AVCHD Cams and FC Studio 5?

I did a search on AVCHD cam workflow and the questions I see here deal with FCP 6. We are still on FC Studio 5, and are looking at some canons, like the HG21.
I am getting the idea that capturing footage from an AVCHD cam is different than with our old Mini DV cam, but I can't tell if it's possible, or even worth it to try...maybe we should look at simply getting a replacement Mini DV cam.
The weak economy isn't exactly helping matters, so upgrading all of our hardware and software isn't an option right now.
Thank you for any thoughts/opinions.
r

I had the same questions recently, and received some great info here. Hopefully, I can pass on what I learned.
I too have FCS (fcp 5). I am running on 10.5.5 with a G5 dual 2ghz tower. I recently picked up a canon HG 20. They can all work together well, but there are some things you need to be aware of.
As noted you will need a 3rd party converter such as toast 9. I picked up a copy for 49.99. Without this (or Votaic) you will need an intel machine and fcp 6.x. With that, you will still convert the avchd to apple pro RES.
Toast gives you many conversion options. I connected the hg20 via USB. After confirming the connection it mounted on the desktop as a USB drive. I copied the video files to my hd. I then had toast convert to DC pro 1080i. Converted files were about 3x size of original. Time wasn't bad. About 20 minutes for 15 gb of avchd if memory serves.
Resulting files imported into fcp5 without problem. Just make sure to set your fcp project sequence settings to same as the converted footage.
Fcp is a little slow for me with many filter in use, but that is to be expected working in that resolution on it machine.
Hope this helps.

Similar Messages

AVCHD camera and FCP

I currently have a G5 Dual 2Hhz with no immediate plans to upgrade hardware
I also have FCP Studio 1 (FCP v5) and may be upgrading to Studio 2 in the near future.
I am considering buying a consumer grade HD camcorder, probably a Canon VIXIA HV20 (tape based) or a Sony sr-11 (HD based).
Already searched the forum and read some info. Still confused.
Here are some questions...
- I know the Sony SR-11 will work with FCP. Will the Canon (Canon has a firewire connection)?
- I know the Sony, and believe the Canon both use the AVCHD format. My understanding is that you cannot work directly (i.e. Log & capture) on a G5 (intel required, along with FCP6). Can I still work with this format on a G5 by converting to another format using Toast 9?
- If I convert with Toast 9, what would I convert to to use in FCP5? To use with FCP 6?
- Is there much/any quality loss in this format conversion?
- Easy enough to convert the file copied from the Sony HD. How do you get the file off the Canon tape to work with it?
- Are there better camcorder options in that same price range for working with FCP5 or 6?
- Anything else I should know of be aware of in this situation?
Thanks in advance,
--Joe

I know the Sony SR-11 will work with FCP. Will the Canon (Canon has a firewire connection)?
Yes. The Canon is a tape based HDV camera, not AVCHD.
I know the Sony, and believe the Canon both use the AVCHD format. My understanding is that you cannot work directly (i.e. Log & capture) on a G5 (intel required, along with FCP6). Can I still work with this format on a G5 by converting to another format using Toast 9?
The Sony shoots AVCHD in HD mode and MPEG2 in SD mode. All clips are captured to the built-in HDD. On an G5 you can use Toast to transcode the AVCHD files to a better supported codec for FCP (such as AIC or maybe DVCProHD). For the SD files you can use a freeware app such as MPEG Streamclip to transcode to DV or similar. The Canon, as noted above, is a tape based HDV camera ie in HD mode it shoots HDV to tape and in SD mode it shoots DV to tape. You would capture this via Firewire through the traditional Log and Capture interface.
If I convert with Toast 9, what would I convert to to use in FCP5? To use with FCP 6?
For FCP5 you might transcode the AVCH clips to AIC or DVCProHD
For FCP6, most feel ProRes 422 is the best intermediate.
Is there much/any quality loss in this format conversion?
No.
Easy enough to convert the file copied from the Sony HD. How do you get the file off the Canon tape to work with it?
As noted above. Log and Capture via Firewire.
Anything else I should know of be aware of in this situation?
Usually best not to mix colored items of clothing in with your whites

AVCHD cameras and Final Cut Pro

What is the best way to deal with the issue of AVCHD files not running native in FCP
Am I doomed to a life of Transcoding?
Ric

It would be nice if we could at least drop AVCHD into a sequence for cutting and choosing rather than making those commitments at the ingest stage.
At that point use Media manager to Transcode so we can continue editing in a proper codec.
A few years ago you couldn't drop HDV into FCP either. And the same attitude that you get about AVCHD now was spewed about HDV.
HDV certainly isn't a "proper" codec either. But at least we can see it. Some day native AVCHD playback will be in FCPs bag of tricks too.
So, as far as I'm concerned the OP's question is valid and intuitive. And it deserves a better response than "... If you don't like the way Final Cut deals with the media use a different application."
ricsyme,
Apple will eventually get around to supporting the type of functionality you're seeking. I can almost guarantee that.
But don't think "... Am I doomed to a life of transcoding.."
the way I look at it is "... I'm so happy to be liberated from logging & capturing tape!..."
Even in it's current state, Log & Transfer of AVCHD is soooo much better than Log & Capture of tape.
And for the time being you can also use ClipWrap to "rewrap" mts files to .mov and then use media manager to transcode after you do your initial cutting. Just don't try to leave them in their rewraped state any longer than you have to.
best,
g

FCE-4 ingestion set up for material from a Sony TG3E AVCHD camera?

