What’s Easier to Edit With? HDV footage or AVCHD Files?

[John Christie]

Ahh, a trick question! Natively you can’t edit AVCHD in FCP. You use log and transfer in FCP to convert AVCHD to Prores files. I edit Prores on my Imac off a striped firewire 800 drive without any problems.

You can edit HDV natively, but being long gop Mpeg2 files, it makes FCP run a little clunky, you’ll always have “conforming Mpeg” pop up while you’re rendering. You can choose to capture HDV as Prores as well.

Sony says that AVCHD at 9mbits is roughly equivalent to HDVs 25mbits. So if you’re shooting at any data rate above that (My panny 150 shoots at up to 24mbits), you’ll be getting better images than HDV.

If I was choosing a format, I’d stay away from tape based HDV, I think it’s nearing the end of it’s life.

Cheers

John C

[Milton Hockman]

right now i have final cut 5. will that work with the AVCHD files?

Owner
Plus More Media Group
Website Design – VA, Corporate Web Site Design – PlusMoreMedia.com
Marketing designs and videos that do more for your business!

[Arnie Schlissel]

[Milton Hockman] “right now i have final cut 5. will that work with the AVCHD files?”

No.

Arnie
Post production is not an afterthought!
https://www.arniepix.com/

[Jerry Hofmann]

You’ll not like conforming/rendering HDV. It is a dog on 5.1.4 for sure.

I’d really consider going to FCS (2009) for a mere $300 then looking VERY strongly at the AVCHD format so you can work tapelessly in ProRes. MUCH better all around workflow wise. Faster renders, better graphics and a better codec. AVCHD is better than HDV any day.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here

8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO, CD’s

[Jerry Hofmann]

Only caveat is you don’t have tape… so backup becomes an issue with tapeless formats.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here

8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO, CD’s

[Milton Hockman]

willl studio 2 work good with avchd?

Owner
Plus More Media Group
Website Design – VA, Corporate Web Site Design – PlusMoreMedia.com
Marketing designs and videos that do more for your business!

[Jerry Hofmann]

Yes indeed. It will use the log and transfer tool to automatically bring in your AVCHD files as ProRes 10 bit files. This will make for larger files, however they are more efficient than working in HDV natively. They will render faster, turn into web streams faster and your graphics will look better too because they will be 10 bit instead of 8 bit.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here

8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO, CD’s

[Travis Ballstadt]

Backup is really not an issue with AVCHD. I have a pair of 1TB USB drives. When I get back from a shoot, I copy the contents of each card to its own folder on one of the drives. Each night Carbon Copy Cloner backs the main drive up to the other one, so I have a backup.

Total cost of those two drives : $320

At 50 minutes of HD per 8GB card, I should end up saving money in the long run on tapes.

travis ballstadt
http://www.thrillcateditorial.com

[Joseph Hung]

I’ve had trouble with FCP6 and AVCHD, so like Jerry says, transcode to ProRes.
@Jerry – I was wondering about FCP 7, is it still the same case? I heard from someone that FCP 7 can better handle AVCHD natively. But the tech specs don’t reflect it, saying transcode to ProRes again. Can you clarify, please?
Thanks so much,
Joseph

Mac 2.66 GHz Quad Intel Xeon
OSX 10.5.8
FCP 6.0.6
AE CS4
Quicktime Pro 7.6.4
4GB RAM
Plenty of storage
Panasonic Lumix GH1, Panasonic HVX200A

[Jerry Hofmann]

FCP 7 also transcodes AVCHD to ProRes (or the AIC codec, but that’s a no no IMHO)… But I see that as a definite plus actually. I don’t like editing in GOP structured media in general, and since ProRes is 10 bit, all titles, graphics, still photos etc will be of much better quality than the 8 bit that AVCHD is.

Jerry

Apple Certified Trainer

Author: “Jerry Hofmann on Final Cut Pro 4” Click here

8-Core 3.0 Intel Mac Pro, Dual 2 gig G5, AJA Kona SD, AJA Kona 2, Huge Systems Array UL3D, AJA Io HD, 17″ MBP, Matrox MXO, CD’s