Losing Quality in FCE With AVCHD Import/Export

When I plug my Canon HF-100 directly into my 1080p 45" LCD Sony the quality is excellent.
When I Log and Transfer into FCE, then add clips to the queue and immediately export them as a QuickTime Movie, the quality degrades noticeably. Especially on those scenes where there is panning. There is considerable motion blur.
Have I done something wrong? I am using full quality settings on the camera at 1080-60i with a tripod and OIS off in order to eliminate this panning blur. I am even using 1/500 shutter speed, and it still blurs whenever I pan. I am using the top end MBP.
But, as I said, playing directly from the camera is much better. Any feedback or suggestions? I have tried everything I can think of.

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.

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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.
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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.

FCE and AVCHD import now stutters in playback/editing

I just converted to Canon M40 HD cameras, and started editing my first wedding using these cameras. If I have two or more tracks of video, and play them back, the video stutters like the computer can't keep up with the data traffic.
I am using FCE 4.x, an external USB drive for the clips, on a new iMac 27". The USB drive is 7200 rpm.
I never had this problem with standard def DV clips from my previous cameras, so I'm thinking it has to do with the HD.
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Thanks.

Let me try to be more specific. I imported the files from my Canon m40 camera using the Log and Transfer function in FCE. I am NOT trying to edit native AVCHD files, they are AIC encoded files.
When I play back one track of video, there is no problem. I am attempting to edit a wedding we shot this past weekend, using 3 camera angles of the ceremony. When I synch the three camera files for the ceremony, if the top (3rd) track of video is 100% visible, it plays back fine. If the top track is less than 100% visible, I get the stutter effect. if the top track is 0% visible, and the 2nd track is 100 % visible, I get the stutter. If the 3rd and 2nd track are 0% visible, and only the 1st track is 100% visible, I get the stutter.
If I only have 2 video tracks, and the 2nd track is anything less than 100% visible, I get the stutter.
So, it appears to me that the computer can't keep up with attempting to play 2 tracks of video concurrently. THIS is where I am having my problem.
Any suggestions?

FCE with AVCHD - unhappy marriage?

Hi! Problems with stuttering clips
+My system: imac 2,2/2Gb Leopard 10.5/+
+Camera: Panasonic hdc 300 AVCHD 1920x1040+
+Audio system: Protools digi rack 44.100+
I am making a sequence and about ten minute into the sequence on a clip about 35 second long the viewer halts and freezes. I have no idea how to get over this. Please help someone?
It also seem hard to get the right audio speed either a bit to quick or a bit too slow.
FCE seems to make your hairs grow grey beofre you know it. Is it really so outdated that it doesn´t handle avchd or is it just me...?

This seems to be a unique problem. I'm wondering how the Digirack fits into your system. AFAIK FCE doesn't support any third party hardware.

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some of the guys in #blender on freenode inform me their 2.49 versions have it, and that it's not yet in 2.5 versions.
i dont mind using 2.49... so long as i can get AC3d to work.
anyone else using blender? and have AC3D support, in archlinux?
if so, how so, and can i get a link to the script?
[edit
lol. classic. and the very next google search, i find what looks to be it. http://www.koders.com/python/fid3F45792 … 8DE46.aspx & http://www.koders.com/python/fid55B4071 … 5FEE9.aspx
... trying it out now. might have to mark this soved before anyone else even sees it. .. hopefully. ^_^
[edit2
looks good, added to ~/.blender/scripts, ac3d_import.py & ac3d_export.py, and am using the 2.49b-1 from pacman (not the -2 from aur, incase that makes a difference), restarted, and the .ac option is added to both import and export submenus. yet to try them out, but i'll mark it solved already anyway]
[edit3
premature. they're there... but wont open any .ac files. probably too old a script.
help still sought.
[edit4
found
/usr/share/blender/scripts/ac3d_export.py
/usr/share/blender/scripts/ac3d_import.py
though the files in this directory are clearly not being recognised by blender, so added these two to ~/.blender/scripts, but still cannot import .ac files.
Last edited by Digit (2010-11-24 10:43:34)

got it working now. in 2.49b. idk what else i did besides what i've jibber-jabbered in the op, (and having restarted the laptop after it decided to switch itself off from overheating), but import is working now ~*tests-export*~ and so is export. hehe, thankyou arch linux forums for humoring me while i think out aloud. ^_^
Last edited by Digit (2010-11-24 10:45:11)

