[Cg Coffyn]

Thanks for this post Colin! We are also shooting AVCHD (along with two other secondary formats) and evaluating ClipWrap.

Question regarding the terminal tweak you recommend. What actually does this do to the media and/or wrapped clip? “iMovieHD” I don’t get it. Is it merely faking out Premiere Pro? If it makes Premiere think it’s an iMovieHD file, are there any long-term ramifications, like if we end up switching to another editing ecosystem, etc?

[Cg Coffyn]

We are not transcoding our AVCHD footage. We edit natively on both a MacBook Pro and MacPro. I was doing some transcoding to prores with Prelude initially and via FCPX when we were testing that software and decided it was one step we could easily pass on since we decided on CS6 Production bundle/Premiere for our editing.

We loaded up both computers with ram and have fast RAID drives via eSATA and that works really well. True that I can’t shuttle back and forth as fast as I can with ProRes, etc, but at least on the Adobe side it’s one less step. However, if we had chosen FCPX I might transcode to ProRes proxy since it is so easy to do and also relink back to the original files. My 2 cents worth anyway.

[Cg Coffyn]

Thanks Walter. After reading your post I found a few others on Adobes forums that show positive results with all the latest updates & also the LHi. Looks like the serious error crashes are gone for some or minimal.

I think we have decided the LHi would be a better longer term solution for us than the LHe Plus.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post!!

[Cg Coffyn]

Upgrade to CS6 and use Prelude. You can ingest, log meta data, transcode, etc. We’ve just started using it and so far it seems to work really well. We have the 160 (big brother to the 130) and I am not currently transcoding. Yes the AVCHD codec is processor intensive, but for now we edit natively. We are also not doing much compositing and such. I have tested transcoding to ProRes and do find it much smoother to move around the timeline, etc. Still natively works for us with our current projects. I’m always trying to eliminate extra steps unless I get large enough gains. My 2 cents worth anyway.

[Cg Coffyn]

Thanks Karl! When you register your 160 you will get notifications automatically from Panasonic. I did the update, but haven’t tested anything yet.

My biggest question regarding washed out blacks and under saturated colours is actually at this link here: https://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?281500-Black-levels-washed-out-and-color-undersaturated-share-your-scene-setting

[Cg Coffyn]

No worries Steve. I hope you find something that will scratch just the right creative and functional itches! All the best!

[Cg Coffyn]

Thanks Steve! I”m going to do a few more test.

[Cg Coffyn]

Personally I would buy the latest version of the 160 if we had not jumped in when we did. BUT once I jump, I try not to look back, though it’s tempting. Ultimately, as you know, it’s all about telling a good story and I’ve seen some really bad stories shot on some very expensive cameras. I think you can tell some great stories Steve, on the camera you have ordered. Be encouraged.

I have not noticed any back focus issues. Our previous HD camcorder (Sony) had that issue, but it was easily fixed by Sony and we never had another problem with it.

I have not used a viewfinder in some years, mainly because our last few camcorders had much higher rez flip-out monitors.

So you’ve found the peaking function not reliable? On our previous camcorder it seemed to work well when I used it. This is good info, I think I need to do some more tests and see. Thanks again for posting!

[Cg Coffyn]

Once you get the camera and register it w/Panny you will be notified automatically when firmware updates are available. Not helpful to you now though.

Focus, OK, let me see what I can remember since I don’t have the camera in front of me.I’ve only shot one short project on it and some b roll for another thus far.

Like you I”m sure, but I was always taught to zoom in focus on every shot, z-out… In doco work I’ve found that very impractical lots of times. Never did doco stuff in my early days. So in the 160p I keep the focus assist on, the classic highlights turn red when in focus, then, with that kept on, there is this other button, evf detail or something like that. It seems to look kind of like adding an unsharp mask in photoshop as the edges suddenly look super sharp AND in low light, where the red highlight thing doesn’t usually work very well, it works great and I see the red highlights even in low light AND a crisper image when in focus. I know some would hate all that, but I’m pretty darn picky about my focus and composition and seeing all the readouts around the viewfinder. I’ve turned most of them on. There is a button on the side so you can quickly turn all that off, which i’ve used a lot thus far. Let me know if that’s not clear. Sorry I”m kind tired after a late night at the Supermeet.

[Cg Coffyn]

He Steve, excellent! Thanks for posting.

The question is, is the $300.00 upgrade worth it? I think I’ve figured a way to get a really good focus, even in low light, though I”m used to the zoom in focus from our previous Sony camera. So I did really like that. The auto quick focus sounds great, but I’ve never had that in a pro or prosumer camera. I know these things are getting better, but is that accurate enough and in lower light (which I often film in) to be usable. Time will tell, but anybody have a thought?

I’ll update the firmware for sure though. Really nice that we can gain features this way and enhancements.