Hi
I have a Sony TG3E PAL AVCHD camera and want to cut my material with FCE4 on my intel macbook pro. How should I set up easy set up to ingest the material? There are 3 record settings I can use on the camera: HD FH (1920 x 1080), HD HQ and HD LP (1440 x 1080 and lowest quality). All are AVCHD.
Do I ingest at:
HD - 25 fps- HDV Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i50 or
HD - 25 fps - AVCHD Apple Intermediate Codec 1440 x 1080i50 or finally
HD -25 fps - AVCHD Apple Intermediate Codec 1920 x 1080i50?
The camera generates 5.1 surround sound but says nothing about what KHz sampling rate the sound is.
Many thanks for any help
John

Thank you.
In Easy set up I am confused about which format to click.
In the camera manual it says the video compression format is AVCHD HD, recording format AVCHD 1080i50 and video signal PAL.
Now that you have told me I can shoot on 1920X1080 which format should I choose:
apple intermediate codec (my vote) or PAL or HD?
I put 25fps in rate - is that correct?
Many thanks.

Log and Transfer not working with Sony AVCHD camera

Hi, I have a new Sony AVCHD camera. The HDR-XR200 120GB hard drive model. It captures in 1920x1080i, and connects to Mac via USB.
FCP does not recognize the camera when I open the log and transfer window.
Can someone help me with seq setting and easy set up setting or other setting for it to work.
I am happy to import footage into FCP with AIC or prores 422. Just want to edit all the footage I have of my so's international soccer tournament held in Australia last week. I also have Final Cut Express on my Mac if that works better. This is very frustrating trying to get it to work.
Cheers
Bryan

I use a Panasonic AVCHD, which FCP doesn't recognise. Anyway I've spent months playing around because this little camera blows my Sony V1 out of the water in sheer quality.
Best thing is just get hold of a copy of Toast 10, you can then simply drag your .mts files into this and encode to whatever you want, I edit in pro res LT, but Toast will even encode it to HDV if you want to end up on tape(Even this result still blows the Sony HDV apart)
FCP is very fussy about even noticing the very existance of .mts files, so I wouldn't waste my time, scratching my head.
By the way, I use Firewire 800 drives, not USB 2 and also in the name of God BACK UP YOUR MTS FILES ON A NEW HARD DISC CALLED "BACKUP OF .MTS FILES!" LOL

AVCHD log and transfer - Only from a camera?

I am thinking about upgrading my camera to a AVCHD camera. I saw on a post that you can only log and transfer AVCHD footage from the camera and not just the card attached via card reader. Can someone shed some light on this. I want to be able to shoot, transfer/backup onto an external HDD and then Log and Transfer from the drive. I want to keep the camera busy out in the field and not tied up on my desk.
Thanks community!
Brian

You may fing this helpful:
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/ross_shane/tapeless-workflow_fcp-7/video -tutorial
When using card readers make sure it supports the larger capacity cards or at least the size card you are using.
Al

My Sony AVCHD cam is no longer recognized when "logging and transferring"

I'll try to keep this short and sweet.
I have some footage on a Sony HD cam. When I connect it to the mac, the drive appears just fine. When I go to "log and transfer" it no longer begins loading itself. When I try to manually select the disk and open it, I get this - "(this drive)... contains unsupported media or has an invalid directory structure. Please choose a folder whose directory structure matches supported media."
When I try this with my other identical Sony HD cam, it works just fine, like it always has.
When I try to "repair image," it finds no problems.
The only difference between the two, is that the non-working one was plugged into a Windows machine to manually upload a couple MTS files to youtube. No formatting was done.
How can I get my FCE to recognize my camera again?
Thanks!

I FIGURED IT OUT!
I had manually deleted some videos via Finder but remnants of the files were still on the camera itself. So, by looking in the STREAM folder, I could find where there were gaps, locate those files on the camera and then delete them. Once these "ghost" files were gone, my camera popped up in the Log and Transfer window immediately.
Hallelujah.