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The property loader step acts the same way.
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Hi Olli,
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Step.Result.Measurement[0].Limits.High
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Hi all:
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   When I import into Premiere CS4, the info. says 640x480(1.0), 26+12, 30 fps. I matched the setting on the Sequence. However, when I export to Windows Media, Quick Time, etc., the speed of playback is very slow, and I don't hear sound.
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You may need to convert the file before importing it into PPro successfully.
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Import/export codecs/settings for FCE with HMC40 footage?(lengthy post)

Hi all,
I am pretty new to video editing in FCE, and brand new to 'tapeless workflow' (just bought a Panasonic HMC40)
so am not sure of all the technical protocol yet.
What is AVCHD as opposed to DV or HDV?
What is meant by 'transcoded'?
For the following series of questions, my final usage will be for the web, flash video (.flv file as converted in Adobe Media Converter from the quicktime file exported from FCE, unless there is a method to export directly to a flash video file from FCE i.e. what is the FLC format?) streaming from my server and played with a flash player (.swf file)
Obviously, I would like to achieve the best quality possible while still maintaining a fast streaming time
here is an example of the above: Road Runner Akron Marathon
I see that if I go to menu-->final cut express-->easy setup I get a window with default import settings as in figure 1 below
figure 1
Which import format is best for footage from the HMC40, shooting at 108024p? 108030p? see figure 2 below
figure 2
Which import frame rate is best for footage from the HMC40, shooting at 108024p? 108030p? see figure 3 below
(don't understand the odd frame rate choices of 25 and 29.97)
figure 3
The default import codec is DV-NTSC as seen in the popup menu in figure 4 below
figure 4
which of the above import codecs would you recommend for footage from the HMC40 if I am shooting in 108024p? 108030p?
I am using the 'log and import' option for importing footage directly into projects from the SDHC card.
Does the check box option under the 'import settings' tab mean that audio/video will be compressed
with the import codec specified during 'import setup'? see figure 5 below
figure 5
When exporting from FCE with quicktime conversion, is it best to use
the same type of codec as the import codec? see fig 6 below
figure 6
Thanks very much for any advice. Much appreciated.
Best,
Dennis
Dennis Roliff Photography

Wow! A huge amount of questions, almost all of which are available using search engines. The forum isn't really designed to give you a detailed instruction on digital video or on basics of how to use the application.
AVCHD is a highly compressed MPEG-4 based HD format. DV is a standard definition format. HDV is an MPEG-2 based HD format.
FCE does not encode Flash. You need third party software.
24p is not supported in FCE.
If you're shooting HD you should select HD.
25fps is for PAL based formats. 29.97fps is for North American based video standard. 24fps is a film frame rate. Most video cameras do not shoot 24fps, but 24fps recorded at 29.97 with pulldown. If your camera shoots true 24fps, it is not supported in FCE.
What you select depends on exactly what you shot. Read the camera manual carefully for the different options of frame size. Native 24p is not supported in FCE. 30p can be ingested using a 1080i60 preset.
How you export depends of where you're trying to get to. If you're going to third party encoding software you should export to QuickTime Movie.

