AVCHD ingestion into FCE

Recently bought a Panasonic HDC-HS300 video camera. Attempts to ingest HD video clips into FCE 4.0.1 using the Log and Transfer method described in the FCE manual (beginning pg 220) failed. When moving clips from the preview pane to the queue, they start but then go idle. Tried deleting them and starting over as the manual suggests, but further attempts still fail.
Suggestions anyone?
Teddi

Tom, I'm hoping you can help me with this same problem. The configuration details are:
= Camera JVC Everio GZ-HD300SAA
= Footage shot at XP setting, and displaying in the Log and Transfer browser at format 1080i50 (25fps), PAL format
= iMac details as per my signature
= Easy Setup settings set to HDV - Apple Intermediate Codec 1080i50
= One minor concern is that the device control description in that setting still shows HDV FireWire PAL; but I figure this is unlikely to be a problem since the clips all play just fine with the playback controls in the Log and Transfer viewer (but I can't find where to modify that device control setting if I need to).
= In the context menu on the clip, the Preferences pop-up is set to transcode to Apple Intermediate Codec and audio to Plain Stereo (changed following your hint earlier in this thread).
= The drive is an external WD MyBook 2TB (new, still has 1.96TB free), formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
I already have some other clips imported into this project from the hard disk, where they had been previously captured from a different camera using iMovie. These other clips are also in the Apple Intermediate Codec, in HD (1440 x 1080). They can also be previewed in the FCE viewer with no problems. They are on the same drive.
Observed behavior:
= When I connected the camera, all the clips appeared automatically in the Log and Transfer (L&T) browser, as expected.
= Every clip can be selected in the L&T browser, and then appears in the L&T preview area. They respond completely normally to the viewing controls, scrubbing (as per manual, only updating when you stop etc), play, jumps etc for all buttons working as normal)
= The correct bin is selected, and confirmed with the Reveal Logging Bin button. Up to here, everything is good and normal.
= When any clip is dropped into the Queue (by either button or drag&drop), the Status column shows a spinning icon for about 12 seconds, then stops. The status message above the Queue now says "1 clip queued - Idle". The progress bar has never illuminated. And if I click on that item, the status icon changes to a red shriek error icon, with the tool tip "Error: No Data".
I've run out of manual references, help, and online searches to solve this one.
Incidentally, I'm an absolute newbie to FCE (installed only this very evening! ), but a veteran of Premiere, iMovie, and ULead products, and a video veteran going back into the 1980s working with 2" broadcast tape! So I have a clue about what I want to do, but am currently very frustrated with the tool settings to get it right. Will certainly appreciate any help to get me going over this initial speed-hump.

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Ingesting AVCHD Footage into FCE (shot 720/24p)

Hi, I've been reading up a lot on various problems with ingesting AVCHD footage into FC Express. I'm using a Panasonic HM150 camera. I've transfered the footage from a SD Card reader to my Iomega 500GB external drive. We shot our footage at 720/24p. I tried to use easy setup for this, but there is no format for this in FCE 4.0.1. The best that I can do seems to be AVCHD 1080i. Can anyone assist me with how I can get FCE to ingest AVCHD footage shot at 720/24p and the exact settings I need to use to ensure correct ingestion? Upon trying to log and transfer it, I keep getting the red exclamation mark. Would this be because the settings are incorrect? I'm surprised that FCE doesn't have this particular setting since many people do shoot in the 720 mode.
Many thanks,
J.D.

Although FCE isn't designed to work with 24p footage, I've heard of a lot of people recently being able to ingest it anyway into FCE, but then getting stuck when it's time to put it into a sequence.
Click the gear button in the upper right of the Log and Transfer window, and navigate to the Preferences menu. Make sure Audio is set to *Plain Stereo* and click the button to *Clear the Cache.* Now try ingesting with your Easy Setup set to AIC 720p30. If it works, you can then use the free [MPEG Streamclip|http://www.squared5.com> to convert the capture scratch files to 29.97fps and edit them in FCE.
If it doesn't work, you may be able to use [Voltaic HD|http://www.shedworx.com/voltaichd] to convert from AVCHD to the Apple Intermediate Codec at 29.97fps for editing.
Message was edited by: skalicki`

Ingesting .mts AVCHD files into FCE

Is it possible to ingest avchd (.mts) files using Log and Transfer? Reading from past discussions it seems I need a converter. I used voltaic with my old powermac but I thought with an intelmac I would not need to convert .mts files, besides if I connect my videocamera (canon hf200) I am able to import and convert to .mov without the need of any application, however it seems FCE cannot read .mts files saved on disc. I am bit confused, any suggestion?
Thanks

I actually use MTS files frequently on FCE. I use a Panasonic HMC40 camera. Just go to log and transfer, plug in your card or your camera, it will then take a little bit to figure all the clips out, then it will show all your clips and you then choose which ones you want then convert, with my comp it takes a long time to convert and is usually about 1GB per min of footage but it's a really high quality camera. Anyways I hope that helps. FCE does support MTS files, but not JUST mts, you also need the "stream" data as well to convert it.

