AVCHD Disc Preparation

I just acquired Compressor 4 so I can make an AVCHD disc for playing in my BluRay player. It took me several days to figure out how to do this and I read the Help sections of FCPX and Compressor. Also looked at some tutorials. I finally made a disc starting from FCPX: Share -->Blu ray, and one by starting from Compressor by exporting a .mov from FCPX and dragging it into Compressor.
I got very confused figuring out where all the menu and inspecor files were to set the batch job up properly. Apple has spread the needed information all over the place and it is definitely a hunt and peck operation. When I finally made my first successful disc I then forgot what I had done because I tried so many things.
To summarize my question:
1) Best and simplest way to start from FCPX and burn disc.
2) Best and simplest way to start from Compressor and burn disc.
An added question is "Is there a way to construct a Chapter menu like iDVD or DVDSP but for the AVCHD disc?"
Charles Lloyd
The Woodlands, Texas
USA

Charles, both FCP and C4 are pretty much the same.
1. In FCP make your HD project timeline pane active. Go to Share>Blu-Ray. The dialogue box will give you different options for output device, depending on the optical drives you have connected. If a DVD drive is selected, FCP will create and burn an AVCHD disk.
or:
2. Export your movie from FCP, using Export Media. If the Batch Template doesn't open automatically when you open C4 select New Batch from Template under File. Select Create Blu-Ray. with the job selected (not the settings) look at Extras. Again, if you have a DVD burner (internal or external) connected, the option will be to make an AVCHD disk.
You can set chapter markers in C4, but currently not in FCPX. You set them in Preview. They will work with the basic menus that you get through Compressor's disk creation.
Good luck.
Russ

Similar Messages

Can you import the video from an AVCHD Disc into FCP7 for editing?

Can the video from an AVCHD Disc be imported into FCP 7 for re-editing if you have a normal Superdrive burner?
The reason I ask is because last night our film-making club gave a show of short videos to some guests.
At the end it was decided to put them all on one DVD to send to the visitors as a memento.
However, some of the films were on AVCHD discs and I queried whether they could be copied, even in standard definition.
The "copier" said it was no problem as he had a PC and had done it before . . . . . cheeky devil!
So can it be done . . . . . on a PC or a Mac . . . . with a standard burner?
I have just tried but nothing in the BDMV folder can be imported.

GOT IT!
Copy the BDMV folder from the AVCHD disc to the desktop.
Use HandBrake to convert the .m2ts files to H.264
Then convert the H.264 files to an editable format.
Rather convoluted process but it works.
Anyone know a better method?

Can I play avchd discs on a Mac

Can I play avchd discs on a Mac?

You will need to get a bit of help for your iMac to playback AVCHD files. No native support for AVCHD playback.
Get VLC and you can open most .mts or .m2ts files.
iMovie/Final Cut will also let you import AVCHD.

AVCHD disc FCP 7

Has anyone else had this problem...
Just burnt my first AVCHD disc out of FCP7. The 4 minute sequence I exported contained several clips that I'd used the smoothcam filter on. When playing back the AVCHD disk in my PS3 and also on a Sony BD player, every clip that had smoothcam used on it, shimmers and blurs horrendously. Every clip that I didn't use smoothcam on looks great. All of the clips with smoothcam applied look fine on my computer. The shimmering only rears it's ugly head once I've burnt the AVCHD dIsc.
Any suggestions?

Ian, the DVD media itself is just a UDF filesystem format which contains the folders/files in the defined AVCHD structure. I believe the top level contains "BDMV" and maybe "Certificate"? been a while since I've looked at one.
Being just a UDF file system disc, you should be able to make copies of it. The fact that you receive an
Ian R. Brown wrote:
+"Read Errors Have Been Found On This Media"+
error message makes me wonder about the quality of the disc you are trying to copy. There is nothing inherently odd or protected about the UDF file system format. I believe you'll find that all DVDs use this.
As you probably know, consumer players are more inclined to skip errors during playback whereas a computer being asked to make a faithful copy of the media will not ignore them.
If you can, try copying the files in their exact structure off the original disc. Place them in a folder on your HD. Then use Toast to burn them (with the same layout ) onto a UDF disc.
Patrick

Can an AVCHD disc contain multiple videos?

So far I have only used AVCHD discs for short single videos but a friend has just asked whether it's possible to put several videos on one.
Obviously you could string the videos together in FCP X but that would really be one long video and not what my friend wants.

