MiniDV versus AVCHD

I am just starting to use FCE. I have version 4.0.1, running on a MacPro 2x2.8 Quad-Core Intel, Mac OSX 10.5.8.
Up until now I have been importing video from my old analog Hi-8 Camcorder, via an analog to digital converter (firewire). After editing, I am exporting to iTunes as H.264, for use on AppleTV. Most of my use of FCE is editing clips, adding sound, titles, etc. I do little "tweaking" of the images, such as contrast, brightness, etc.
I think it is time to upgrade to an HD camcorder.
Is miniDV the "best"? My biggest concern is how long it will take to download the tape into the Mac. Do you find that it is much slower to download from a miniDV than it would be from an AVCHD unit? How much quality will I lose if I go with an AVCHD camcorder? Will using the compressed format limit my ability to edit well? Is the image quality equal between the two?
Many thanks for any advice.
Mark

Hi Mark,
For an iMovie or FCE user, HDV and AVCHD video are both visually very good and almost indistinguishable from each other. Some reviewers who have done side-by-side comparisons give HDV better scores on 720p video, and AVCHD slightly better scores on 1080i video. But that's about it in real life. Most of the arguments for or against one or the other have to to with technical specs. Since both HDV and AVCHD are transcoded to Apple Intermediate Codec during capture, editing in FCE is the same in both cases.
With an HDV camcorder you will be recording onto miniDV tapes; capturing the tapes takes 'real time', meaning that if you have a 1-hour tape, it will take 1 hour to capture. AVCHD is faster because it's on a hard drive or flash memory in the camcorder and can effectively be transferred to your Mac at drive speeds. But hold on a minute ... FCE transcodes both HDV and AVCHD into Apple Intermediate Codec during capture, so AVCHD loses some of its apparent transfer speed in the process. Bottom line, yes it takes longer to capture HDV because it is tape-based, but not hugely different compared to capturing AVCHD.
Keep in mind that since HDV uses miniDV tapes, you can set the tapes aside and keep them as backups. Can't do that with AVCHD.

Similar Messages

  • Difference between miniDV and AVCHD editing

    Hi.
    My main question here is that when I'm applying the slow motion effects on footages captured using my new flash-based camcorder, the video appears jerky. [Footages without slow motion appears clear]. Some background info below:
    I've been using Premier Elements 4 and recently version 7 to do all my video editing work. My old videocam used miniDV tapes and when working with these footages I can simply download the footages using Premier Elements using the PAL-DV project settings. I can work on the footages adding effects such as slow motion and the final DVD appears clear, smooth and fine.
    HOWEVER, I recently bought the new Canon HF11. When working with these footages, I select the PAL-AVCHD project settings. Almost all the final footages (output to DVD) appears very clear and smooth with the exception of the footages in slow motion - it appears very jerky.
    I thought that the jerkyness is caused when you choose the wrong project setting (ie. upper vs lower field first) - by choosing the PAL-AVCHD project setting, I would've thought that it should be fine.
    The way I'm able to get around this is to deinterlace the footages with the slow motion effect. My question is why do I need to deinterlace the footages when working with AVCHD, considering that I do not have to do this when working with footages from miniDV tapes? Am I doing something wrong or is this how AVCHD works (ie. have to de-interlace slow motion footages?)
    Just trying to understand how this whole AVCHD format works, etc. Thanks in advance.
    Regards,
    Stein

    Here's the specs of my camera:
    http://canon.com.au/products/digital_video_cameras/home/HF11_specs.aspx
    Looks like it's AVCHD at 25p (or 50i)
    I'm copying the files directly to the computer - ie. plug the camcorder to my PC, an external drive appears in Windows Exploer - I just copy the MTS files to my PC.
    I just did some more testing and even de-interlacing it doesn't fully fix the jerkyness of the final footages on DVD.