Importing AVCHD files into FCE without a camera

I have a folder of AVCHD files and am unable to open them via Log and Transfer. I don't have access to the camera, I was given the files already in a folder which I copied to my drive. I believe the folder I have contains the entire AVCHD directory structure. They are not just MTS files.
When I use the import button in Log and Transfer, all the files are grayed out, and when I try to drag any files or folders over to the queue, I get a warning message saying that it contains unsupported media.
I'm guessing this is because it is looking for a camera and there is no camera?
I currently have a workaround where I convert the MTS file using third-party trial software, but before I go and buy another piece of software, is there any way I can import these files from within FCE?

Still grayed out, from the top level on down. I've tried each level. I must not have a complete directory tree then.
My structure is:
PRIVATE > AVCHD > AVCHDTN / BDMV / IISVPL > …
Each of the slashes represents a separate folder, and the MTS files are stored in the BDMV > STREAM folder.
I'm told by the camera owner that "PRIVATE" is what the camera automatically names the entire thing and that everything contained within it are the complete contents of the drive. He says that he copies the same thing to a USB drive and it opens fine for him.

Importing AVCHD Light into FCE cuts duration by half - plays 2x speed

I just got a new Panasonic Lumix GF1 camera. It films in AVCHD Light format.
When I import the video with Final Cut Express 4.0.1 using the Log and Transfer the duration is cut in half and the resulting import plays at 2 times the speed and the audio is out of sync. The audio is not playing at 2x speed.
The clips play fine in the Log and Transfer preview menu.
If I open the source MTS file in VLC it has the following attributes
Codec H264
Resolution: 1280x720
Frame rate 119.880120
The frame rate shown in VLC seems to be incorrect. The camera manual says that it records in 60fps but VLC seems to show that it is double that.
I have converted some clips to mp4 using handbrake and handbrake seems to be fine with the Camera's MTS file and the resulting mp4 is fine.
So I am confused if FCE can't handle it or maybe the Camera's MTS files are marked in some way with the incorrect fps.

The final cut Express documentation seems to say that 60 fps it is supported. After some googling around I am getting conflicting answers.
I ended up using imovie to convert to AIC and FCE seems to be ok with it now. It looks like imovie brought it down to 30 fps.
I am a video newb so I am not sure what is going on.

AVCHD import to FCE

Hi.
Just want to know if it is painstakingly slow to import AVCHD footage into FCE using the log and capture method. I'm interested in purchasing FCE but currently have iMovie and it literally takes hours to import an hour and a half of video footage from my Canon HFS10 camcorder. If FCE will take the same amount of time to import, then maybe I won't consider getting it. Thanks for your help.

Ingestion is very close to real time on my 2 GHz Core 2 White MacBook. Also, you can mark in and out points that allow you to ingest a specific part of you AVCHD clip. There's also a transfer queue that allows you to work on specifying in and out points while ingesting. So far, despite the dire warnings, I've found the process to be far faster and more convenient that capturing from tape.

Tip: iMovie "Archive all..." saves files from AVCHD, then ingest into FCE4

I just discovered a useful trick. Much is made in the FCE4 manual about not being able to ingest AVCHD footage from a disk - you have, it says, to use the camcorder. Not so if you have iMovie 09 as well (not sure about earlier versions).
Connect the camcorder to the Mac and open iMovie 09. Click the camera icon to open the capture window if it doesn't do it automatically and click the "Archive all..." button at the bottom of the window. When you save the "archive" file, you end up with a folder that contains everything from the camcorder.
Disconnect the camcorder.
Now open FCE 4. Go to File > Log and Transfer. The window opens but there's nothing there to ingest. Drag the archive file onto the left-hand pane or use the "Add Folder" button at the top left to find and open the archive folder. The AVCHD files appear in the window as if the camcorder were attached and you can ingest them in the normal way.
I find this handy for dumping everything off the camera and storing it in its smaller, native format for working on later. I'd imagined I was going to have to store all my archived footage in SuperSized Intermediate Codec format, which was quite a scary prospect, but this means I can save many camerafuls of stuff at its native size and still ingest selected bits into FCE4 at any time when I want to play around with them
Obviously native AVCHD support would be even more splendid, but this is a useful work around for now.
(note: I'm using a Canon HF-S10, but I'm assuming this would work for other AVCHD camcorders)

groovycat wrote:
Oh disappointed now - I thought I'd discovered a great thing.
you did!
as the iMovie guy here at the boards, I raise the flag for 'my' tool.. because, read exactly, what FC Mastermind Tom told you:
.. Any folder than _maintains the AVCHD wrapper_ can be used, whether it's created in iMovie or simply by dragging the disk or memory card contents to a a hard drive.
means: if you drag just the .mts files, which contains the 'video' => kaputt, no import into FCE (or iMovie)
all those BDMV, AVF_INFO, cpi, bdm, bnp, whatever files & folders have to complete and untouched transfered to disk..
.. ok, what could go wrong by dragging a whole folder from cam to HDD.. ? but, iM makes it .. dummy-proof.. (no offense!!!!)..

