCP and iMovie know to join them back together?
And is there any other software that can do that for viewing?
Proxy Mill demo is also seeing 13 files instead of just 6 clips so it’s going to make proxies for all 13 which won’t match up to the 6 that I can see in FCP.
David
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My mistake, the FAT32 limit is actually 4GB so it is weird that you have files limited to 2.1GB.
An MTS file joiner is usually available from the camera manufacturer. It is actually quite easy to join the files binary (a program called MTSMerger for Mac does this) however you do loose some metadata.
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