Ingesting avchd on my new iMac11,2

We ended our Wedding Video business last summer to focus on family as the mileage was to much with a baby in the house.
There were other reasons but I wont bore you all...! ...anyway I have been using the wifes laptop (toshiba i3 & fast) but cant cut it with editing our family AVCHD video and the screen is impossible to work with but Sony Vegas ok to work with, now we have a shiny new 21" imac i3 (iMac11,2) hopefully being delivered by the weekend.
Here's the question: I have dug my old FCE4 from the store, I have my AVCHD footage backed up on a DVD ready to injest into FCE, my camcorder is a Panasonic SD10 is there anything I need to be wary of as my workflow previously was MiniDV that was straight forward.

Congratulations on your growing family!
Regarding the iMac you should have no problems.
However, when you install FCE 4 make sure you get the FCE 4.0.1 Update from Software Updater as it has all the AVCHD Easy Setups.
An external Hard Drive would be very useful even if not essential, as your AVCHD will be coverted during ingestion to Apple Intermediate Codec which takes up about 40GB per hour of video . . . . . more that 3 times as much as DV.
I hope that your AVCHD backups contain the whole folder structure and not just the video files or you might have problems.
Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

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Ingesting AVCHD workflow

I'm coming from FCP where I ingested AVCHD footage straight from my camera, and only brought in the footage that I needed using I and O points during the ingesting process. With CS6 I see lots of people copying their entire cards to their hard drives and from there ingesting it into CS6. This seems it could quickly eat up a lot of hard drive space with copying large clips when you only need small segments. Is there a reason why it seems to be generally recommended to do it this way rather than just ingesting straight from the camera the parts you need?
Thanks.

Ingesting from a camera is real slow, because of the slow speed of the cards used. Second, you need the complete directory structure for reliable operation. Third, you need reliable backup of your source material. Last, HDD's are cheap, so what is a couple of 100 GB's of disk space.

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`

Cannot Ingest AVCHD .MTS files in FCP 7

I am trying to Ingest .mts files into Final Cut Pro 7.
I dragged all of the files from an SD card onto one of my External Hard Drives.
I open up Final Cut Pro 7, Go to Log and Transfer, Navigate to the AVCHD folder then to the BDMV folder then finally to the STREAM folder. In the STREAM folder sits all of the .mts files. They are all greyed out and I cannot Ingest them. They will not add to the Log and Transfer Window in FCP 7.
What am I doing wrong? How can I Ingest these files into FCP 7 so I can edit with them?
Thanks in Advance.
I have a Mac Intel
Final Cut Studio 3
10 GB RAM

Just saw that Adam's original post was an older one. Will keep this here anyway to maybe help the most recent poster.
Sharon
Adam, did you try what David said about pointing to the root folder? Did that work?
When I copy the SD card, I name a new folder on my hard drive something specific, like Smith Wedding. Then I copy everything inside the SD card to that new folder. The first level inside my new folder now has folders for
AVF_INFO
PRIVATE
and on down from there. When you open Log and Transfer, point it to the Smith Wedding folder (of course whatever you have named yours).
ClipWrap2 also works great to convert the files beforehand if you want.
What camera are you using? I have the Sony NX30 and it was giving me fits because the .mts files don't ingest if the clips are longer than 11 min. My problem is that I'm still on FCP 6.0.6. I think 7.0.3 fixed that. But I did find enough work-arounds to keep the camera.
This is a link to the full discussion if you are interested.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/19085158#19085158
Sharon
Message was edited by: SSteele

Ingesting AVCHD footage without MODELCFG.IND file

I am trying to ingest footage from a Sony HD11 via log and transfer from a copy of the camera's directory structure. Problem is that the MODELCFG.IND file is missing from the directory structure.
I was always of the opinion that this file was essential but I have another copied directory structure also missing this file which I have been able to ingest. I have also just read that you can ingest directly from the AVCHD folder within the master folder.
Can somebody clarify this for me? If I am am unable to ingest (even without the MODELCFG.IND file) does this suggest that the video files are corrupted? Or is there a work-around?
Thanks.

Yes it does, I also messed around with it last night. The clips import very quickly since they aren't transcoded, and playback from the "events" view was very smooth with no frames dropped. Even with some realtime effects applied (like auto-enhance, color correction) the playback was still mostly smooth with minimal frames dropped.
The same clip played back from the timeline though was very choppy; but not using much CPU either. I think it may depend a lot on the GPU and my Mac Mini only has the HD3000, but with the quad core 2.0GHz i7. So I think you still need a fast GPU in order to effectively edit AVCHD or it will be annoying.
Those hiccups shouldn't appear in the final exported output, but I was unable to get that far since iMovie ran out of memory during the export to file (and I have 16GB ram!)