What he is referring to and what you are talking about are two different things it looks like. If you have a music & music video playlist in your itunes library, you are able to play and shuffle the list through the computers menu with your home sharing.
The problem is when airplay comes into play. For whatever reason airplay is still buggy with AppleTV. If you have a playlist that contains BOTH music videos and music and you try and play it to your apple tv from your computer it will work... to a point. IF it plays over 5 minutes of music, the "now playing" screensaver appears on the apple tv and once that is on, any music video that plays afterward will only show the album art with the audio. If you skip to the next song, however, and it happens to be a video it will play the video. Basically, to force it to play videos after it goes to the "Now Playing" screensaver, you have to actually intervene in some way... which is silly. This is a pain in the *** if you want to use iTunes DJ to play a playlist of music and videos.
Until they fix this, which will probably never happen, the only viable way to accomplish playing a music & music videos playlist is through the computers menu with home sharing.

Whats the best file output spec for a file output i.e rather than an AVCHD disc

I have been making travel videos for many years and in all the formats available at the time at the time. I moved from analogue to digital and latterly HD video (1080x1920) via Panasonic HDC-SD600 camcorder. Using software I created AVCHD Discs and played them on my Blu Rayer Player. However I now realise that the discs can degrade? and start to stick on playback. So I moved on to creating Video Files that I can transfer to my flash drive to feed directly to my HD tv. In previous software I took the option MP4 HD and I had no problem. However the software did start giving an unrelated problem and I changed to Adobe Premiere Elements 12. But the MP4 HD option offered in Publish and Share when transferred to Flash Drive will not play on TV (No Movies Found). Could it be that I reformatted the flash drive to NTFS to allow greater tha 4G?. I have scanned various adobe forums and tutorials but not luckly enough to find one that explains the best outputs for this type of use
Can you help. I am slightly knowledgeable about codecs and containers.

Bill,
Finally solved my problem. It turned out to be the Flash Drive! I realised this was at fault when the TV stopped seeing any files irrespective of format. I re-formatted the drive back to FAT 32. I then used a ten minute video and with PE12 Publish and Share options created 6 files with different formats. 2 of these played back perfectly. I then went and done some homework and read up on Frames and Refresh rates and how PAL and NTSC still matters in this digital age. I finally opted for the AVCHD option of MP4 H264 1920x1080p at 25fps. Which I believe is correct for PAL countries.
My TV has 100hz refresh rate so that means at 25fps each frame is repeated 4 times every 25th of a second. Forgetting all the Tech when I watched the video I found it really good and that decides it for me!
It does leave me with something to live with however, I am apparently stuck with the 4 gigabyte barrier of FAT 32. However this gives about 30 minutes of HD video so I may have to opt for Video part one and Video part two for longer videos. I will re check the spec of my TV just to ensure the USB inputs are definately restricted to FAT 32.
I am now thinking about DNLA as another means of playing a video file from computer to TV. But this new to me so it looks like more homework.
Any tips or help will be welcome
Jack

Creating AVCHD Discs?

Am I correct in thinking that an AVCHD disc is basically Blu-ray encoded video burned to a standard DVD-5?
I have encoded a 5 minute test video and now have an audio and video file.
What do I do with them?
Do I use DVDSP and if so how do I configure the project settings as the only choice apart from SD DVD appears to be HD DVD (which I have been told is not suitable)?
Incidentally I have tried both project settings and when I try to import the 2 files I am told they are in an incompatible format.

I tested the 5 minute disc on my son's PS3 and it didn't work. Nothing appeared on the screen to show that the DVD had been recognised.
However, there could be a couple of reasons for that.
1. DVD+RWs are not the best media for this task . . . . . let's face it, many ordinary DVD players won't recognise them.
2. Apparently, according to David's second link, PS3s are notoriously unreliable at playing AVCHD discs and my son's is straight out of the box and never been updated.
So my next step will be to create an AVCHD disc on a terribly expensive (15 pence!) DVD-R and see what happens.
What a waste of a DVD!

MacBook Pro Unable to Read Disc Prepared on iMac

I prepared a slideshow(900MB) on my iMac using iMovie. Finalized the show in 1080p and exported it to a file in Finder. Burned the show on a disc. It replays beautifully on my iMac but my MacBook Pro will not read the file. What am I doing wrong? Thank you.