  • Sony miniDV versus Canon miniDV

    I've read a few times on this forum that Sony miniDV cameras will be recognized by iMovie 08 even if they are the "second" firewire device attached to a Mac. In other words, you can have an external firewire hard drive attached and then attach your Sony camera and it will be recognized.
    Then, I've read where a Canon miniDV camera will not behave this way. With a Canon camera, you must detach all other firewire devices and have only the Canon camera as the single firewire device attached to you Mac in order for the Canon miniDV camera to be recognized.
    Does anyone know the real story here or have any actual experience with this? I would like to buy a new Canon camera, but I have an external firewire drive attached and that is where my Events are stored. So, obviously detaching my Events firewire drive isn't desirable.
    I presently have an old Sony Digital8 firewire camera and it works without detaching my firewire drive.
    I appreciate you help and advice.

    I have a Canon HV30 attached with a firewire& my time machine also attached with the other firewire port. IMovie recognizes the HV 30 & so does FCE. Hope that help. bjt

  • Buyer Beware:  AVCHD and CS4

    Greetings fellow Premiere CS4 users!  This message is a cautionary tale...my cautionary tale...but it does have a hopeful ending.  So I encourage you to read on.  Also, if anyone out there has found a solution to this with Premiere CS4, I'd be delighted to hear from you.
    I share this with a heavy heart, having been a Premiere Pro user and advocate for about a decade.  Bottom Line Up Front?  The CS4 release is incapable of cutting my AVCHD material (H.264, MP4, 1080, 60i).  Interestingly, CS3, with the MainConcept HD plugin, worked pretty well.  Memory issues when the projects got large (understandable with a 32 bit app), but all in all, a stable, robust editing environment with good export and DVD authoring capabilities.
    The problem with CS4...and I don't know if others have had the same problem...is that 1080i material plays at double speed.  Thus, a 10 second clip has 5 seconds of video and 10 seconds of audio.  The video plays "overcranked";  the audio plays normally.  Obviously, it is unusable.
    This is particularly interesting given Adobe's claim that CS4 edits AVCHD formats native.  This, in my experience, is not the case.
    I did, as you might imagine, open a trouble ticket when I discovered the problem in September 2009.  I have heard from an assortment of people in the last 5 months (Banish, Abhishek, Nargis)...and all have assured me that they would work with me to find a solution.  Someone called a couple of weeks ago and scheduled a live telephone support session -- but no one showed up at the appointed time.  Today I received a message from Adobe tech support asking me for a response or they would close the ticket.  An interesting development, considering the last entry in the ticket log was from me in November 2009.
    While cycling in this do-loop with Adobe support, I purchased the new MainConcept plugin for CS4.  The problem didn't go away...but I did contact MainConcept with the same issue.  They re-wrote their application to overcome the Adobe bug.  However, CS4 would not edit the material "native" -- red in the timeline -- and required lengthy rendering to edit normally.  So:  score one for MainConcept, raspberries for Adobe.

    Hello
    Absolutely no problem to import, play and edit SAN0084.mp4 file  here...
    No color in timeline, no discrepancy beetween sound and video.
    Premiere Pro CS4.2.1
    Project preset AVCHD 1080i30 (60i) (non-anamorphic)
    QX9650 à 3 GHz - Asus P5Q3 - Windows 7 64 bits
    4 GB DDR3 PC12800 - Nvidia GTX275
    The same file plays without problem on Windows Media Player 11.
    Are you sure about your project and sequence parameters.
    Have you checked in metrage requester of file (right clic on your file in bin, just above properties) that "Use frame frequency from file"is checked ?
    Interestingly, this file is identified by PPro like XDCAM-EX type.
    Sorry about your problem but it's not a PPro CS4.2.1 versus AVCHD problem.
    Pierre Néel

  • Can I make the switch from Windows?