Ingesting avchd from sony hdr-sr11-Editing 1080i 60 need a workflow

Hello all,
So I have successfully ingested some test shots into fcp for a cousins wedding that i am shooting in a couple of weeks. The footage looks great once transcoded to apple pro res 422. I do have a few questions.
1) In the log and transfer window do I need to check remove pulldown? I though this was for progressive mode
2) Should I edit in a native 1440x1080i 29.97 sequence? then render and export that sequence?
3) Do I need to worry about deinterlacing issues?
I have monitored it out through my canopus and it looks terrible. Alot of jagged edges. I have tried the deinterlace filter. No go. I looks fine on my monitor though?
3) I will be mastering to SD/DVD
4) Once complete, do I render out a reference quicktime apple pro res import that into compressor
then import that into studio pro? What is the best way to downconvert this final locked sequence?
5) What would be a good workflow? I do plan on doing some after effects work for this.
I have searched all over for a workflow and everyone seems to have their own opinion.
Anyone?
thanks in advance,
darryl

No. It doesn't work. The Log & Transfer window still shows "downmixing to stereo"!
I have also read in the Apple HD Users Manual that ALL AVCHD 5.1 surround sound will be DOWNMIXED to Stereo. Why they would do it is only they know! G H U !
Most Gurus very silent on this issue ... ignorance is bliss ... As the Silfen said (a long time back) Ozzie's lost to the pathways - don't let the glitter of mobility pale your thoughts of the solidity of the apps!
Satya - A truth

Problems ingesting AVCHD in FCE 4.01

When I connect my Panasonic camera to FCE or plug in the SDHC memory to a USB reader, FCE 4.01 crashes in an almighty heap of errors. I am new to FCE and i had it working one time - now it abends every time.
I have tried deleting cache and prefs as Tom Wolsky suggests but to no avail. I would be really grateful for some advice and help here. The files are MTS and the camera is a Panasonic SD700 with AVCHD set (not 1920x1080p) . Many thanks to any and all

Hi the AVCHD is 1920x1080 but not "p" and the files are MTS. The setting is the highest on the camera.
The Easy Setup settings are HD, 25fps and Apple Intermediate Codec 1920x1080i50. This is the correct codec I believe. Yes I am using Log and Transfer with the SD card in a USB card reader; I could try the camera but don't think that would help
The error is Exception Type: EXCBADACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERNPROTECTIONFAILURE at 0x00000000000000b8
Crashed Thread: 9
To both of you : Many thanks for taking the time and effort to respond I really appreciate your help

Burn to avchd on the new Compressor

I did a test after watching the tutorial Batch Template Workflow at http://www.rippletraining.com/provideoapps.html
I wanted to see the difference between avchd and mpg2 dvd on the same player on my hd tv.
I set up dvcprohd 720 and burned a typical dvd. Then used the blu-ray template to burn avchd which it defaults to it seems if it doesn't see a bd burner.
I popped them into my samsung bd player and my 2 year old up-converting panasonic.
The dvd's worked fine and the new exciting discs ..... both failed.
That was a pretty simple tutorial and I followed it to a tee.
Any ideas where the problem lies?

Is your samsung bd player able to play avchd discs?

Final Cut Pro: Ingested AVCHD clips are sometimes distorted

Apple has released this support info:
Last Modified: February 03, 2009
Article: TS2572
Symptoms
AVCHD clips you transcode to ProRes from the Log and Transfer window are sometimes jumpy or distorted.
Products Affected
Final Cut Pro 6.x, Perian Quicktime component
Resolution
This may happen if you installed the Perian QuickTime component.
To temporarily disable Perian while using Final Cut Pro:
Open System Preferences.
Click the Perian icon at the bottom of the System Preferences window.
Select the General tab in the Perian preference pane.
Click Remove Perian.
If you would like to enable Perian after you finish working with your AVCHD clips, return to step four but click Install Perian to enable it.
http://tinyurl.com/bvzxx8

1. FCP does not work with material this is not "native". To see what "native" formats FCP supports, look at the standard presets. If you don't know what a FCP standard preset is, do some research. The Manual is a wonderful place to start.
2. FCP does not work well when you play material from the system drive. Editable media MUST be stored on a non-system drive.
The key points to understand are - if your material is not a FCP native format (codec), convert it to one (pro res 422 works just fine) and use a non-system drive as your media storage/ playback drive.
If you do this and you still have problems, post back. We'll do what we can to help.
cheers,
x

Ingesting AVCHD video already copied to Mac?

Someone dragged the contents of the SDHC card onto a Mac and wiped the card. How can I now ingest this video from Log and Transfer on the Mac.
Thanks.

If you have the entire contents of the card you can click the Add Volume button in the upper left of the log and transfer window and select the archive. If you only have the .mts files you'll have to use ClipWrap2 to transcode the media.

