AVCHD import is HUGE!

I have a Sony HDR-SR11 HD camcorder that I use for taking home movies. It has a 60 GB drive that holds 7 hours of full 1080i video. Recently, I tried to import a few videos that took less than 1/8th of the total hard drive space on the camera. But when I imported them into Final Cut (or iMovie for that matter), they balloon in size to over 100 GB total as Quicktime .mov's.
What is the software doing to the video when it imports it? It seems that just under 8 GB of data being bloated to over 100 is a HUGE (no pun intended) problem. If I was to capture 1/2 of the video on my camera, my Mac and external drives could not handle it.
Does anyone have a solution to this, or is there one?
Message was edited by: barry_zundel

I found this in another thread, but here is how you can archive your ORIGINAL footage very easily:
1. When you plug in your camcorder to your Mac, it will show up as a drive.
2. Open up the drive in a finder window.
3. Copy ALL folders from the camera to another folder on your Mac or external drive.
4. Once that is done, open Disk Utility and go to File>Disk Image From Folder.
5. Select the folder you saved your camera data to.
6. Name the image file and choose where it will go.
7. Hit Create (This takes a long time for 50 GB)
8. Once that is done, turn off your camera.
9. In a finder window, find your new .dmg file and double click it to mount the image.
10. Open iMovie and click on the camera button to import clips.
11. It should recognize the mounted .dmg file as the camera and allow you to import clips.
For me this worked like a charm, and I archived 50 GB of raw data without any problems, and I can import into iMovie easily and quickly.
I will probably be posting a screencast of this process soon. That's so much easier to follow.

Similar Messages

Macbook - AVCHD import - External disc drive - Import error

Whilst attempting to import any AVCHD clip, I always receive a message informing me there has been an error during import and to check video carefully. Afterwards no imported video images are visible in the events list. i.e. the 'title' is there but no image(s). i.e. it looks like that the final part of the process which creates the small quicktime files has failed.
Now here's the interesting thing, this ONLY occurs when I am attempting to capture the video on my external 1Tb Iomega UltraMax disc drive.
It does not matter if I attempt the import as 'full' 1080i or the 1/4 sized 'reduced' import - both fail. Its just as if the processed output cannot be written fast enough. The import times are circa 4* the length of the clip.
When I however do the import to the built-in drive on the Mac, it works perfectly. Import time to the built-in drive is twice the clip length.
It does not matter if I attach the external drive by USB or firewire (though the latter appears to be slightly faster), both fail with the import. N.B. The drive is MAC formatted.
I have a 1 year old Intel Macbook (2Ghz & 2Gb, 120 Mb disc drive) with the latest version of Leopard and everything fully patched.
Has any one got any thoughts or solutions to this please?

Hi folks and special thanks to those whom put forward suggestions.
As mentioned in my original post, the external Iomega Ultramax 1Tb drive is MAC formatted, (and journaled).
One consideration was wether journaling was significantly slowing performance, but according to everything I read, there is little impact.
I took an old 60gb laptop drive and installed it into an external USB2 drive box and formatted as a MAC journaled drive. I then did an AVCHD import using iMovie 08 and all worked fine. I also carefully timed the import and the particular clip took exactly 59 seconds.
I deleted the import, rebooted, formatted the drive as a MAC NON journaled drive and did the same import. A worked fine and it took a fraction over 57 seconds. i.e. the overhead was just a few percent for journaling.
At this point it seemed to prove that something was very odd indeed going on with the Iomega Ultramax drive. This drive is used for time machine backups and time machine had never informed me of any inability to write to the disc.
Using the built-in Mac OSX disk utilities I ran a 'verify' on the drive. Guess what... it came-up with a number of errors including bad structures. I then ran a 'repair'. Unfortunately it was unable to resolve the the faults and I ended-up having to reformat the Iomega drive, as a MAC journaled device.
Tried a new AVCHD import to the Iomega Ultramax and it worked fine. In fact I later tried running Time machine (which was now doing a complete first time backup of my Macbook) _at the same time_ as an AVCHD import of many clips to the SAME drive. All worked absolutely fine.
For those interested in such things, memory usage during an AVCHD import was about 650Mb out of 2Gb RAM and processor usage (Intel dual core) was about 74% in each core.