    Hi there,
    Preamble...
    I am a very long time Windows user (since the 80s). In addition I have been editing videos as a hobby since the mid 90's, first mechanically and then (in 2000) on the computer. Currently I use several programs including Vegas Pro (which is a great program) to simpler programs like Power Director. I don't have a problem with my current video editors, I have a problem with Windows. Despite my best efforts it is always getting screwed up and every 4-6 months I have to start from scratch with a complete reload to get the speed and responsiveness that I initially had.
    Although I mostly do hobby video (family stuff) I also do some professional video: wedding DVDs, slide shows for milestone birthdays/anniversaries, corporate videos for the web, etc. I do these because people ask me to do them (they are not a huge income generators). I work in both SD and some HD (using A Sony AVCHD camera and little cams like the Mino HD).
    And now the question....
    After my most recent Windows OS reload I got fed up. I was able to get a slightly used Mac Mini to check out the Mac OS. The mini I have has the following specs:
    Model Name: Mac mini
    Model Identifier: Macmini3,1
    Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
    Processor Speed: 2 GHz
    Number Of Processors: 1
    Total Number Of Cores: 2
    L2 Cache: 3 MB
    Memory: 4 GB
    Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
    I started to play around with iMovie and this software is not up to my particular needs. Final Cut Express certainly is, but here is the problem. Anything that I bring into FCE that is placed on the time line has to be rendered. Any video, any transition, audio effect, etc. This is very time consuming and really slows down both my productivity and creativity. The Windows programs that I use don't have this problem and they are able to render "on the fly" or at least give me a proxy which is fine for my needs.
    It is clear that the Mac Mini/FCE combo won't work for me. However, In general, I really like the way the Mac works and I would be willing to buy an iMac or even a Mac Pro if I could eliminate this "wait forever to render" problem. Is there a way around this rendering issue? If I upgraded to a better Mac, would that solve this problem and if so, what Mac configuration would be best? I would be willing to spend around 4K if I could get a responsive system, but I sure don't want to waste that kind of money only to return to Windows.
    Thanks for reading this long post!
    Mike

    Drmikekuna wrote:
    ... Sony AVCHD .. Canon SD ... Logitech .. Flip Mino HD. ..
    .. Certainly not the best idea for a professional but just fine for a guy who likes to edit for fun.
    that's were the fun stops on a MacOs-based system ..
    FC/e supports only a few 'standards': DV (as from miniDV cams), HDV (from miniDV devices), AVCHD (from most devices) and with a little trick, described on my website AVCHD-light (720p, as from many compact-stills) ..
    done.
    some Flips are supported by iMovie, which you can abuse as a converter tool.
    but 'non video standard' (=read 'video' as 'in TV') formats, resolutions and codecs ...
    a) manual conversion = less convenient
    b) loss of 'quality', e.g. when you blow-up tiny 480x320/15fps into video..
    FC/e is FC/pros lil' brother.. meant for a more.. adult workflow..
    if you like to wrestle with multi-formats, stay with Windows/Magix/..
    Windows=options, with a chance of getting lost
    MacOs=convenience, with a chance of getting restricted

  • Can Pr Elements read H.264/MPEG-4 AVC ?

    Premiere Elements 7 has been fine for my limited purposes until now, but I've recently started using wildlife cameras, which record video in the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec in an AVI wrapper. The resulting videos play perfectly well on Windows Media Player, and can be edited by Windows Movie Maker, but Premiere Elements 7 won't read them. 
    Is there a way I can persuade PrE7 to read this sort of video? If that's not an option, does anyone know if PrE12 can read them?

    Blacknest
    Thank you for the opportunity to take a look at your .avi files which both appear to have H.264 video compression and MPEG Audio (probably MP2) 2 channel. That video presented an atypical one for Premiere Elements in its 1280 x 720 @ 18.000 progressive frames per second. MediaInfo read the video compression as H.264 rather than the avc1 which it typically uses to represent AVCHD (MPEG2 AVC/H.264). We could dig deeper into any subtle differences here in the naming and other for H.264 versus AVCHD.  But the best course of action comes from the great contribution of John T. Smith and your follow up on that to get your video into Premiere Elements.
    I looked at changing the file extension from .avi to the types that I mentioned previously, including .mp4. All would not import into Premiere Elements. Premiere Elements did accept the .avi file, but only the audio was represented. I was able to convert your H.264.avi into H.264.mp4 using VLC Player converter component. That H.264.mp4 did import into Premiere Elements, but, although there was a video component represented, its thumbnail was distorted.
    You did a great job with the Dropbox download setup.
    Please update us on your progress with the Premiere Elements editing and export of your H.264.mp4 video now that you have gotten into a format that Premiere Elements will accept. From what you wrote, the video compression is supposed to be the same as the original. It is just the file extension that has been changed. Is that correct?
    Continued success and congratulations to you and John T. Smith on a job well done.
    ATR

  • Premiere Elements 11 - Red Footage

    What is the best way to get Red (R3d) footage into Elements. Originally when I bought it I thought I was getting the Premiere with the direct import, but of course that was only for Premiere Pro CS5.5 or 6. But now just wondering what anyone has found as better quality than exporting the R3d to a .mov and editting it in Premiere, because that compresses it way to far. Thanks!!