Hi
No not really - but
*Not knowing the origin to Your problem - General approach when in trouble is as follows:*
• Free space on internal (start-up) hard disk if it is less than 10Gb should rather have 25Gb
• Hard disk is untidy: Repair Permissions, Repair Hard disk (Apple Disc Util tool)
• Delete iDVD pref file - *or rather start a new user/account* - log into this and re-try
iDVD pref file resides: Mac Hard Disk (start-up HD)/Users/"Your account"/Library/Preferences and is named:
com.apple.iDVD.plist
While iDVD is NOT RUNNING - move this file out to desk-top.
Now restart iDVD.
• Program miss-match: iDVD 5.0.2, Mac OS X.4.11 AND QuickTime 7.5.5 - is OK - DON’T work under Leopard
• Program miss-match: iDVD 6.0.4, Mac OS X.4.11 AND QuickTime 7.5.5 - is OK (might work under Leopard)
• Program miss-match: iDVD’08 v. 7.0.1, Mac OS X.4.11 AND QuickTime 7.5.5 - is OK (might work under Leopard)
• iDVD (08) v7 Locate theme folder. Move out iDVD1, iDVD 2 and eventually iDVD4 folders to desktop - re-try
• Try a Cleaning CD/DVD that cleans the laser lens on the DVD burner/player
iDVD 6.0.4 and iDVD 7.0.1 are compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Last resort: from Craig: Solved the problem!! Finally!!
I deleted every iDVD application and folder from my boot drive,
emptied the trash and then installed iDVD 08 using the customize option
and I am up and running.
Yours Bengt W

Question re: Bootable backup disc / preparing for Leopard Install

Hello,
I've an iMac G5 :
Model: The one right before an isight camera was added CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (3.1), CPU Speed: 2 GHz, L2 Cache: 512 KB, Memory: 1.5 GB
I'm trying to figure out if I can make a bootable backup of my Tiger OS before installing Leopard. I have heard that Superduper requires a firewire drive to make a bootable backup, but I have a 500GB USB external drive. Is there a way for me to use my USB external drive to make the bootable backup?
I have already backed up copies of my Home folders on this iomega 500gb usb ext. drive. Maybe, this is all I need to worry about and I should just go ahead and install Leopard?
Any helpful advice greatly appreciated. Thank you for considering my post.
Michael
Message was edited by: Kailua

Can Disc Warrior help me make the backup for my USB external drive?
No. DiskWarrior isn't a backup tool.
or should I use the apple disc utility?
Yes.
(34562)

Comparing video quality of AVCHD BluRay discs using Final Cut Pro Share vs Compressor

