AVCHD Success in FCP 6.0.1

[Bob Kohler]

Here’s the deal. First, not many card readers will “see” the SDHC 4 gig card. I bought a “boutique” reader made by Pro Gear called the “G5”. I got it at Fry’s, it’s about $50. From my research it’s one of the only readers out there that see the card.

Second, it will only work on an Intel Mac. G5’s won’t work. I tried but it won’t work. On Apple’s site they list that AVCHD only works in FCP 6.0.1 on Intel based machines.

On my Intel MacBook Pro it works exactly like P2 cards. The files come in via Log and Transfer. You can see all of the clips on the card and choose what you want by simply dragging the clips icon into an import area. As soon as you drop in a clip the import area
it starts coming in.

The files are conveniently listed as #1, #2 etc. so it’s pretty easy to keep track of them.
After the import the files are ProRes 422 according to the info. panel.

As a third camera it’s great. The only downsides are no pro sound. But if you’re running better cameras it’s not a problem.

I still need to experiment with the best Sequence settings for optimum workflow. I’m currently in the middle of a project but I want to see if it’s better to use the AVCHD clips on a DVCPro HD timeline or make the timeline ProRes 422. If anybody tries this let me know!

Bob

[Eric Cosh]

Thank you so much for the help on the workflow Bob. Looks like I really have no choice now but to purchase the new Quad. I’m staying away from the 8 core for now.

thanks again,

eric

Eric Cosh
Paradigm Video Productions

[Bob Kohler]

I’ve been thinking about upgrading my workstation to either a Quad or 8 core. I’m mostly looking for more processing power to render movies to Flash. Why are you considering the Quad rather than the 8 Core…

[Eric Cosh]

Hi Bob:

My friend Mitch Ives showed me some very interesting stats regarding the difference in speed betweek the Quad and the 8 core. In most of the things that I’m doing, I really don’t see that much of a difference, especially for that much extra money. The quad at 2.66GHz along with the ATI Radeon X1900 XT and 8 gb memory looks like the ideal machine for the money, expeccially if you just purchase your ram and hd’s on your own.

take care,

eric

Eric Cosh
Paradigm Video Productions

[Sararosepro]

Maybe you can help me with the AVCHD? I haven’t gotten any good responses to my post.

We’ve tried Voltaic….nothing…it just came out white. We’ve just completed our upgrade to FCP 6.0.1…still nothing. When I drag a .mt2s file into the log and transfer window it will not accept the file. At one point it was saying something about directory structures?

Could my audio video setting be to blame? I set it up to Capture Preset: HDV-Apple Intermediate Codec and Sequence Preset: Apple ProRes422 NTSC 48kHz.

We’re running a 2.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB SDRAM, MacBookPro. We also have a G5 but our research has concluded that it won’t support this conversion part of FCP because it is not Intel based.

Is it possible that we need to transfer directly from the camera? We had moved all the files off the camcorder and onto a USB 2.0 drive for storage because the camera belongs to the company president for personal use. Who can pass up HD video out of a helicopter flying over glaciers in Greenland? Especially when we’d like to make a small doc about his experience and global warming.

[Bob Kohler]

The problem may be with your reader. Does the disc image mount on the desktop.
I bought a “boutique” reader made by Pro Gear called the “G5”. I was told this is the only one that works 100%. I can’t back up that statement except to tell you it’s works every time for me.

You set up should work other than that, you’ve got the correct hardware and software.
By the way, the new iMovie can use AVCHD.

[Sararosepro]

The drive does mount to the desktop as a USB drive. It’s a 500 GB Lacie if that means anything. We’re just so perplexed. We won’t be able to get our hands on the camera again until September to try that angle.

[Elizabeth Filardi]

Hi Bob,

I just bought a Canon HG10 and had no idea i would run into all these issues! anyhow, i think i’m all caught up now…

I am on a Mac OSX 10.4 and using FCP 6. i have uploaded my footage to imovie 08 before importing to final cut. i think that’s easier somehow… and it looks beautiful!

now i’m wondering if you have found a couple favorite compression rates while exporting. i am looking for a high-res compression and one that will suffice for internet viewing. thoughts?

-Liz

[Mike Adams]

Elizabeth,
I noticed your post on AVCHD and “issues” I have the Canon HF 100 camcorder that uses AVCHD. I use FinalCut Pro 6 and seem to be having “issues” working with the format. I am just a beginner on
Final Cut and don’t know if problems I run into are because I just don’t know the software that well or it is indeed an AVCHD issue. Are there any books or magazines on this subject?

Mike Adams