    Red is a professional video format that is not supported by Premiere Elements.
    Premiere Elements is a consumer video editor designed to work with consumer video formats: miniDV, HDV, AVCHD and Flip video.
    To edit Red video, you should use professional software like Premiere Pro CS6.

  • Is it possible to have the time code follow the footage on playback?

    Hey everybody.
    I searched the forums, but I didn't find anything relevant to my question.
    My question is, is it possible to have time code follow your footage on playback?
    For example, when I scrub along the clip, the clip will tell me the entire length at the first thumbnail, but then as I scrub along, there is no time code, so I am unable to know how far along the sequence I am.
    I was talking to a faculty member, and he was told to grab certain portions of the footage, and he is wondering if this is possible within iMovie '09. I know that this feature is available in iMovie '06 and Final Cut Pro (of course), but I just started working with iMovie '09 last week, and wanted to know if this is possible.
    Any help is appreciated, and please let me know if I need to further clarify my question.
    John

    If you click VIEW/SHOW PLAYHEAD INFO, you will see the timecodes as you scrub. (Consumer timecodes, not pro timecodes).
    This works if you imported your footage from a camcorder, either miniDV or AVCHD.
    However, if you have imported an analog file, or saved a DV file to a QuickTime File, you may just see the file creation date in VIEW PLAYHEAD.
    However, there is a trick to getting even these clips to display timecodes if you know the start time.
    First pick a clip. Make a copy and drag it to your desktop, just so you don't lose anything.
    Rename this copy in the following format clip-yyyy-mm-dd hh;mm;ss.current file extension.
    For example, clip-2001-07-14 09;30;45.mov (note the space between the day and the hour)
    This would be a .mov clip that starts with the first frame at July 14, 2001 at 9:30:45 AM
    Then import the clip into iMovie. You now have timecodes at the playhead.

  • Can i make the setting and keyboard background black ? , because i have vision problem and the white color is too bright and cause pain and headache for me . thanks

    can i make the setting and keyboard background black ? , because i have vision problem and the white color is too bright and cause pain and headache for me . thanks

    Drmikekuna wrote:
    ... Sony AVCHD .. Canon SD ... Logitech .. Flip Mino HD. ..
    .. Certainly not the best idea for a professional but just fine for a guy who likes to edit for fun.
    that's were the fun stops on a MacOs-based system ..
    FC/e supports only a few 'standards': DV (as from miniDV cams), HDV (from miniDV devices), AVCHD (from most devices) and with a little trick, described on my website AVCHD-light (720p, as from many compact-stills) ..
    done.
    some Flips are supported by iMovie, which you can abuse as a converter tool.
    but 'non video standard' (=read 'video' as 'in TV') formats, resolutions and codecs ...
    a) manual conversion = less convenient
    b) loss of 'quality', e.g. when you blow-up tiny 480x320/15fps into video..
    FC/e is FC/pros lil' brother.. meant for a more.. adult workflow..
    if you like to wrestle with multi-formats, stay with Windows/Magix/..
    Windows=options, with a chance of getting lost
    MacOs=convenience, with a chance of getting restricted

  • How to import .mov files that wont play in QT (but play with vlc player)

    I have a batch of .mov files of which QT only plays the audio (video is blank) - same thing when I try to open in Final Cut Express HD. I am able to open these with VLC player. How do I convert these files so that I can edit them in FCE? I am suspecting maybe these are HD files and the problem is related to that.

    cthoxie wrote:
    .. interesting to learn a drawback of FCE to FCP, one not mentioned to me by the Apple sales associate ..
    perhaps, it was 'too self-evident' for the sales-person, that FCE is meant for camcorder-imports with a few consumer formats only, DV (as from miniDV), HDV, AVCHD (=last two get converted automatically to AIC) - done.
    .. in my main area, iMovie, we permanently read, how people are surprised, that those editors are made _by concept_ as camcorder-editors, not 'file-editors' .. Apple/mov='editable by Apple/FCE' is a fallacy ..