Up front, I will admit to being a newbie when it comes to using Final Cut Studio 3 and would appreciate some feedback from the Apple forum experts.
I have spent a lot of time trying to determine how to achieve an optimum group of Compressor 3.5.2 settings so that the playback video quality of an AVCHD BluRay disc is equal to or better than one created by using the simpler auto settings of FCPro Share, version 7.0.2.
When using Compressor’s auto/default maximum settings, I experienced the same error message reported in:
Error MessageDuring Creation of Blu-ray Disc in FCP and Compressor 3.5
https://discussions.apple.com/message/12073794#12073794
I have since made some Compressor AVCHD Discs with smaller bit rate settings and compared video quality with a single FCP Share AVCHD disc. Both seem to be equal in providing a very good video when viewed on my new Panasonic DMP BDT 310 BluRay player. However, the Compressor AVCHD discs show some motion artifacts not present with the FCPro Share version, especially when scrolling text or when objects are moving through the field of view, and visible artifacts are seen from a stationary chain link fence and other lattice work in the background of the video sample.
My sample video used for the comparisons between Compressor and FCP Share discs is a 21 minute duration home movie, originally captured from a mini DV, Canon HV30 1080i camcorder using ProRes HQ encoding(1440x1080), and dragged into FC Pro 7.0.2 timeline where 10 chapter markers have been inserted.
To create an AVCHD disc using FCPro Share, Markers are used to set the IN and OUT points, Select IN to OUT from the timeline, pull down File Menu Share, Select Create BluRay from options in pop out Share pane, and designate output device along with picture files for Background, Logo, and Title options. When these are completed, click on Export. My 21-minute video required almost two hours for encoding including about 10 minutes for burning. This accomplished on an iMac 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
To prepare this same 21-minute video for use with Compressor, I again Select IN to Out from the FCPro timeline, but this time use File Export as a QuickTime Self Contained movie including Chapter markers. Then Open Compressor, choose Create BluRay from Template pane, right click on the down arrow in the Batch window and load the QT self contained movie file. From there I went to the Inspector window and tried various combinations of bit rate settings along with Frame Encoder options such as Better or Best motion parameter controls.
I have tried the following combinations of Bit rate settings along with varying Frame Encoder controls and burned an AVCHD disc for each example:
Example A
Compressor set to 6 Mbps Average and 8Mbps Maximum, Frame Encoder settings OFF. Approximately 4 hours to encode although the time remaining estimator indicated a larger value of ~7 hours; not an accurate estimator at all.
Example B
Compressor set to 6 Mbps Average and 8Mbps Maximum, Frame Encoder settings ON, using “Better (Linear Filter) and Better (Motionadaptive)” settings. Approximately 4 hours to encode, not the 13 hours that were estimated.
Conclusion: Comparing A & B Compressor versions, Disc B showed some improvements in reducing motion artifacts over Disc A.
Example C
Compressor set to 13 Mbps Average and 15 Mbps Maximum, Frame Encoder settings ON, using “Better (Linear Filter) and Better (Motion adaptive)” settings. Multipass checked. DeInterlace was checked. Unknown hours to encode; about 8 hours done overnight..
Conclusion: Disc C showed some minor improvements reducing motion artifacts over Disc B
Example D
Compressor Auto settings,i.e., 15 Mbps Average and 17 Mbps Maximum, Frame Encoder settings ON, using “Better (Linear Filter) and Better (Motion adaptive)” settings. Multipass checked. Approximately 12 hours to encode, done overnight. Inserted disc next morning after the overnight encoding was completed, and a few minutes later an error message pane appeared that the maximum bit rate had been exceeded. This message was consistent with the Apple posted thread referenced above. Unfortunately the long overnight encoding was wasted.
It seemed to me that the best Compressor settings for suppressing the motion artifacts were displayed by the disc burned in Example C, i.e., 13/15 Ave/Max Mbps with“Better” Motion settings in the Frame Encoder.
However, when this disc was compared to the AVCHD Disc burned using the FCPro Share, the latter still seemed much better. I do not know what the auto bit rate values are as set in FC Pro, but for me, the quality is quite good AND the motion artifacts are significantly reduced, especially evident with the scrolling text.
Sorry about this long post, but I thought the detail would be necessary for the experts, and maybe helpful to others trying to get started in this BluRay arena. Did I misuse Compressor? I think the sample video exported as a self contained QT movie was the right thing to do? Not sure where I went wrong.
Thanks in advance for Feedback and Recommendations. For now, I’m going to stay with the simpler process using Final Cut Pro Share function.
BoBo

Thank You, Brad, for responding; glad to hear I'm not the only one having similar Compressor issues.
You may have hit on something. Perhaps Compressor's use of H.264 encoding was the reason for my motion artifacts? And perhaps Final Cut Pro Share retains the 1440x1080 quality as it burns the AVCHD BluRay disc?
I had Toast 10 for less than 30 days a couple of years ago, and was lucky to get a refund.
What version of Toast do you have? Wondering if new Toast 11 has improved previous bugs, especially upgrading its Chapter text, pictures, music. I would go back to Toast if it came close to mirroring DVD Studio Pro, or even iDVD capabilities.
Thanks,
BoBo

Bluray burner ejects disc before avchd burn completed

blu-ray burner ejects disc before avchd burn completed Premiere Elements 12. Any suggestions please.
When I first got the blu-ray burner it worked perfectly with Premier Elements, burning both blu-ray and avchd discs. Now it won't do either
Bug in Premiere Elements I guess, just like the continuing crashing of Elements!? I have to save my work every few seconds to make sure I don't loose any!!!
Al

aljohird
What computer operating system is your Premiere Elements running on?
With your Publish+Share/Disc/AVCHD can you burn to folder successfully for AVCHD on DVD disc?
Just before you were ready to start the burn to AVCHD on DVD disc, In the Quality Area of the burn to AVCHD on DVD, what are the readings for Space Required and Bitrate (with and without a check mark next to "Fit Content To Available Space"?
Please review your Scratch Disk situation (locations and free space at the locations). See Edit Menu/Preferences/Scratch Disks as well as the contents of the project's files/folders in the 12.0 Folder in Libraries/Documents/Premiere Elements (if Windows).
Are you running from a User Account with Administrative Privileges + Run As Administrator?
And have you explored other disc brands as well as types?
More later.
Thank you.
ATR

Compressor Burning Extra AVCHD-BluRay discs without repeating transcoding?