Log and transfer footage from Panasonic GH1 into FCE

I have already read the few threads discussing importing AVCHD video from the Panasonic GH1 camera into FCE. I was expecting that the 1080x24 (wrapped in 60i) would import OK but the 720x60p would not. However, so far, I have had both formats import using the log and transfer just fine. These have been only short clips roughly a minute or less in length but no sign of FCE crashing when importing the 60p footage.
So, is this considered normal or has something in the most recent OSX updates fixed this FCE capability?

The program is usually able to ingest 24p and 60p footage fine, but upon exporting it will be conformed to the frame rate of your sequence. Since FCE doesn't support custom sequences all exported movies are either in 29.97fps or 25fps. Problems also sometimes arise where the program interprets your footage as 29.97fps instead of what it actually is, causing the audio to drift a bit as well.
Better to stick to what the program supports: 50i/25p and 60i/30p. If you need the functionality of 24p or 60p you should upgrade to Final Cut Pro.

IMPORTING FOOTAGE INTO FCE AND MERGING FILES WITH FINAL CUT STUDIO

So I recently purchased Final Cut Express to create off-line, rough cut projects...to be completed by more qualified editors other than myself. But I want to make sure that Final Cut Express is the right system for me.
Here are my questions:
1.) I will be using a variety of video formats for this system, and will be ingesting primarily through a shared media drive. Should I be concerned by the fact that it says I can only use "HDV, AVCHD, and DV" for simultaneous edit? What if I originate my material on Beta or DVCPro and want to import using firewire?
2.) Will my timelines be compatible to other (higher-end) Final Cut programs?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Chip

Welcome to the forum!
1.) If the video you plan to use is not HDV, DV, or AVCHD then it will not be able to be ingested by FCE. The best way to get your media into FCE would be to capture it, but if it originates somewhere else you can still import it into FCE provided it is one of the formats cited above. If your media is not one of these three, you will have to use a convertor to make it "readable" by FCE. If you want to keep the full resolution of another format, you are better off directly going to Final Cut Pro, as it can handle these formats.
2.) Final Cut Pro will be able to open your Final Cut Express timelines, but you will not be able to go back the other way around. So only let your editors open the project in FCPro once you are done using it in FCE.
If you are planning to shoot professional videos, FCE transcodes into Apple Intermediate Codec, usually giving you lower quality then if you were to ingest the media in FCPro, which uses ProRes for higher quality yet larger file sizes. If you are not worried about the mentioned drawbacks to using FCE as a first-cut before FCP, then you should be fine.
-skalicki

Can't import into FCE 4 using usb cameras

Hi - I do understand others have asked this, but I can't quite understand the answers. Since we upgraded our library camera to a pro model (panasonic) that uses SD cards rather than tape, and USB 2 rather than firewire, I cannot import anything into FCE. What's worse, though iMovie 8 will recognize the cards and import the movies, the sound is invariably out of sync. So I have two problems:
1. I understand from the other posts I've read that I will have to change my settings if FCE is to recognize the USB camera. But exactly how do I do this? It's far from transparent.
2. Then, is there a way we can salvage the movies with the out-of sync sound by importing them into FCE? I have tried this with one file so far, but the result was dropped frames that were really noticable.
Ideally, I'd just love to use iMovie, which I know, but something has gone wrong with the import process there since we upgraded our camera. (Really ideally - I'd stay with iMovie HD!).
The most important part of this question, for now, is: how do I change the settings in FCE so that I can import with a usb camera? Do I need to reinstall it? TIA!

The only type of USB camcorder that FCE supports is the AVCHD format. If your camera records like that, you are in luck. Start by going to +Final Cut Express > Easy Setup.+ From there, select the setup that matches the media you shot. For example, if you shot footage with a frame size of 1920x1080 at 29.97 frames per second, choose the AVCHD Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i60 setup.
Once you have matched your easy setup to your media, create a new sequence. Go to +File > Log and Transfer,+ which will open a window with which you can log and ingest your AVCHD footage to your computer from your camera.
2. Then, is there a way we can salvage the movies with the out-of sync sound by importing them into FCE?
Most likely not. If you want to continue using iMovie you should ask over in the iMovie forum about how to capture your footage while keeping the audio in sync.