Swapping external drive causes new clips to be ingested onto internal Mac drive. Why?

Hi folks,
I've recently begun to swap my external hard drive (the one I use for ingesting AVCHD video clips) for another, due to many projects on the go. What I'm finding now is that when I ingest new footage, it winds up being ingested onto my laptop's internal drive, even though in the FCE4 settings it says that my scratch drive is the external one. Of course, my laptop drive then fills up very quickly. I then have to copy all the files from the laptop's internal drive to my external video drive and reconnect the media. It's time-consuming and frustrating. Anyone know why this is happening and how I might correct the problem?
Thanks very much,
Vic

Both of the drives I'm swapping out are firewire drives. The system picks up whichever is connected and identifies it fine. However, I did notice, the first time I swapped, that when I swapped back to the first drive, FCE created a whole, second set of files for video capture, render and audio; both sets of files are on the one drive; from that point on, any new projects went into the second (redundant) set of capture/render files. Everything still worked fine, so I let it go.
I continued to use the system that way, but when I swapped out the external drive a few more times, the ingesting of new project files started going to my MacBook Pro's internal hard drive. It's as if the computer has become confused because I've been swapping drives.
I read awhile back that it's very important to name external drives with names that are very different from one another, otherwise the system doesn't always know which drive is which. Weird, especially since computers are so very particular about keystrokes! Anyways, I heeded the advice and gave each of my drives names that are in no way similar. I mention this because it could be relevant to what I'm currently experiencing. All I know is I'm baffled. Seems to me that switching out drives between projects seems like a logical way to deal with the huge file sizes involved in HD video.
Anyways, I will try your suggestions. How do I trash the FCE Preferences?
Also, what does Repair Permissions do? Is that, like, some kind of factory re-set?
Thanks very much Al.

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!!!!)..

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.

Ingesting less than FXP quality AVCHD in FCE (using Canon HF-10)

Hi,
I've been ingesting AVCHD clips from my Canon HF-10 and have had no problems. I thought I'd read somewhere that you must have shot the footage in the highest quality (17 Mb/s) in order for it to be ingested properly. However, I just tried SD footage, and it seemed to ingest fine. Is this because I recently upgraded to FCE 4.0.1 ?
Thanks,
Vic

Sorry to poke my nose into this thread, but to clarify, the pixels on the screen of your notebook are etched in, and cannot be stretched or multiplied. Each physical pixel is driven by a transistor pair in and matrix configuration, and only whole pixel can be displayed. The 1440 vs. 1920 are virtual pixels in some frame buffer, and need to be re-sampled and filtered by H/W-S/W, before they are actually displayed on the square pixels your MacBook's screen. Just the data as it is being stored and transmitted from the camcorder to the PC represent 1440 or 1920 pixels per scan line. Actually there are macroblocks (4x4, through 16x16 and color sub-sampling involved - see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC ), so it is more complex that what I just said. For all practical purposes, there is theoretically less detail transmitted per scan line in the case of 1440 pixels/line, but it maybe impossible to see on a notebook (which cannot display all that detail anyway) and would depend on the actual image captured. Unless you are viewing this on a large display, and are viewing a video that contains and is actually captured very high detail, great optics, etc., you will not see the difference. You just have to match the resolutions between the camcorder and the computer, so it receives the amount of data it expects or it will get confused and quit with an error. To see the difference between the 1440 and 1920 requires the right pattern, equipment chain and trained eye, to really appreciate it.
Message was edited by: ComPH1
Message was edited by: ComPH1

FCE4 AVCHD Ingest crashes

I am trying to ingest AVCHD clips from my Canon HG10 HD camera. This works fine on imovie08.
When I start the log and ingest window, I can see the clips and when I select one into the queue, it starts then I get the beach ball then FCE4 crashes and dies.
Has anyone had problems like this? I have an Intel 2x2.6 Dual Core MacPro with 5GB RAM and 2x500GB + 1x250GB drives, 10.5.1 + FCE4
I had FCE3.5 and I upgraded, then after the problem, I completely uninstalled then reinstalled FCE4 from scratch -still the same problem.
Seems like a bug in FCE4.
Thanks!

I installed it on my Intel MBP that I also upgraded from Tiger to Leopard. It runs and imports fine there. I see that the error is a segmentation violation or some memory violation, so I suspect there is some component or something on the MacPro that is not on the MacBook Pro.
Two differences:
1. the MBP never had any other FCE installed
the MacPro had FCE 3.5 HD installed previously
Otherwise, they both have pretty much the same setup.
I really don't want to wipe the MacPro and reinstall, there must be some way to determine what is causing the issue, since now I know it is probably not an FCE bug but some other thing installed that is shouldn't be using or is out of date
Any ideas?
Thanks
DW

Ingesting avchd on my new iMac11,2

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