Newbie…using Compressor 3.5.2 to burn AVCHD discs for play on a BluRay player.
Question: Is there any workflow using Compressor saved output files which could be reused later to eliminate repeating the lengthy transcoding (“Submit”) function in order to burn additional AVCHD discs at a later time?
I know how to create an Image file using Compressor along with Disc Utility to produce copies of an original AVCHD disc.
But is there another way to recreate copies without using image files? Is it possible to save the original Compressor Batch file and the xxx.264 & xxx.ac3 files and later reuse these files in Compressor to proceed directly to burning, without going through the long long transcoding all over again?
I’ve searched the Compressor manual, and not sure whether “Droplets” are something that might help?
Like I said at the outset, I’m a novice with Compressor. Hope I expressed clearly what I'm trying to do. Initial transcoding took about 10 hours !
BoBo

Russ,
Thanks for responding.
Yes, I have read through that thread numerous times in my attempts to answer my original posted question. I'm not sure I understand all of the terminology and workflows that are discussed by the experts in that long thread.
What was very useful in that thread was the workflow described by "Meg the Dog" to produce an image file from a successful AVCHD BluRay burned disc, and then using "New Image" from Disk Utility. In fact her process has been the only way I can make an AVCHD BluRay copy using an image file.
Making an AVCHD BluRay image file directly from Compressor, and then attempting later to burn a disc from that image file has been unsuccessful for me.
To return to my original post, I was wondering if I could avoid re-transcoding (~10 hours) by reloading the saved batch file and the xxx.264 & xxx.ac3 files into Compressor.
I guess I have to start at the beginning, load again my QT export movie into Compressor, set up the BluRay variables, set Job Action to burn the AVCHD disc upon completion, click on Submit, and walk away for a day!
So far, your response has been the only one. Thanks again.
BoBo

Making AVCHD format discs

Is it possible to make AVCHD format DVD discs (1920x1080/60i) using Encore? Is there a format I can output from Premiere Pro CS5 that will allow me to make an AVCHD disc from Encore that does not require transcoding of the file in Encore? Like if I choose H.264 1920x1080 29.97 interlace at 18Mpbs or lower?

No it is not. AVCHD compatible discs are blu-ray format data structures on standard DVD discs, no blu-ray burner required. I make them all the time using Nero and Corel Movie Factory, they play on any standard Blu-Ray player, but consist of 1920x1080 files burned onto standard DVD discs. It does not appear Encore supports this, but it is a commonly used format for HD content by hobbyists, for video contests, etc.

Error MessageDuring Creation of Blu-ray Disc in FCP and Compressor 3.5

Yesterday I spent more than 7 hours trying to create and burn a Blu-ray disc (actually an AVCHD disc on DVD-5 media) in both FCP 7 and Compressor 3.5. In every case, disc creation would go to completion of the encoding of the video and audio files, but when I was asked to insert a disk, I would do so and the disc would spin for about 30 seconds and then I would get the following error message: "There was an error burning your disc. The bit rate exceeded the maximum allowable." This message cannot be a correct description of the problem because I used the Blu-ray template that Apple provides in FCP 7 and Compressor 3.5 to create my disc. This template limits the bit rate to a maximum of 15 mbs and my video was only 15 minutes in length.
Additional information as follows: I am using an Early 2008 Mac Pro 8-core. I have Final Cut Studio 3 installed with all of the latest updates. I am running Snow Leopard 10.6.4 (latest updates all installed),and I have experienced no other problems with FCP 7 or Compressor 3.5. My Mac Pro's internal superdrive is functioning fine, and in fact, I eventually took my FCP7 project and rendered it to a QT reference movie and used that in Adobe's Encore CS5 to burn and AVCHD disc using the same internal DVD burner on my Mac Pro and it worked perfectly.
I am seeking any suggestions for how to address the problem (whatever it is) that gives this error message. Would you recommend a reinstall of the applications in Final Cut Studio 3? Other suggestions? Has anyone seen this error message when trying to burn Blu-ray or AVCHD discs from FCP 7 or Compressor 3.5?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Tom