Can't import uncompressed quicktime file into FCE 3.5.1

I've imported other files of this type before and feel a little stymied.
It's an uncompressed quicktime, 507 megabytes, 720 x 486, codecs are Integer (Big Endian), Animation. When I try to import it I keep getting an error message. I've gotten the message before but could figure out the problem - for example, one movie had AAC audio and FCE wouldn't take it. Don't know what the problem is here and it's driving me nuts.
I tried converting it using quicktime pro (with the DV/DVCPRO NTSC) but FCE still ends up reconverting the file again and the resulting file looks fairly crappy as a result.
Anybody know why the file won't import? Or can someone suggest what codec to use with Quicktime Pro to convert the file so FCE what re-compress it?
Any help would be much appreciated.

Hi(Bonjour)!
FCE is a fixed format application. It can handles natively (without rendering)standard def DV, HDV and AVCHD.
The timeline(sequence) format can just be either standard or hight definition one. Not quicktime animation. So the non native material has to be rendered before playing the timeline. The rendered material will have the same resolution (or format) than your timeline, thus the poor quality as you display DV material (an interlaced format designed to be monitored on TV sets).(Quicktime animation format is an uncompressed format).
Converting your non-native material with QT Pro and importing into FCE is the way to go as this process allows editing in native format.
Did you monitor your timeline content on a TV monitor?
Michel Boissonneault

Audio level difference of 18dB after importing AVCHD file in FCE

After I import an AVCHD clip via Log & Transfer in FCE4 the right audio channel is 18dB louder than the left audio channel. Effectively the sound comes through the right channel.
When I import the same clip in iMovie '08 the channels are equally loud in iMovie.
When I export this clip from iMovie '08 to FCE XML, then import it into FCE, the audio channels are equally loud in FCE!!!
Can anybody explain this?
The preference setting for audio input in FCE is set to Matrix Audio.
Clips are shot with Panasonic HDC-SD1.

Try plain stereo.

Recently started using AVCHD files in FCE-4.

I'm just an editor; I don't know what any of this computerese means. Somedays, I long for two 3/4" decks and a joystick, just so I can make a simple edit.
Anyway, I recently added AVCHD files into this I Mac to edit with the FCE-4. Did the capture with Log and Transfer into the Seagate Barracuda. Much to my surprise, the first piece I put together didn't give me any trouble. However, now that I have moved onto the third piece, this error message keeps popping up. Side note: I still work with regular DV files as well.
thanks for you attention.
ps - MAC OS X 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; memory 4 GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Make the change to firewire and ensure the format is Mac OS Extended before you put it to work.
Regarding 1920 x 1080:
There is interlaced and Progressive.
Most modern AVCHD cameras can shoot both but FCE will only work with one directly.
Set the camera, through it's menu system, to shoot the highest quality INTERLACED footage.
PROGRESSIVE won't work.
If you have shot Progressive you will have to convert your existing footage to Interlaced with a third party application. Steamclip from Squared 5 is a free app and will do the job.
Also make sure you have the FCE 4.0.1 update installed.
Al

Importing mt2s into FCE

I understand that FCE does not natively read mt2s files. My problem here is that we're working on a group project, and the other participants are bringing their files over as mt2s. So, what do I need to do to get this to a format that FCE can read?

As mentioned above, the cameras are NOT AVCHD, they are HD. The cameras themselves are compatible with iMovie, FCE and FCP. That's not the problem. The issue is with the files brought in from my associates on CD and DVD. They are mt2s files which FCE and iMovie cannot read.
This is a video project where several people have segments of their own video to edit, and we bring them all together as one complete unit on one machine. I happen to have that machine. So what I'm getting is not raw video, but an edited sequence complete with music, cuts and overdubs.
Back to the previous suggestion: I've loaded Streamclip and the Quicktime component. The good news is that I've been able to read, convert and import into FCE the m2v file. Which was the highest quality file that he brought over. So that gets the job done. Thank you guys. However, for the record, I still can't read the m2ts file. But that's OK, I'll advise the rest of the project team to give me m2v files, which I believe they can do without any issues.
Thanks again. Much appreciated.
-Mike

AVCHD files into browser

How do I get the clips from the desktop folder I dragged them to from the SDHC card into the FCE v.4's Browser so I can get'em into the Timeline for editing? I tried the Log and Transfer but the files are "grayed-out" and I can;t get'em into the Log and Transfer window
Message was edited by: mntbkr

I think you are supposed to Log and Transfer straight from the camera into FCE.
If you do copy the files, I believe you must copy everything on your camera's SD card to stand any chance of working.
No doubt someone with more experience of AVCHD than I have will add further details.

AVCHD ingestion into FCE

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