AVCHD and Final Cut on an old Mac?

[Shane Ross]

I don’t think you can get this to ProREs without an Intel. But you can do AIC. Or if you buy Toast 10 or Voltaic you can convert it to DVCPRO HD or a host of others.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[Tom Wolsky]

You must have an Intel machine to ingest AVCHD into FCP, regardless of the codec. Or as Shane said you can do a work around by converting with Toast or something else.

All the best,

Tom

Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP6,” “Basic Training for FCS2” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”
Author: “Final Cut Pro 5 Editing Essentials” and “Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop”

[Davesullivan]

You can transcode AVCHD to ProRes with toast, as long as you have FCP6 installed on your machine. I use a G5 dual 2.3 to go to ProRes 422(HQ) 1920x1080i60, and though it takes a while, it works perfectly.

[Bob Hickey]

but I am trying to use toast 10 on a non-intel mac it adds loads of artifacts to my footage whether I’m going to prores or even DVPal. Any ideas? I’m using disk images of the whole camera, clicking to mount the image and choosing the ‘private’ folder…am I doing something wrong.. Please help as I having to now format the cards again and am scared sensless that I am going to be losing good footage…

[Davesullivan]

I simply copied the .MTS source to a folder and transcoded from the file level.

However, after having gone through what you have (AVCHD cam, PowerBook 1.67 + G5 dual 2.3), I have to say it was painfully tedious with problems of audio sync, etc. If there is any way you can get your hands on an intel machine, it is just so much smoother.

I have yet to confidently back up my cam’s HDD using the disk image method, so I feel your pain there too.

[Bob Hickey]

thanks for the response.
To be honest I can live with painful speeds and audio out of synch. I could also live with green blocks appearing on DV encodes as I edit offline but I cannot live with not being sure that I have the footage properly backed up before deleting from the card (to use again).

I am using a GH1 and have read I should create a disk image as backup….UURGH what am I meant to do? I have to carry on filming on Tuesday…another £70 on a SD card..

[Davesullivan]

Although I have not successfully tried this approach to backup, my understanding of the process is as follows:

1. Mount the Camera or Card in the Finder.

2. Open Disk Utility.

3. Select the volume you want to back up, and click +New Image. Specify your save location, and go.

Be sure to open the disk image and try importing from it in FCP before you proceed to wipe your card. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to back up the image itself (once you’ve checked that it works.)

[Bob Hickey]

Yes thanks,
that is what I’ve been doing. Even if I add direct from the camera to toast I still get green blocking (although it plays fine on the camera).
So I am just guessing the backup is fine but the encode or dual power pc g5 is the problem….who knows, just my WHOLE project depends on it! I’ve searched everywhere and it seems no one else is getting this problem..

[Davesullivan]

Can you be more descriptive about the artifacts you are getting?

Are you using the latest version of Toast (10.0.2)?

Is your OS up to date? 10.5?

Beyond these questions, the only other thing I can think of is to check your encoding settings in the Quicktime dialog. You can use https://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en to check the specs on the .MTS Source File to make sure you are setting your encodes properly. I don’t use the Private folder for toast, I just drag and drop the files straight in.

[Bob Hickey]

Hi,
I was getting massive amounts of green blocking in waves across the screen but I was so desperate I had to bite the bullet and get a intel mac! it all nows works fine with toast 10 (apart from the audio synch issue).

I think the disc image just hadn’t copied correctly for some reason, but I was using Toast 9 and osx 10.4.9 which probably didn’t help in some way.

Thanks for the help though.

Also I was wondering as the GH1 shoots at (pal) 25p but in a 50i wrapper do i have to account for this in encode settings? do I set as interlaced or progressive?

thanks again.