Avchd import fail

Hi,
Canon 5d m3 avchd import fail on some files
looks like it fails over 1gb in size files
I have tried creating a archive of the card then import still fail
I have tried using shot put pro to copy files to pegasus TB drive still fail
If I use finder, find the file, cop the file then paste file on desktop them import again using the fiule on desktop it works ok
Any ideas ? I had this on .7 and .8 i am on a retina mbp mid 2012
ta

We are going of topic here are we not ?
I dont transcode to pro res so lets leave that one out.
I use a card reader not a canon utility rubbish
I put the card in the reader, copy onto hard drive
I open up import on fcpx browse for the folder, see the files cmd A them go import selected with copy to event folder too as I always do
Then is starts importing some of the 60 files and has trouble importing 2 or 3 files I have to say ok once message comes up so it will carry on
I am quite techy savy not a novice and have tried all sorts, its not my fault its a bug, I just wondred if anyone else have had this bug and apparently some are. I know how to cc or grade but that is not the problem, it randomly will not import a few files
Keep trying, please
Daz

AVCHD-Import FCE under OS X 10.8.2

AVCHD-Import of Final Cut Express 4 doesn't work under OS X 10.8.2 anymore.
And the update for FCE (4.0.1) isn't available anymore. Can anybody help?

Lion and Mountian Lion are not supported by Apple using FCE.
Users have varying results form not working to a few quirks but in the end you are on your own to deal with issues.
Last time I checked the 4.0.1 update was available??
Double check FCE is at the top level of your system Applications folder.
Have you tried trashing the FCE Preference files?
Al

AVCHD Import / Export

Hi There,
I'm considering upgrading to a new Mac and I-Life08. I see that the new iMovie can import AVCHD from HDD camcorders. Does it get converted to HDV for use in iMovie, or does iMovie keep it AVCHD?? Is the conversion painful (ie slow and/or degrade quality)?? Once I'm done editing can I output AVCHD to puch it back to my camera for viewing and to a server for archiving?? Some other software products I've looked at can import AVCHD but require you to purchase the "Pro" version for several hundred dollars to keep you project AVCHD through output. Any help would be appreciated.
Doug J

What I don't understand is this. I have seen some highly compressed 540P and 720p video on the web that is remarkably clear. (With bit rates as low as 2500 kpbs) While it doesn't have the detail of the plants and trees I film, it is undersea video with quite a lot of detail.
I am losing all of this detail going from AVCHD to AIC. No compression yet at all. The file size is still huge, and the bit rate is "up there." 1.2 GB for 45 sec. and 230,000 kpbs and it is still blurry.
For anyone interested, here is a sample 45 sec clip. While it is compressed for your viewing, it is still very clear and illustrates accurately the panning blur I see in the uncompressed AIC. This is the same blur I see when viewing the 1.2 GB/230,000kpbs file.
http://www.palmpedia.net/wiki/index.php/SlowPan_Test1/500
The reason I am asking these questions is because I am being told elsewhere that this is the nature of the AVCHD "beast." That it is impossible to get the clear panning I desire with any AVCHD/CMOS camera. They say because of the way indivual frames are treated (something to do with a long GOP), it is impossible, and I need a 3 CCD camera with a different codec.
If this is true, then fine. But I don't want to spend $5-10,000 and still have blurry pans.

AVCHD import crash on my mac mini, works on my mac pro...

Hi there,
I got a brand new camcorder from Canon (HF11), that records movies in AVCHD (1920x1080i - 50 ips - 24 Mb/s).
When I connect it to my mac pro 2008 (intel Xeon quad core), the import work flawlessly, I can edit the rush in iMovie 09 and work on them.
However, when I do exactly the same operation on my mac mini late 08 (intel core2duo), the import fails in iMovie, that just inform me of the failure, without any feedback.
Console reports the following messages:
[[0x0-0x47047]].com.apple.iMovie8[[381]]: Mon May 25 20:41:22 2009 MIOUnit_HelpersQTFileWriterBase.cpp:2508:WriteTimeCodeTrack ### Err -2008
[[0x0-0x47047]].com.apple.iMovie8[[381]]: Mon May 25 20:41:22 2009 MIOUnit_HelpersQTFileWriterBase.cpp:1381:WriteMovieTracks ### Err -2008
[[0x0-0x47047]].com.apple.iMovie8[[381]]: Mon May 25 20:41:22 2009 MIOUnit_HelpersQTFileWriterBase.cpp:1313:WriteMovie ### Err -2008
Any clue on what I'm doing wrong ?

