Mac Support for AVC Cam?

[Shane Ross]

[Galen Yeo] “When will there be Mac / FCP support for the AVC Cam format? “

When they do. NO one knows what future FCP developments are, other than people working for Apple. Oh, wait. AVCHD? They did actually announce that the next version would support that natively. No timeline for that release, however. And no mention of AVCIntra.

NO third party solutions. Importing and transcoding to AIC and ProRes are the options at this time.

Shane

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[Noah Kadner]

I’ve been playing with some AVCHD test footage from the HMC150 and most of it imports into FCP 6.0.4 fine. I think the PH high quality mode might not but I haven’t had a chance to play with all of it yet. But remember as a general format, AVCHD has been supported in FCP for a while now, since 6.0.1 I believe.

Noah

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[Galen Yeo]

Thanks.

We shot test shots in the highest quality mode and FCP 6.04 did not recognise the files when we tried to import them. Apple does claim support for AVCHD so what’s the deal? Where is the transcoder? Built into the import function?

I found a 3rd party app on the web called VoltaicHD which transcodes the files but was unable to use it because the trial version only allows 50 mb files to be converted, and my test shots were over 80 mb per file. Not too helpful.

Am going to test out the Windows transcoder provided by Pana next week.

[Galen Yeo]

Thanks.

We shot test shots in the highest quality mode and FCP 6.04 did not recognise the files when we tried to import them. Apple does claim support for AVCHD so what’s the deal? Where is the transcoder? Built into the import function?

I found a 3rd party app on the web called VoltaicHD which transcodes the files but was unable to use it because the trial version only allows 50 mb files to be converted, and my test shots were over 80 mb per file. Not too helpful.

Am going to test out the Windows transcoder provided by Pana next week.

[Arthur Aldrich]

I believe that FCP supports PH in 24P and 60i, but not 30P right now. Everything has to be transcoded via Log and Transfer to Apple Intermediary or Pro Res.

More interesting is that Adobe Premiere in CS4 will handle AVCHD natively, right off the SD card if you want.

–
Art Aldrich
OTEK TV
Leader, NJFCPUG
http://www.njfcpug.org

[Peter Ward]

Preview of AVCHD is possible in iMovie ’08.

An alternative, marginally faster (real time), is to use a capture card such as a Decklink, to bring the files in as ProRes422 or whatever you want.

Note: you need to have a recent update of FCP6 (not sure exactly which) in order to “log and transfer” AVCHD. Otherwise, iMovie ’08 can be used where available.

Peter

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4

[Noah Kadner]

How are you trying to import? In Log and transfer I have no trouble seeing and browsing and importing an entire AVCHD folder from the camera. But you can’t just drag and drop clips directly into FCP or use File>Import.

Noah

My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
Now featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, DVD Studio Pro and Sound for Film and TV.
https://www.callboxlive.com

[Galen Yeo]

Hi guys

Thanks. The point of shooting with this camera is NOT to have to plug in the camera and import from there. I am trying to import from the SD HC card directly after copying the files to the desktop. The Log and Transfer does not recognise any of the files in the folder (greyed out) – the main files are .mts format. Imovie 08 wouldn’t be an option for real editing unfortunately. Will keep checking.

[Galen Yeo]

This older post seems to bring up similar issues…

https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/8/995334

[Peter Ward]

But iMovie ’08 does exactly what FCP does–transcodes AVCHD into Apple Intermediate Codec (this takes about 2.5x real time on my Mac Pro) with the added bonus of giving a preview. You can then bring the AIC clips into FCP to edit. If you’re determined to have log and transfer work in FCP you have to update it fully.

It is worth mentioning, for those considering an AVCHD camera, that the codec is designed for consumers who want to burn the footage strait to DVD to play in a BlueRay DVD player using a Windows computer to burn the disk. It is not designed for professional editing. Mac support for this codec is next to nonexistent, no program supports it natively, and it requires an Intel dual core or better processor (it cannot be used at all on a Power PC). Sony Vegas and some other Windows-based consumer editing programs do offer native support, however.

JVC HD110U
MacBook Pro Intel Core Duo 2GHz
Final Cut Pro 5.1.4