IDVD and DVD Studio Pro hang and crash since 10.5.6 update

Seems like there are a lot of problems since this 10.5.6 update... I came here b/c of a prob with iDVD and DVD Studio Pro not working anymore. Was just trying to "Share/Export" an iMovie project to iDVD (and then tried again with DVD Studio Pro) and the program just hung and crashed and also wouldn't let me Restart or Shutdown very easily either. What gives?

nmctech,
Have you tried to reset the SMU/PRAM?
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1436?viewlocale=en_US
Chris
Message was edited by: 2point5

Lenovo Yoga with Windows 8 Pro, Office 2013 and Visual Studio

For you developer types, I just wanted to post a message and let you know my experience with Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13 as a development machine. I bought Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13 from Bestbuy for $999.99. As expected, it came with a crap ton of bloatware installed by Lenovo.
Here is a summary of what I did to it (I take no responsilibity for accuracy of below information. You are on your own if you decide to follow them. I am just putting this down from my memory so that I can look it up in the future if I ever need to do this again).
INITIAL CLEANUP
Installed Lenovo hotfix for partition cleanup/merging: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS033035
Installed Lenovo Touchpad driver fix.
CAUTION: I take no responsibility for below steps. I am writing them from memory and if you decide to follow them and end up making your machine unusable, you are on your own as Lenovo might not honor your warranty.
BACK UP ENTIRE DISK (requires an empty USB flash drive for booting and another external USB drive for backup)
Copied Drivers from D_Backup folder to the external USB hard drive (plugged into USB 3.0 port).
Installed Paragon Backup & Recovery 2012 Free: http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/
Created Paragon Backup & Recovery boot USB flash drive with default Linux recovery environment option (flash drive plugged into USB 2.0 port).
Shutdown Lenovo Yoga.
Plugged in the Paragon Backup & Recovery boot USB flash drive (USB 2.0 port).
Pressed the one key recovery button (next to power button). Went to BIOS.
In the BIOS, enabled Legacay mode and made Legacy high priority and saved the changes.
The machine booted into Paragon Backup & Recovery mode. From there, made a backup of entire disk to the external USB hard drive.
Shut down the machine, pressed the one key recovery button (next to power button). Went to BIOS. Turned off Legacy mode and switched back to UEFI boot mode and saved the changes and restarted the machine.
Logged into the machine and verified that everything was good and checked the external USB drive to verify that the backup image was present.
MAKE WINDOWS 8 PRO BOOT USB FLASH DRIVE (requires a second empty USB flash drive and a second computer with Windows 7. This USB Flash Drive has to be between 4GB to 32GB as Windows won't format 64GB flash drives to FAT32 mode)
(Note: I installed Windows 8 Pro in UEFI mode. See http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/install-windows-8-usb.htm)
You need a licensed ISO image of Windows 8 Professional Full version (not the upgrade version) from your MSDN or Technet subscription or create an ISO from the Windows 8 Pro full version DVD.
Download Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool on the computer with windows 7.
Plug in the second empty USB flash drive (has to be at least 4GB but less than 32GB) into the computer with Windows 7.
Using Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool and the ISO file, create the Windows 8 Pro bootable USB Flash drive.
Create a new folder on your computer disk, for example, C:\WIN8USB.
Copy all the files from your USB flash drive to the newly created folder (created in the previous step).
Right click on the USB drive icon in Computer window and select “Format…” from the context menu. Make sure you select “FAT32 (Default)” in “File system” drop down menu. Click “Start” and wait till the drive gets formatted. This step is needed because NTFS is not readable by BIOS in UEFI boot mode. During formatting, MBR is preserved so the thumbdrive is still bootable.
Copy all the files from the folder you created earlier (C:\WIN8USB, for example) to the formatted drive. Your Windows 8 installation USB drive is ready to install in UEFI mode.
WIPE THE DISK PARTITIONS
Shut down the machine, pressed the one key recovery button (next to power button). Went to BIOS, enabled Legacay mode and made Legacy high priority and saved the changes.
Booted into Paragon Backup & Recovery boot USB flash drive again. This time, I deleted all partitions on the primary disk (Disk 0). CAUTION: This WILL wipe your hard disk and will make your machine unusable!!!
Shut down the machine, pressed the one key recovery button (next to power button). Went to BIOS. Turned off Legacy mode and switched back to UEFI boot mode and saved the changes and shut down the machine.
At this point, the disk is wiped clean. All factory installed software and recovery partitions are gone!!!