Guys,
I am deeply appreciative of all of the suggestions and help received on this issue. I apologize for not responding sooner, but i have been looking at the problem described in this thread from numerous perspectives.
Jeremy, you may well have hit upon the solution, and I am trying your suggestion now. I did not realize that when you selected the Blu-ray template and directed it to a DVD burner that would make an AVCHD that you could alter the bit rate settings. I looked at the default bit rate that Apple sets when you select this template and I found that it allowed a maximum of slightly over 17 MBs and an average of 15 MBs. That is too high for an AVCHD disk, and thus the error message that I am getting may well be correct and not in error as I previously thought.
I have found that I prepared Blu-ray AVCHD disk as recently as late April with no problems so I don't know why I have not run into this problem of too high a bit rate before, but I had not. It may be that I used a Custom Present that I prepared and set my own bit rate for those disks.
In any case, I am trying a run now where I have set the bit rate to a maximum of 15 and an average of 13. We shall see if that still produces the error message. I shall post my results when I know them.
Again, thanks to all of you for your fine help.
Tom

Creating HD 1920x1080i/p on iMac, DVD or Blu-ray Disc???

Looking for some basic answers which I can't find from the camera manufacturers, Apple, and the net in general. After reading literally thousands of posts on the many discussion forums for months, I just purchased a Canon VIXIA HF S200, which is a Flash Memory SD/SDHC consumer camcorder. (Thankfully my new iMac has an SD slot).
Just FYI, I've used Apple since @1995, mainly a Power PC and then a 2006 2 GB Intel Core Duo iMac. With that I've made many home videos. Generally, the movies (e.g., iMovie 6 -> iDVD) were put together with many different formats, vids from the net, vids from family members' cameras and mine, camcorders, still cameras with movie capability, etc. One movie might utilize material I've gathered for years in the form of jpg, png, pict., tiff, avi, mpg, mov, wmv, mp3, wav, aiff… you get the idea. I've always paid the extra $ for QT Pro, etc., in order to edit the various formats or convert them. iMovie6 handled basically whatever I threw at it, and gave me in return quality movies, or as good as the source material anyway, that I could burn in iDVD so family could have copies. I probably took iMovie as far as it could go, editing to the nth degree music-to-pic or vid timings, voice overs, etc. If I needed engineered title pages/pictures that iMovie couldn't make, etc., I'd make them in .ppt and save as jpegs or pull stuff off the net for the movie. My point is I've always found a way to solve any problems with research and trial and error. So now that I'm retired, I want nothing less than quality video content. (Meaning High Definition!)
I am now the proud owner of a 27" iMac 2.93 i7, and it is gorgeous. Had I known that Apple would be stealing all my fun by destroying Quicktime (yes, I kept QT 7.6.6), totally screwing up iMovie, and who knows what I'll find with iDVD and FCE when I buy it, I might have steered clear of the iMac that I thought was going to give me real High Definition capabilities. If you read through these forums carefully, you'll see that there are hundreds of definitions people use for the term "HD". Apple has basically been saying it's as simple as connecting a camcorder through firewire (of course, if you HAD a firewire camcorder, you would now be using adapters for 400/800 anyway). If you get a firewire HD camcorder, you are probably buying a soon to be bye-bye format in tape, or some kind of digital disc. Even the hard drive types are not promising. That leaves flash memory (light, small, quite sturdy)… but these don't have firewire, at least none that I can find for my needs.
So now I have a $900 camcorder (which is probably going back) that shoots in AVCHD, which is coded by way of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. Of course, Apple wants no part of Blu-ray, for which AVCHD was made. It can author directly to Blu-ray, as well as something called AVCHD Discs, but I can't use Canon's software because I don't want Windows. Canon also natively records in 24 Mbps @ 1920x1080, at different frame rates. All this pretty much ensures that you will need to drop everything down to nearly standard definition while trying to navigate through iMovie, a QT app in need of energy, iDVD, FCE (whose specs don't even line up eye-to-eye with Apple's own iMovie)…
OK, I think you can see my frustration, and I do apologize for showing it so openly (kind of, anyway)… but I see this same pain in so many posts… is there ANYONE that can tell us what kind of HD camera we can use to make hard copies (DVD, Blu-ray, etc.) of home movies. I want to be able to save these family movies for 20 years or more, hopefully… though all the software, camera and Apple people seem to think everything is for streaming on YouTube or posting to FB… the IRONY is that while I am trying to make movies we can keep, everyone's trying to sell us ways to put our movies on the net, where we couldn't get rid of them even if we wanted to… so WE don't get to keep a copy, but the world will always have it once it's posted…
If there is anyone out there that really knows if we can produce DVD's or other discs that family can play in their homes, please help us out with something truly specific. Yes, I would certainly buy a Blu-ray burner if it would work on my "world class" iMac with HD, but no one even seems to know. I am not the only one begging to know what camera will work, or what software will do the trick, etc. I don't mean to imply that anyone's giving bad advice on purpose, but when a poster answers with "you can try converting to this, then ripping it from that, then just reformat to those with some whatever from whomever"… well, we could post back and forth forever without hearing each other… Apple used to stand for simplicity as well as reliability; but now, for example, absolutely no one knows why my extra RAM doesn't work correctly, or even if it should (trying Googling RAM slots for new iMacs, you will not believe the half truths, the bass-ackward answers and other nonsense in the forums).
Many of us seem willing to pay big bucks (like for my i7 iMac) for nice stuff, so if you are listening, Apple, can you at least tell us how to get something done? Your suggested list of camcorder compatibility is a joke, as it tells nearly nothing, except that we'll be buying camcorders with features you will not support… my camcorder works great until you realize that the best recording mode they have I can't export to iMovie… guess I should just use the "standard definiton", huh, after shelling out a grand for the camera with flash GB's and batteries… (I can send it all back, so no need to send me a check, Apple/Canon… heck, I could even send back the iMac, if it wasn't so GORGEOUS).
Last week, I added RAM to my i7, and at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3918, it states:
"i5 and i7 Quad Core iMac computers come with both top memory slots populated. These computers will not start up if only a single DIMM is installed in any bottom slot; these computers should operate normally with a single DIMM installed in any top slot. Core Duo iMac computers should operate normally with a single DIMM installed in any slot, top or bottom. ("Top" and "bottom" slots refer to the orientation of the slots in the pictures below. "Top" refers to the slots closest to the display; "bottom" refers to the slots closest to the stand)."
Well, first, what if I had DIMMs in both "bottom" slots, but none in the top slots, would it work? NO ANSWER, right? And you got the "top and bottom" slots mixed up… please, you are upside down on even the most basic thing… typos are one thing, but… *do you see what I mean?*
Well, since the camera people don't know what their camera does, and I don't know what the iMac, FCE and FCP can do, again I ask you good people out there who are trying hard to make all this stuff work: just what camera or software will work with this top of the line computer to make simple HD movies? I will be forever indebted to anyone who can help in any way…
27" iMac Intel Core i7/2.93GHz/8GB RAM/1TB HD/ATI Radeon HD 5750/Model iMac11,3/OS X v10.6.6