Problem with losing quality in exporting FLV

First I should emphasize that I am new to Adobe's products, and am learning it on the fly as part of a intelligent tutoring system design project. So I apologize for my lack of technical knowledge in advance. Rest assured I have put much effort in attempting to solve this problem on my own and by referencing this forum and other web sources, but sadly with no success.
FYI, I am using the CS4 Master collection.
My question pertains to retaining the quality of my video once I export it to .flv format via Media Encoder from Premiere Pro. My main video source is an .flv file that i have imported into my media browser. Initially I ran into a problem with the importing because it did not recognize H264 as having any media, and so I had to convert to Sorenson format to get it to import successfully. But it seems to have imported just fine without any loss of quality in the workspace. So that isn't my main issue but perhaps it is related.
I am having major issues with losing quality upon export back to .flv format - which is the format I am required to use - the video is being imbedded within a larger program and so it needs to have a smallish file size. For the life of me I cannot figure out any combination of settings that works. If I select same as source then I end up with a video that is surrounded by black borders. This may because the workspace is larger than my imported file. I have attempted to enlarge it to fit the safe margins but it hasn't helped. If I resize my output video to 640 x 480 - which is what I want - I get a shrinked video with black borders. If I crop the input to what I want I just lose quality - but I lose quality either way. I really want to accomplish this without increasing the bit rate (and thus the file size). I have tried just about every setting available and I still lose the quality. Is this just inevitable? Is there a plugin that would help? From what I can it seems that Adobe has more problems dealing with .flv than with other video formats, but I haven't found anything that pertains to this issue specifically.
Otherwise does anyone know of any other programs that can edit .flv files and offers multiple video & audio tracks?
Thanks in advance. If anything needs clarification let me know.

Ah yes I left out that detail. My source video is 640 x 480 also so the output is not an increase in size.
This is different from my sequence settings. Which is 1440 x 1080 16:9 ratio. Pixel Aspect Ratio is HD anamorphic 1080 (1.333).
I am assuming that this needs to be changed but I can't figure out how to do that (sequence settings are greyed out). Should I just start a new project?

Importing and exporting without losing quality?

I have a Sony HDR-xr200 and a 2.53ghz macbook pro. As it is, I have to import HD footage through the windows conversion on my mac because the stupid Sony camera will only import to a windows based program called PBM. After importing to PBM I have to manipulate the shots into .wmv, put them on a external drive, restart my computer on the mac portion, and download the .wmv files to FCE. Once the .wmv files get to FCE there is an obvious quality loss which becomes even more pronounced with I complete my final rendering and save the FCE project to either a .mov or .wmv.
I don't even know where to to start in fixing this ridiculous process. Is there a way to get what is on my camera directly to my mac that I don't know about? If not, how do I preserve the HD footage quality?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi -
Are your upgraded to FCE 4.0.1?
You should be able to get the video files off you camera directly by using *Log and Transfer* (not *Log and Capture* or Import ).
Your video will be loaded and automatically transcoded to AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec) for editing on FCE.
You can read about the Log and Transfer window on page 224 of the FCE manual.
You can read about working with AVCHD files on page 220 of the manual.
Hope this heps.

I have an old project with AVCHD clips and I want to import the clips again with surround sound. How can I relink the project clips to the re-imported ones without doing the project from the begining?