INSTALL WINDOWS 8 PRO
Plug in the USB Flash Drive with Windows 8 Pro install files.
Windows 8 Installer would show the unallocated disk space. I can't remember the exact details but either I had to click on Delete or New to delete and then create a new GPT partition. The entire partition was about 119GB.
From that point, follow the Windows 8 Pro installation steps.
After booting up into Windows 8 Pro, plug the external USB drive that had the drivers folder backed up from D_backups.
Install all the drivers from this folder (I was able to install everything except for one Intel fast boot one because of missing partition but my Yoga still boots up just as fast).
Go to device manager to check and everything should be good now.
Run Windows Update.
You should now have about 101GB free on C: drive!!
INSTALL VISUAL STUDIO, SQL SERVER and OFFICE 2013 ON LENOVO YOGA 13
I installed the following in that order:
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Developer edition (I installed all components, everything!). Then I installed latest service pack.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (I installed all components, everything!). Then I installed latest service pack.
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Developer edition(I installed all components, everything!). Then I installed latest service pack.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2012(I installed all components, everything!)
I ran Windows update and also installed Nov 2012 updates of SQL Server Data tools.
I then installed Office 2013 Pro Plus.
MAKE LENOVO YOGA 13 MORE SECURE
Go to Control Panel and enable Windows Defender (it is included by default in Windows 8 and is anti-virus and anti-malware solution)
Enable full hard-disk encryption using BitLocker feature of Windows 8 Pro. Since Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13 doesn't have hardware TPM, you have to enable password based option. For this, follow the steps here: http://rics.partners.org/show_article.php?id=274.
Basically, you go to GPEDIT.MSC and Open Computer Configuration => Administrative Templates => Windows Components => BitLocker Drive Encryption => Operating System Drives. From the right pane double-click "Require additional authentication at startup. Select Enabled radio button and check the box for "Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM...". Click OK and close the policy editor. Then Right-click your C drive in the Computer folder, click Turn on BitLocker. Then select Enter a password instead of USB option. Then provide a strong password (make sure to write it down and put it in a SAFE place, if you lose the password, no one can boot into your hard disk). Then select Save to a file and save it to the External Drive. Select "Encrypt entire drive...", click Next. When this is done, you will get a pop-up on the lower-right a prompt to restart the computer. Restart your PC. Enter the encryption password created earlier. If you are successful in getting into Windows, you're all set.
I also hooked up to Skydrive and used BoxCryptor to encrypt my files in cloud.
The available free disk space should now be about 54GB.
I verified that Lenovo Yoga 13 works like a champ with no slowdown with Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio 2012 and SQL Server Management Studio open simultaneously and Bitlocker enabled!
The keyboard right SHIFT key is small but other than that, it can work as a great portable development machine and Microsoft Reader is great for reading PDF eBooks.
So if you are a Developer on Microsoft platform, go right ahead. Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is great for running Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2012 (1600x900 resolution is totally usable) while on the move. Since I have only had this machine for a few days, I can't tell much about the long term reliability.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thank you for posting this. I am in this exact situation. I purchased a yoga 13, and installed Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Phone. As it turns out, the Windows Phone Emulator ONLY works in a Windows 8 Pro environment. Since the Yoga doesn't have a disc drive, I shared my W7 computer's cd drive, then put in Windows 8 Pro, so that it could install onto the Yoga. Well, after the installation was done, I tried running my program again and ran into the same issue. It prompted me that my environment must be Windows 8 Pro! I thought that Windows 8 Pro already installed but, what confuses me is that I see no indication that Windows 8 Pro installed. When I go to the System Window, it reads: "Windows 8". Should it read Windows 8 Pro?
Ultimately, I'd like to know, are you able to execute the Windows Phone Emulator? I'm not sure as to whether the Yoga has the hardware capability (needs to be SLAT enabled or something like that?), I HOPE it is able to, and judging by your post, it seems like it but I'd love to know your perspective on my approach.
Please let me know if this makes sense, as I'm new to this kind of thing but really want to start development for Windows Phone.