I can't post a screenshot because the internet on my conputer doesn't work. I'll just type it out:
(Network Name)
DIsconnect from (Network Name)
IP Address:
Router:
Internet: Reachable
Security:
BSSID:
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RSSI:
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under dns servers it says: 10.0.1.1
and under search domains it says: brittanyroad.com

Avchd imports into fcp 10.0.7 but choppy playback-even after using clipwrap

I am not sure where the problem may be. I record onto the sd card (16gb sandisk extreme class 10, 45mb/s) from brand new canon m500. Card is read in FCP X and can import but when I play back everything is choppy.
I am recording as avchd, mxp-used 60i frame rate & 30 frame both had same issue.
I tried clipwrap and that improved the first 5 seconds and then still choppy for the remainder.
When I playback the sd card inside the camera no problem-looks and sounds great.
If I look at the file on the sd card - after putting sd card in macbook pro (mid 2009-handles FCP just fine) or copying to computer it is titled as "private." I changed the permissions.
I am also using a canon hv 20 (mini dv)-absolutely no problems with import.
Any thoughts or ideas? I am on a deadline and losing a lot of time.

Thanks Alchroma & digibudIl--Iappreciate the quick reply.
I was able to figure out a solution very similar to the suggestion of changing the playback & optimizing media. Here is what I set up. With these setings, the playback of the file before import is still choppy. After import it is still choppy until the background tasks reach 100%-next to the timecode. Once 100% then it playsback smoothly with these settings.
I was using the internal hard drive on my macbook pro. My workflow is to (sometimes) use the internal hard drive and then transfer to external hard drive. Other times import to external hd.
What was interesting to me about the import process is with AVCHD, is that FCP X recognizes the file from the sd card as an avchd file. I did not need to save the files to another folder, create an archive etc. I tried all these with the same result as the simple import in FCP X.
One last question. The Canon M500 can shoot at a frame speed of 60i and 30. Is 30 lesser quality or is 60 better in some way. I will be editing the footage in FCP X.
Thanks again for the help and I hope my experience helps others.

FCE 4.0 And AVCHD Importing

I have been using FCE 4.0 for a long time and recently have tried to give Final Cut Pro a shot. As increduous as this sounds I have been told that one cannot insert text at random or titles other than (with respect to the former) what are in the provided templates. I can't see that as bening anything I should pursue unless it is errorneous informaton.
Note that the Canon R42 is USB with no provision for FW.
OS is OS-X 10.8.4 on a Mac Mini.
Having said that, I have a Canon R42 Camcorder and I was wondering how one imports footage into FCE 4? Prior to that I used a Sony that did not support AVCHD.
Also, are there any compatability issues between FCE 4 and the Canon R42?
Many thanks!
Ron

Below are the formats the camera shoots and most won't work directly with FCE.
This one should: 1920 x 1080i / 60 fps (24Mbps) Make sure the corresponding FCE Easy Setup is selected before starting a new Project.
FCE works only with interlaced with AVCHD 1920 x 1080.
BTW: I've used FCP X since it's release and titles are no problem. Most users are trying to work the same as legacy FCE/Pro and that's where they come to greif.
You can always ask for details on that forum.
Al
High Definition
AVCHD Progressive
1920 x 1080p / 60 fps (28Mbps)
1920 x 1080i / 60 fps (24Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 30 fps (17Mbps)
High Definition
AVCHD Progressive
1440 x 1080 (5Mbps)
High Definition
MPEG4
1920 x 1080p / 60 fps (35Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 30 fps (24Mbps)
1920 x 1080p / 24 fps (17Mbps)
High Definition
MPEG4
1280 x 720 (4Mbps)

The best AVCHD import setting?

I am importing AVCHD SHOT AT 60i. I have imported as AVCHD -1080i- 60i, works fine,yellow render line. I have also tried AVCHD -1080P-30fps.
Also works fine,needs rendering. Shouldn't the AVCHD 1080i-60i be correct? They look too close in quality in the export, so i am a bit confused on
which setting to use,........Anyone?

For clarity, there are no "import settings" when it comes to footage. It comes in as is it, nothing you can do to change that.
What you're talking about here are sequence settings, and as you've seen, you can drop footage into any sequence you like. The results may vary depending, but any footage can go into any sequence. The general wisdom is to use a sequence that matches your footage, but there can be exceptions to that rule.

AVCHD Importing - can only get thumbnails in project pane

I am attempting to import AVCHD movies (from Panasonic HDC-SD100) into the Imovie hd6 pane by dragging the disk icon (for the camera) onto the pane as per the help info ("Your MPEG-4 camera or device appears as a hard disk on your desktop. You can open the hard disk icon and drag the video footage into your iMovie HD project.")
The problem is it only imports a 5-second thumbnail. How do I import the entire AVCHD vile?