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

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

Solution when iMovie or FCE will not import AVCHD files or MTS files

Problem: iMovie or FCE will not import your footage from SDHC camera with files in AVCHD structure, or cannot import .mts or .m2ht files (which you may have copied from AVCHD structure. When mounting camera, you can see the camera as disk but iMovie will not try to import footage. If you point Final Cut Express (FCE) to the file structure, it fails to recognize it as a valid file structure. (I have Canon HF10, but understand that this problem is common on many camera models, maybe camera has been turned off at the wrong moment?)
Cause: Faulty file structure on camera or disk
Soultion: Rebuild AVCHD file structure using an AVCHD editing tool. I found multiAVCHD (multiavchd.deanbg.com), which is not perfect, but will do the job. And it is freeware (possible to donate).
I would like comments about others experience - but at least this worked for me:
- Download and install the software (Yes, you need Windows)
- Set the right parameters: mostly default, I didn´t want any recoding. But tick off to keep the source files!
- Select the AVCHD source (or source .mts or m2ts files) and destination
- Start rebuilding: select output for Sony Playstation 3
- Put the AVCHD file structure on a USB stick
*If using iMovie:*
Start iMovie and plug the USB into the mac (virtual disk (.dmg file) or other media should work fine as well). The USB may contain other files as well, but the root of AVCHD must be named AVCHD.
iMovie recognizes the drive as a camera. All is not 100% well, as the dates for making the footage is lost, and the thumbnails are distorted if seen at all, until clicked on. But then import worked for most clips. Some clips gave an error message, but FCE was able to import these (Log&transfer).
*If using FCE:* Use Log and transfer on this file structure (need not be on external disk)
If you have a better solution - please share! I suppose there are other tools out there which may correct the file structure with less side effects and no errors.
If you go for this solution - remember the author of multiAVCHD, he will surely appreciate a donation. I guess everybody will agree that this is worth at least as much as you paid for your SDHC card.
Why a function to correct faulty file structure is not included in iMovie and FCE is beyond my understanding!
I notice many users salvage their footage by converting the .MTS files, using Handbrake etc. But I believe rebuilding the file structure is faster and with no quality reduction.

Hi everyone,
I'm hoping someone is still subscribed to this and can help.
I have a Sony HDR-SR10. Yesterday I was able to connect it to my iMac by USB and view all the footage in the import window of iMovie (08).
Last night, to save time sorting at home, I took it to work with me and using the software that came with the camera installed on a Windows PC went through to see which files were rubbish and could be deleted before importing to speed up the transfer on to my mac.
Today, my Mac won't recognise the Camera!?!?!?!
Have I inadvertently reformatted the .MTS files or the camera itself, to windows or something? CanI change it back??
I'm currently creating a new disk image of the camera on my Mac in the vain hope that it will work and be recognised by the Mac as a camera. I can see from the progress box the following text:
Creating Image "Sony Camcorder Media.dmg"
=====Progress Bar=====
Reading (WindowsFAT32 :1)...
Which is why I think I've done something seriously wrong!! .. because it mentions windows!
HELP! HELP! HELP!
I have my entire honeymoon and the first year of my son on this camera and I want to edit with iMovie! Especially as I just paid for iLife 09 upgrade!

Imported & Exported HD Video Imovie '11 Big Loss of Quality

This is plain outrageous i noticed this flaw about a week ago.
I noticed how iMovie '11 degrades the quality of any HD Content whether it be a an Imported file or card or camera regardless. And Yes in the Prefrences FULL QUALITY is selected under the video tab. The Exported Content is the same Poor quality under highest settings quality FULL 1080P as imported even if exported a Quicktime X file H264 compression. The bottom line the imported content looks horrible in iMovie '11 it exports horrible too under the highest settings.
I tried Final Cut X on the other hand and It was Great no loss of quality there via the comand import Imovie Project. But I did notice how Final Cut X messed up on some of the transitions and the titles were off but that was an easy fix
Something has to be done iMovie '11 When Are you going ship '12 or '13

Welcome to iMovie Discussions.
(..Sob!..) If you can bear the anguish and argument and technicalities and angst, Search for "Steve Mullen" and follow any of those threads: you'll find all manner of description about what's happening, what's going wrong, how to correct it, whether it can be corrected ..and so on, and so forth..
(See this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11846858&#11846858 ..)
I've never noticed this problem: but when I HAVE seen poor quality - by adding an iMovie '09 title onto pristine DV footage, like this:
..I've followed Karl Petersen's instructions about how to change it into (apparent) top-notch quality like this:
Karl suggested opening the exported movie in QuickTime, and pressing ⌘ and 'J' and ticking the 'High Quality' box in the lower-right corner of Video Settings:
See here, and click on 'Start Slideshow'.
Steve disagrees, I think, with this, and says that this simple fix doesn't work.
Try it, and see if it works for you.

Losing Quality in FCE With AVCHD Import/Export

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