Working with AVCHD: Log and Transfer FAQs

Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in the topic below. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information below at your own discretion.
Working with AVCHD: Log and Transfer FAQs
Log and Transfer was introduced to the product chain in Final Cut Express 4, and is the program's process for ingesting files in the AVCHD format utilizing MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video coding and either Dolby AC-3 or uncompressed linear PCM audio coding. The most frequently observed problems relating to the Log and Transfer process are generally quite easily addressed.
What should I know before attempting to ingest my footage?
The following facts regarding the Log and Transfer process were adapted from the [Apple Knowledge Base article|http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24840?viewlocale=en_US] on transferring AVCHD in Final Cut Pro 6.0.1 but still hold true for the current version of FCE:
AVCHD support is available only on Intel-based Macintosh computers.
AVCHD camcorders typically connect to computers via USB 2.0, not FireWire.
DVD-based AVCHD camcorders are not supported in Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier.
Standard definition video recorded with AVCHD camcorders cannot be accessed in the Log and Transfer window. SD and HD clips should not be mixed on the same HDD.
Preview of AVCHD video in the Log and Transfer window is limited to 1x forward playback. Scrubbing the playhead does not update the video in the Preview area until you stop scrubbing.
When you choose to transfer AVCHD audio in the Logging area, audio is automatically mixed down to stereo.
AVCHD footage is not ingested natively but is transcoded to the Apple Intermediate Codec.
Apple Intermediate Codec files are significantly larger than the original AVCHD files. FCE does not estimate the size of a transcoded AVCHD file before ingesting, so it is possible to exceed the available space on your capture disk during transfer. Before ingesting, keep in mind that the disk space required is about ten times greater than the size of the native AVCHD file.
Which specific formats can be ingested by Log and Transfer?
Only AVCHD footage can be ingested through the Log and Transfer process. Other formats and variants such as AVCHD Lite are not supported. All video should be recorded in a frame size of either 1440x1080 or 1920x1080 and a frame rate of 25 or 29.97 frames per second. Audio recorded on AVCHD camcorders is generally at a rate of 48kHz. If your camera shoots in a format that does not comply with one of these setups then it is most likely not supported by the application and is not guaranteed to work correctly.
Which Easy Setup preset should I select before ingesting my footage?
It is extremely important to select the preset that matches your media before you attempt to ingest via Log and Transfer. There is only one Easy Setup preset that matches the frame size and rate of your footage. If you intend to ingest AVCHD clips through Log and Transfer you will first need to select one of the following presets:
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1440x1080i50
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1440x1080i60
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i50
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i60
If these four options do not appear under your Easy Setup list then you probably need to run Software Update and update to FCE 4.0.1. DO NOT cycle through the available presets until you find one that works - there is only one preset that matches your media and it should be evident which one to choose by the way it is named. Select the AVCHD preset that mentions your frame size and frame rate (i50 presets support both 50i and 25p frame rates; similarly, i60 presets support both 60i and 29.97p frame rates). If you do cycle through many options in the hope of selecting the correct one through guess-and-check you will probably have corrupted your preference file and need to [trash your preferences|http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2611] before continuing.
Why don't my clips appear when I open the Log and Transfer window?
Make sure your camcorder records AVCHD in a format supported by FCE4. It should be connected to one of your computer's USB ports (never connect it to an external hard drive or other external device such as your keyboard or a USB hub), powered on, and set to video playback mode.
If the camcorder +does not+ mount on your Desktop your USB port or cable may be malfunctioning. Try plugging it in to another port or using a different USB cable to see if it makes a difference.
If the camcorder does mount on your Desktop but the clips do not appear in the Log and Transfer window you will need to point the program to the directory that contains your media.
First, click the Add Folder button in the upper left of the Log and Transfer window. The button looks like this:
Then, you will need to navigate to the root directory in which your media is stored. Most camcorders call this folder "PRIVATE" or "AVCHD" and it should be located at the very top level of the camcorder when mounted. If your camcorder records to a valid AVCHD directory structure then your clips should load after the Add Folder process is completed.
I would like to keep a working backup of my original clips so that I can delete them off the camcorder's internal memory. How should I do this?
There are two main ways to keep a backup of your clips. The first is to ingest every clip on your camcorder through the Log and Transfer process, and store the Apple Intermediate Codec files the application creates in an easily accessible place such as an external FireWire drive. The advantage of this method is that you have the ability to open back up old editing projects, reconnect the media as necessary, and keep going as if you'd never left. However, due to the large amount of space AIC takes up (usually somewhere in the vicinity of 41-50GB an hour when transcoded from AVCHD), this is not always feasible.
Another often preferable approach is to copy over the root directory in which your clips are stored (usually named "PRIVATE" or "AVCHD") from the camcorder to your computer or an external drive. As long as you maintain the original file structure, you will be able to ingest your clips again at a later date using the "Add Folder" process detailed above to navigate to their new location.
My clips appear, but when I attempt to ingest a red exclamation point appears and the window displays the message "Error: No Data"
This is one of the most common problems that users experience when trying to ingest their media through the Log and Transfer process. Luckily, it also has one of the easiest solutions.
In the Log and Transfer window, click on the gear icon in the top right and select "Preferences" in the contextual menu that appears.
Make sure the video is set to transcode to the Apple Intermediate Codec and the audio is set to Plain Stereo.
After doing so, hit OK and try to ingest again.
I am experiencing a problem that is not covered in this tip or the solutions here do not work.
The best thing to do at this point would be to trash your preferences and start a new topic in the [FCE Forum|http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=936&start=0] with a detailed description of your problem. Check out the user tip on [Basic Troubleshooting in Final Cut Express|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2662419] for more information.
This is the 1st version of this tip. It was submitted on December 03, 2010 by skalicki`.
Do you want to provide feedback on this User Contributed Tip or contribute your own? If you have achieved Level 2 status, visit the User Tips Library Contributions forum for more information.

Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in the topic below. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information below at your own discretion.
Working with AVCHD: Log and Transfer FAQs
Log and Transfer was introduced to the product chain in Final Cut Express 4, and is the program's process for ingesting files in the AVCHD format utilizing MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video coding and either Dolby AC-3 or uncompressed linear PCM audio coding. The most frequently observed problems relating to the Log and Transfer process are generally quite easily addressed.
What should I know before attempting to ingest my footage?
The following facts regarding the Log and Transfer process were adapted from the [Apple Knowledge Base article|http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24840?viewlocale=en_US] on transferring AVCHD in Final Cut Pro 6.0.1 but still hold true for the current version of FCE:
AVCHD support is available only on Intel-based Macintosh computers.
AVCHD camcorders typically connect to computers via USB 2.0, not FireWire.
DVD-based AVCHD camcorders are not supported in Mac OS X 10.4 or earlier.
Standard definition video recorded with AVCHD camcorders cannot be accessed in the Log and Transfer window. SD and HD clips should not be mixed on the same HDD.
Preview of AVCHD video in the Log and Transfer window is limited to 1x forward playback. Scrubbing the playhead does not update the video in the Preview area until you stop scrubbing.
When you choose to transfer AVCHD audio in the Logging area, audio is automatically mixed down to stereo.
AVCHD footage is not ingested natively but is transcoded to the Apple Intermediate Codec.
Apple Intermediate Codec files are significantly larger than the original AVCHD files. FCE does not estimate the size of a transcoded AVCHD file before ingesting, so it is possible to exceed the available space on your capture disk during transfer. Before ingesting, keep in mind that the disk space required is about ten times greater than the size of the native AVCHD file.
Which specific formats can be ingested by Log and Transfer?
Only AVCHD footage can be ingested through the Log and Transfer process. Other formats and variants such as AVCHD Lite are not supported. All video should be recorded in a frame size of either 1440x1080 or 1920x1080 and a frame rate of 25 or 29.97 frames per second. Audio recorded on AVCHD camcorders is generally at a rate of 48kHz. If your camera shoots in a format that does not comply with one of these setups then it is most likely not supported by the application and is not guaranteed to work correctly.
Which Easy Setup preset should I select before ingesting my footage?
It is extremely important to select the preset that matches your media before you attempt to ingest via Log and Transfer. There is only one Easy Setup preset that matches the frame size and rate of your footage. If you intend to ingest AVCHD clips through Log and Transfer you will first need to select one of the following presets:
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1440x1080i50
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1440x1080i60
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i50
AVCHD-Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i60
If these four options do not appear under your Easy Setup list then you probably need to run Software Update and update to FCE 4.0.1. DO NOT cycle through the available presets until you find one that works - there is only one preset that matches your media and it should be evident which one to choose by the way it is named. Select the AVCHD preset that mentions your frame size and frame rate (i50 presets support both 50i and 25p frame rates; similarly, i60 presets support both 60i and 29.97p frame rates). If you do cycle through many options in the hope of selecting the correct one through guess-and-check you will probably have corrupted your preference file and need to [trash your preferences|http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2611] before continuing.
Why don't my clips appear when I open the Log and Transfer window?
Make sure your camcorder records AVCHD in a format supported by FCE4. It should be connected to one of your computer's USB ports (never connect it to an external hard drive or other external device such as your keyboard or a USB hub), powered on, and set to video playback mode.
If the camcorder +does not+ mount on your Desktop your USB port or cable may be malfunctioning. Try plugging it in to another port or using a different USB cable to see if it makes a difference.
If the camcorder does mount on your Desktop but the clips do not appear in the Log and Transfer window you will need to point the program to the directory that contains your media.
First, click the Add Folder button in the upper left of the Log and Transfer window. The button looks like this:
Then, you will need to navigate to the root directory in which your media is stored. Most camcorders call this folder "PRIVATE" or "AVCHD" and it should be located at the very top level of the camcorder when mounted. If your camcorder records to a valid AVCHD directory structure then your clips should load after the Add Folder process is completed.
I would like to keep a working backup of my original clips so that I can delete them off the camcorder's internal memory. How should I do this?
There are two main ways to keep a backup of your clips. The first is to ingest every clip on your camcorder through the Log and Transfer process, and store the Apple Intermediate Codec files the application creates in an easily accessible place such as an external FireWire drive. The advantage of this method is that you have the ability to open back up old editing projects, reconnect the media as necessary, and keep going as if you'd never left. However, due to the large amount of space AIC takes up (usually somewhere in the vicinity of 41-50GB an hour when transcoded from AVCHD), this is not always feasible.
Another often preferable approach is to copy over the root directory in which your clips are stored (usually named "PRIVATE" or "AVCHD") from the camcorder to your computer or an external drive. As long as you maintain the original file structure, you will be able to ingest your clips again at a later date using the "Add Folder" process detailed above to navigate to their new location.
My clips appear, but when I attempt to ingest a red exclamation point appears and the window displays the message "Error: No Data"
This is one of the most common problems that users experience when trying to ingest their media through the Log and Transfer process. Luckily, it also has one of the easiest solutions.
In the Log and Transfer window, click on the gear icon in the top right and select "Preferences" in the contextual menu that appears.
Make sure the video is set to transcode to the Apple Intermediate Codec and the audio is set to Plain Stereo.
After doing so, hit OK and try to ingest again.
I am experiencing a problem that is not covered in this tip or the solutions here do not work.
The best thing to do at this point would be to trash your preferences and start a new topic in the [FCE Forum|http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=936&start=0] with a detailed description of your problem. Check out the user tip on [Basic Troubleshooting in Final Cut Express|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2662419] for more information.
This is the 1st version of this tip. It was submitted on December 03, 2010 by skalicki`.
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I have an old project with AVCHD clips and I want to import the clips again with surround sound. How can I relink the project clips to the re-imported ones without doing the project from the begining?

