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AVCHD in After Effects through iMovie 08 (and further conversion)
I am currently working on a project that will require quite a bit of After Effects work. I used a Sony HDR-SR1 to get my footage, which uses the AVCHD codec. I was very excited to learn that iMovie 08 converts AVCHD footage into a .mov file that uses the Apple Intermediary Codec.
This works very well in iMovie, iDVD, and Final Cut Pro, however, when I try to import into any Adobe product, the footage is squished on the horizontal axis.
From what I understand, AVCHD uses a resoltuion of 1440×1080 instead of the more standard 1920×1080 that HD footage is usually captured in and then AVCHD uses a different pixel aspect ration to compensate for the width. I am thinking that After Effects does not know to adapt for this pixel aspect ratio.
I tried to go into the “Interpret Footage” menu and adjust the pixel aspect ratio, but nothing looked right. So, at this point I am thinking I should convert the footage again into a standard format (like HDV). I am fine with doing this, but my end goal is to present this project on HD DVD, so the less loss the better.
I am currently working with Toast 8 to convert the AIC .mov files into something more managable (a lossless codec would be ideal [I think, but I could certainly be wrong]), but I’m having some trouble getting something that looks right. My first problem was that I was getting files that were 1440×1080, but cropped the image with black letterboxing bars to preserve the original footage’s aspect ration – this is no good because of the obvious loss of resolution. I was then able to get by this by ‘forcing’ a resolution of 1920×1080 in the codec settings, but now I am noticing a lot of really ugly interlacing that I did not notice before the conversion. And that’s where I’m at right now.
So I guess my question is this: Does anyone know a way to convert AVCHD footage to a standard High-Def format with minimal quality loss and no interlacing issues.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions, and sorry for the lengthy, rambling post 🙂
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9 Replies
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Your camera has an HDMI output built in. You can use this to capture footage directly in an app like FCP to any codec you want.
Also, don’t convert to HDV. HDV is the same bitrate as mini-DV (25Mbps) and is a total crap codec. AVCHD is almost as bad, but you really want to avoid any conversions downward in quality.
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beenyweenies, thank you for your response.
Capturing through the HDMI would need specific hardware wouldn’t it? I am capturing on a 2006 iMac and I don’t think it has this capability out of the box.
I see your point on HDV. I only used it as an example, I have no particular interest in using it over any other format, just that I know Adobe can open it :-). Do you have any suggestions for a format that might work out better? I was looking at XDCAM HD while I was experimenting with export settings, and it looks good, but I get little ugly jaggies from interlacing, once again. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Final Cut 6.0.2 has added support for AVCHD. You can transcode your footage upon ingest to ProRes 422 (all in all a pretty good codec, much better than AIC).
Jeremy
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JeremyG: So, I’m trying to import the AVCHD files to Final Cut 6.0.2 like you say, but it doesn’t seem to recognize them. I keep getting the message “File Error: 1 file(s) recognized, 0 access denied, 1 unknown.” The files I have are .MTS files. Any suggestions?
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Never mind, looks like I’m just a noob. Looks like by going to “File > Log and Tranfer…” I am able to connect my camera directly into Final Cut. I’m assuming this is what you were talking about. I’m in the process of importing now, hopefully it will work! Thanks for your help everyone, especially JeremyG!
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Yep, you got it. It’s Log and transfer.
Jeremy
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OK, so I successfully managed to transfer the footage through the Log and Transfer method and it successfully saved to ProRes, however, I still have the same aspect ratio problem.
I have been using a work around by going into After Effects and creating a composition using the clip settings and then going to Composition > Composition Settings and then just changing the width to 1920 (after unchecking the “Lock Aspect Ratio” button). Then, I click on the clip within the composition view and go to Transform > Fit to Comp. This seems to work OK, but I’m a little worried about what this is doing to the quality of the output. So far I’ve only output to DVD and it looks fine, but eventually I want to output to HD DVD and I’m worried that it might not look as good as it could.
Anyone know if my little workaround is degrading my quality significantly? Or anyone know a way to simply import the footage at 1920×1080? Thanks in advance!
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i don’t know which camera you shot with, but some forms of AVCHD shoot @ 1440×1080 and not 1920×1080. As I see it, you have two choices. Work at the native frame size and stretch your image during the render using the output module. Or do as you are doing and convert at the very beginning. Personally, I conform at the beginning just like you. It’s easier to preview material that way and you are working at a standard square pixel aspect ratio.
The choice is yours and it nets out to the same results. Somewhere and at some point, that video is going to be stretched to 1920×1080. There’s no way around it.
Jeremy
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Thanks for your help JeremyG and beenyweenies, I’ve gotten to a point that is managable. I’ve been importing as ProRes and just stretching it to 1920×1080, as you said it’s easier to see the final product. Just for reference, I shot using a Sony HDR-SR1. A very useful little camera… except for these occasional setbacks :-P.
Thanks again!
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