AVCHD is not MPEG-4, so any info about MPEG-4 isn't valid.
You can convert AVCHD for use in iMovie 6 (which is a better video editor than iMovie 7, part of iLife '08)
http://www.shedworx.com/volmac-home

AVCHD Import

Hello,
So I have a Mac desktop and I also have a PC computer. I have been using Adobe Premiere CS5 on my Mac for quite a long time, and I have had no trouble at all with importing AVCHD video files (.mts) from my Panasonic GH2.
But just recently, I decided to get Premiere on my PC as well, so I got it on my laptop. But now, when I try to import AVCHD video files (.mts) into Premiere, it says that "This file has an unsupported compression type". This is also happening when I try to import AVCHD into After Effects and Media Encoder.
I would really appreciate it if someone could offer any suggestions, advice or help.
Thank you,
--Jordan

Sounds like your PC install is either not activated, or the revert to trial bug hit you
Revert to trial http://forums.adobe.com/thread/763545
- and http://forums.adobe.com/thread/763334

FCP AVCHD import video too fast, audio off - help please

Recently imported video from my Panasonic AVCHD HDC-SD100 into FCP, first time. I used Log and Transfer and I got all my clips imported. In the Log and Transfer window playback looks great, sounds great, everything fine - but once transferred to my browser my video is super fast making the audio and video out of sync, the audio is normal. I had to slow down my video speed to about 66% in order for it to match up (not perfect, but it works). Anyone have an idea of why my video is importing from Log and Transfer sped up? I would appreciate anyone's feedback. Thanks.

hi.
Sorry I can't help solving your problem, but you may do mine!
tecs:
FCP 5.0.4
Panasonic HDC-SD100
mac as seen below
I do not get it done, to import vids at any way.
Log and Transfer window tells me that there's no communication.
but even befor that, I get a error message, saying the FCP can't load the "video-deck" (german! sorry!).
so anyway....
can you tell me what your settings are? like the exact configuration or the sequenze-, recording- and the device control-settings!!!
I also couldn't figuare-out the difference of the camera-mod (when connecting to the mac) "PC connect" or "AVCHD connect". doesn't seem to make any difference in my case.
So sorry for my spelling (no native!) and for the nubi-questions. but thats what I am...
Your help would be great!
Thanks!
d.

AVCHD Import Error In Log And Transfer Window

Hey,
I just bought FCE4 and also a canon hf100 camera. When i try to ingest clips from the camera (in avchd format) with the log and transfer window an error icon comes up and says : "error: no data" and the file is not successfully imported. I tried switching my audio preferences to normal stereo instead of matrix but that did not help.
Any help would be great!
Jackson

What format exactly did you shoot with that camera? What settings are you using in FCE?

AVCHD Import crash on 1080i but not 24p on HDC-SD9

24p works fine for my SD9
1080i crash during import.
Console Debug seems to suggest something in the library conflicting with AVCHD.RADPlug and P2.RADplug
5/23/08 11:04:55 PM [0x0-0x9c09c].com.apple.FinalCutPro[1061] objc[1061]: Class MIOGenericUserDefaults is implemented in both /Applications/Final Cut Pro.app/Contents/PlugIns/AVCHD.RADPlug/Contents/MacOS/AVCHD and /Applications/Final Cut Pro.app/Contents/PlugIns/P2.RADPlug/Contents/MacOS/P2. Using implementation from /Applications/Final Cut Pro.app/Contents/PlugIns/P2.RADPlug/Contents/MacOS/P2.
5/23/08 11:05:03 PM Final Cut Pro[1061] WARNING: Using deprecated NSTreeController internal API. Break on ‘observedObject’ to debug. Use of this method should be replaced by NSTreeNode/representedObject
5/23/08 11:05:29 PM Final Cut Pro[1061] * -[NSLock unlock]: lock ( ‘(null)’) unlocked when not locked
5/23/08 11:05:29 PM Final Cut Pro[1061] * Break on _NSLockError() to debug.

*24p works fine for my SD9*
*1080i crash during import.*
It would be helpful if you would explain these two phrases.
I imported 1080/24p from this cam as well without crashes.
What are you shooting in?

Final cut pro 7 and AVCHD import ?

Just got Final Cut Pro 7 and I can't see wether or not that it is able to import natively Sony AVCHD video. I know its probably just me, so much there to see and learn.

Hi -
In FInal Cut Pro, go to the Help menu and open Final Cut Pro Help.
Once it is open, search for "Working with AVCHD".
The chapter will tell you all you need to know.
MtD

AVCHD import is HUGE!

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