Karsten, Ian & stuckfootage, thanks for responding.
You replied to so many items I wouldn't know where to start. Some of the replies, regarding USB connections, vids on the net, for example, I still must respectfully disagree with you.
You did, however, address many of my rants very well, and I thank you. I was going off the deep end and I don't know why I would expect answers to such a rambling post, most of which wasn't even a question. But you all did a good job of calming me down, so expect my future posts to be more to the point, at least. In a professional and confident manner, you told me what I needed to hear to get real help. I'll see my shrink tomorrow, then maybe you could help with these few things first:
*3. stuckfootage, you said, "I think your frustration is a result of the sales and support people you encounter." Absolutely right. I am usually very independent and never consider asking salespeople for advice, except maybe "where's the restroom?". I worked in that world, so I know better. Still, the advertising and imagery gets to ya, doesn't it?*
*I suppose buying the new 27" i7 2.93 iMac, then memory, plus camcorder, SD cards and batteries, just got me kinda thinking I was all set. So I think I'll just take a step back, take a breath, and get it figured out. I know Apple must have some real geniuses to produce what they do, but ultimately, it's people like all of you on the boards that take it to the next level of understanding, long after Apple has boxed it, shipped it, and charged our credit cards.*
*There was no need for obscenities, though... in saying some HD cameras support Firewire, then using the Panasonic HVX200 ($5000) as an example, now THAT"S OBSCENE... $5000??? LOL (I mean, yeah, I did just buy a super Mac and all, but that just means I'm broke, not rich...)*
*BTW, the article you pointed me to, http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2424451&tstart=0 by Jeremy Hansen was simply outstanding! Informative, accurate, concise, right on point. Thanx...*
Message was edited by: fromthegetgo

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