I have an old project with AVCHD clips and I want to import the clips again with surround sound. How can I relink the project clips to the re-imported ones without doing the project from the begining?
I have a sony handicam and I imported the clips to iMovie and they lost quality and converted the audio to stereo. I want to import the project to final cut X and import the AVCHD in 1080p and surround sound and export the movie in bluray. Can I relink the clips without editing everything again?
thanks!

Only photos taken with the iPad, copied onto it via the camera connection kit, or saved from emails/websites etc can be deleted directly on the iPad - either via the trashcan icon in the top right corner if viewing the photo in full screen, or via the icon of the box with the arrow coming out of it in thumbnail view.
Photos that were synced from a computer are deleted by moving/removing/de-selecting them from where they were synced from and then re-syncing. If you want to remove them all then normally you could just sync an empty folder (in terms of photos) to the iPad, but as you don't want to sync at the moment you can't do that.
You can reset the iPad back to factory settings and start from scratch with it : Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content And Settings

Is it possible to set up my iPad as a video camera and broadcast it real time to a TV via apple TV?

Is it possible to sey up my iPad as a video camera and broadcast it real time to a TV via Apple TV?

Use airplay to send what is on the iPad to your tv.
Since ipad2, you can display exactly what is on the ipad screento a tv via an adaper or via airplay through an apple TV.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5209
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4437
General overview but lacks specifics.
http://accelerateyourmarketing.com/home-video-studio/
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce5FVJi0Uxw

Workflow for avchd clips and meta data

Just started using a Panasonic AG-AF100 on a 5 month project. Will be producing 1000's of clips. So I have off-loaded the first 3 cards we shot and have discovered something about avccam material. If you just copy the .MTS files from their /stream folder or rename the file with a name instead of its original number produced in the camera you lose the timecode and other meta data.
If I leave the clips in that folder and other card folders in their associated directories and "import" clip with Premiere Media Browser it retains the timecode. Trouble is that I cannot see thumbnails in Media Browser and the clip number means little. Bridge on my Win7/64bit machine shows thumbnails (but no preview) and a double-click will preview in Win Media Player.
On my main edit station (Vista/64bit) Bridge neither shows thumbnails or previews and I get no avchd .mts playback in Windows Media Player. Everything worrks the same within Premiere, nice solid editing and playback of avchd clips. (I will probably upgrade this machine to Win7 next week)
So my request for advice/questions are:
Suggestions for managing and organizing large qualities of clips with what will be similar names, etc
Previewing updates or options to find media
How do you manage AVCHD material and still maintain meta data?
Thanks so much!! As I get older and the technology seems faster, stronger, sharper, the demands on my brain get tougher.
Rick

