AVCHD offline issue with mountain lion?

[David Joban]

Hi Phillip,

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but I have a couple of questions about your workflow. I’m about to begin editing a long ethnographic film so want to get things right before I begin!

I have all the SD cards from the project backed up on a 2Tb harddrive with the original file structure preserved. Originally I had an issue with multiple .mts files sharing the same name (e.g. 00000.mts), and I see how that can be resolved by using namechanger.app. My questions are as follows:

i) I can’t create a disk image of the SD cards as I don’t have the original cards, just their “PRIVATE” folders backed up on a harddrive. Is this a problem?

ii) Why is it necessary to remove the capitalization of “PRIVATE”, “AVCHD”, etc.? Doing so prevents me from using the AVCHD view mode in the media browser, so instead I have to “View as: File Directory” and import all the renamed .mts files from this panel. Again, will this cause any problems, or is this as you suggest? I was thrown slightly by your comment about “AVCHD [being] a consumer format, Mac wants you to be able to view it but not get into it.”

Thank you so much in advance! Your tips have really helped me.

David

[Phillip Todd]

Hi David,

I had time today. Glad to know this info has helped someone else.

#1) Don’t worry about making .DMGs since all the cards are already gone on to another job (been erased) and you have been provided with the complete file structure in your copies.

Premiere doesn’t need the file structure BTW, but, other apps might.

#2) removing the capitalization was a work around at some point (I think when I started using 10.8).
Now I just right click “Show Contents” and drill down to the filer called “STREAM” containg all the .mts files.

I call it a consumer format, because the Mac OS makes you jump through these hoops. I enjoy the quality offered by my cameras shooting .mts I just think that always creating a file with the 1st file as 00000.mts makes for another reason to call it a consumer format. The images are great, the file handling in the camera is crap.

My work flow has also evolved a little bit.

-I learned from Nick Driftwood on personal-view.com about using “Movist.app” v 0.6.8 for easy and pain free viewing of .mts files on the mac. It works for me in 10.9 too. It does not let you scrub through the 2nd clip in a spanned clip. Use google to look for it. I don’t remember which site I got if off of.

-Also PPro CS6/Plural Eyes 3 usually gives me a 2 frame gap between spanned clips, so now I use “MTSmerger.app” v1.0 to merge just my spanned clips (look for it on DVXuser). I then edit from the merged clip and just archive the camera original clips.

So now since I have renamed the clips in namechanger.app and merged the clips in MTSmerger.app I have complete and unique clips for fewer headaches when editing.

-If anything goes offline in Permiere, my naming convention makes it easy to find. Every clip gets a date at the head. Ex: If I shot the clip today, I’d call it “150323 ________.mts” so todays date: March 23, 2015 is clearly visible to my eyes and I can easily find it.

With any app, if you are unsure of the source where you got it, it’s a good practice to scan it with anti-virus software. I use ClamXav and have never found a problem, but, it’s your responsibility to back up your system before installing software (using CCcloner or the like, another good practice) and for virus checking yourself.

BTW, the apps in the versions I mentioned are all free too.

Phillip Todd
Cinematographer
http://www.phillip-todd.com

[David Joban]

Hi Phillip,

Thank you so much for your response – very helpful and also reassuring! I actually worked out the decapitalization rationale through a bit more research:

https://www.keenlive.com/renderbreak/2013/09/change-avchd-packages-to-folders-on-a-mac/

But yes, totally agree about the crapness of the .mts numbering system – I had a minor panic attack when I got back from India, imported all my files and then found that Premiere couldn’t tell which was which! So the namechanger app has been a game changer/life saver. I’ve also downloaded movist.app, which is great! And will definitely follow your suggestions re: MTSmerger and ClamXav – really useful to hear how pros manage their workflow.

Thanks again!

David