Rick,
If you just copy the .MTS files from their /stream folder or rename the file with a name instead of its original number produced in the camera you lose the timecode and other meta data.
If I leave the clips in that folder and other card folders in their associated directories and "import" clip with Premiere Media Browser it retains the timecode.
You mustmustmust keep the files in their folder structure, if you intend to maintain timecode. You've clearly discovered this Good you did so early. The folder structure thing is really not a big deal; there is very little need to manipulate these at the OS level, and the Media Browser in PPro makes it reasonably easy to bring these in for editing. You can pre-build a folder structure into which you can offload each card's worth of clips.
Trouble is that I cannot see thumbnails in Media Browser and the clip number means little. Bridge on my Win7/64bit machine shows thumbnails (but no preview) and a double-click will preview in Win Media Player.
On my main edit station (Vista/64bit) Bridge neither shows thumbnails or previews and I get no avchd .mts playback in Windows Media Player. Everything worrks the same within Premiere, nice solid editing and playback of avchd clips. (I will probably upgrade this machine to Win7 next week)
Windows 7 has built-in splitters and decoders for H.264 media, so that's the reason you can at least get thumbnails in Bridge and playback the files in WMP there. The Media Browser, even on Windows 7, won't show thumbnails as they are not saved into the folder structure the way that P2 saves a poster image into the folder structure. Note that even "standard" containers like AVI or MOV do not display a thumbnail in Media Browser.
As far as Bridge is concerned: I know a lot of people like it, but from my perspective, it's just about worthless for video. This is largely an application designed for photography workflows that has been shoehorned into "working" with video. I don't even like it for AVI/MOV.
The ugly truth is that Bridge is not going to be much, if any, help in this workflow. However, there may be another tool in the suite that will accomplish what you need: OnLocation. You won't get thumbnails, but you can browse through the folder structure without knowing you're doing it, import clips to preview them, and add metadata. You could do this for each card you offload. Then, in Premiere, simply use Media Browser to navigate to your OnLocation Project, and it will open up just like a folder, listing all your clips with the metadata you added. Granted, it is not a perfect workflow, but once you added that metadata, it will flow with the files wherever you move them around in the Adobe suite--it won't go elsewhere, as it's not injected into the files themselves. So long as you're editing in Premiere, you're good.
Now, there is another thing you can do that may make clip management even easier, though it does require a bit of forethought in pre-production. It will really depend on the type of project you're shooting, but you can preload metadata on to an SD card and into the camera, and then automatically record this to the clips as they are shot! I don't have an AVCCAM to give you exact workflow steps, but I do this all the time with my P2 workflow and it's a tremendous help once you hit the edit bay.
If you haven't already, head over to the Panasonic support site: Support Desk Top / Broadcast and Professional AV. You'll need to register for a "PASS" membership (it's free, and you don't need to register a camera), but you can then download the AVCCAM Viewer application. Unfortunately, this application is not quite as helpful as P2 Viewer is (it's rather cartoony, actually), but it does have the metadata editor in it that will let you create your metadata files in advance and save them to an SD card. Then, after consulting the camera manual , you can set those metadata files to be a data source for the footage as you record it. Here's what you can add to the metadata files and, summarily, the clips:
Once you load this into the camera's memory, that data is saved into the clips, and is readable by Premiere. The "User Clip Name" field can be set to auto-increment (again, this is going off my knowledge of the way metadata works in a P2 camera, but the AVCCAM should be similar) so that each clip has a base name and then a serial number. When you're done with a particular scene/shot, you'd load the next metadata files, reset the indexing, and continue. Lather, rinse, repeat.
The biggest hole in the metadata workflow, at least as it pertains to AVCHD/AVCCAM, is that there is no tool (that I'm aware of) that lets you edit this metadata after the fact. With P2, you can--there are a number of applications, both free and payware, that let you do this--but I've yet to find one that works with AVCCAM. Even Panasonic's own AVCCAM Viewer is incapable of this, it seems.
The major advantage to adding file metadata like this is that it travels wherever the clips go, and into whatever application they land in. Not being able to edit it after the fact, though, just plain sucks. This is where the clip metadata you'd add in the Adobe applications comes into play, with the obvious disadvantage that it's only useful in Adobeland. As always, ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
So that's my take on this--it's good you're looking into this before you have a couple terabytes worth of footage on hand Let me know if I can help fill in any details that I might have overlooked. And be sure to check on the Panasonic site linked above for firmware updates to the AF100--I see one came out just a few days ago. It's always good to stay current.
Good luck!

Importing "24p Cinema" footage from Canon AVCHD camera ?

Hi all,
I have bought a CANON HFS10 Vixia AVCHD camera, I`ve made some footage using the "24p cinema" mode.
When using media browser in PPCS5 and importing it, it still indicates (like in CS4) under "properties", that the footage is "29.97 fps", as CS5 is compatible with this camera specifically, shouldn`t CS5 indicate something like "24 cinema Canon mode" or so ?
It`s my understanding that the Canon camera produces a 24 fps footage "wrapped" in a 29.97 container; it`s also my understanding that, as CS4 is not compatible with this camera, it looked ONLY at the wrapper and said under properties "29.97 fps", that sounds reasonable for me.
But what about CS5 ? How do I know if it is really "seeing" the 24p footage wrapped in a 29.97 fps wrapper if it still says "29.97 fps" ? Will it perform the editing and exporting correctly even though ?
Thank you very much,
RK

I was wondering though.....shouldn`t I just NOT DO Anything ?
Well, that would be ideal... but you know how THAT goes
There`s an Adobe document at its web site talking specifically about the
Canon cameras, it mentions specifically my camera and the so-called "24p
cinema" format.
Can you post a link? I'm just curious what it says. The biggest issue is that Canon actually has (at least) two different 24p "formats," and your camcorder records to the not-so-easy-to-deal-with version. It's what Canon deems "24pf," which means that it records 18 progressive frames and 12 interlaced frames, but it doesn't flag which are which, so programs that are not able to determine the pulldown cadence can't remove the necessary frames to create a true 24p clip. After Effects (and a number of other methods) can determine the cadence, but that's an extra step, obviously.
It says that I can use Media Browser to import the files and...that`s
all, it doesn`t go any further.The option Interpret footage -> remove
pulldown is greyed out for me (?)
Yeah, that makes sense, given the above. Do you have a really short clip you wouldn't mind uploading somewhere for a test? I can't find one anywhere online...
I wonder if I could just edit it normally (labelled as 29.97fps
though..) and export the timeline as 23.976p....?
Which results would I achieve ? I`m trying to avoid spending some
expensive blu-ray medias doing tests;
You could, technically speaking, but aesthetically, you'd be pretty displeased with the results. The export process isn't any smarter than the import process, so unless you do the necessary steps, you won't get a good, clean 24p encode.

Sony AVCHD Camera

I got a Sony HDR-SR1 video camera and it uses USB to connect the camera to the computer. How can I import it to my imovie? Is there a software available to convert AVCHD file?
Thank you!

See this message about AVCHD support: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4892923&#4892923
F Shippey

AVCHD Cams and FC Studio 5?

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