  • MTS files jerky when played back in the Editor of Premiere Elements 12

    Hi ATR
    I know there is only you that helps us Adobe users with problems!!
    I have now got Photoshop 12 and premiere Elements 12 set up yey!! so now I want to start my editing
    So I go into Premiere Elements Editor and choose my files which are on my hard drive
    These are MTS files that have been taken with my Sony Cybershot DSCHX20V however when I try to play back the videos they are jerky so I am unable to edit them
    Now I know I asked this question before when I had the trial of 13 and you got it working for me but I cant find the answer
    There is no orange or green line so I am unable to render the videos
    In the project settings it says display format as 25fps Timecode
    Frame size 1920 hoizontal 1080 vertical
    Hope you can help
    Jilly

    Morning ATR
    The camera was set for AVCHD and so the videos that were taken are in the format AVCHD mts. I since changed it to mp4 format but the videos that I want ti edit are in mts format and like I mentioned they are jerky
    When I am in the organiser of Premier 12 and I can hear the playback so that is ok but its jerky as well as the editor. I've also noticed that playing back in the organizer, the playback is very pixelated?
    1. Forced Timeline Rendering
    i did exactly what you said ATR and changed the time stretch to 99% and that worked perfectly!! You're a genius!
    2. AVCHD.mts versus AVCHD.mp4
    I found an MP4 format video and added it to my timeline with the MTS files and that one play ok. The time stretch on that file is at 100% so do I have to keep changing this to 99% all the time or only when its choppy and jerky?
    Step 3 you asked me to do the below
    From an AVCHD.mts 1920 x 1080 @ 25 progressive frames per second) project, export to Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD with Presets = MP4 H.264 1920 x 1080p25 and
    tell us if the playback is smooth.
    Then, from an AVCHD.mp4 1920 x 1080@ 25 progressive frames per second) project, export to Publish+Share/Computer/AVCHD with Presets = MP4 H.264 1920 x 1080p25.
    Then compare the smoothness of the playback of each.
    From looking at my project settings the timebase is showing 50.00 frames/second?
    You have said from a AVCHD.mts 1920 x 1080 @ 25 progressive frames per second) project? Do I need to change this now?
    Would you be able to tell me how to do a screenshot in windows 8 please? It would be so much easier but I am struggling to do it on the website itself
    Thanks ATR
    Jilly

  • How is ist possible to maintain the time dependencies for Abap Privileges?

    How is ist possible to maintain the time dependencies for Abap Privileges?
    In our Installation of SAP IDM 7.0 SP2 Patch 4 the time dependencies of Abap Roles are imported in the IC by Initial loads Jobs. How can the see / change the dependencies in our IDM Workflow UI? Presently nothing jet is shown, no Attribute is predefined..
    Can anybody give us a hint?
    Thank you in advance !!

    If you click VIEW/SHOW PLAYHEAD INFO, you will see the timecodes as you scrub. (Consumer timecodes, not pro timecodes).
    This works if you imported your footage from a camcorder, either miniDV or AVCHD.
    However, if you have imported an analog file, or saved a DV file to a QuickTime File, you may just see the file creation date in VIEW PLAYHEAD.
    However, there is a trick to getting even these clips to display timecodes if you know the start time.
    First pick a clip. Make a copy and drag it to your desktop, just so you don't lose anything.
    Rename this copy in the following format clip-yyyy-mm-dd hh;mm;ss.current file extension.
    For example, clip-2001-07-14 09;30;45.mov (note the space between the day and the hour)
    This would be a .mov clip that starts with the first frame at July 14, 2001 at 9:30:45 AM
    Then import the clip into iMovie. You now have timecodes at the playhead.

  • When I Burn to DVD I get poor video quality.

    I need help with all the steps to ensure I'm doing this the right way when burning my videos to DVD. Here is a list of all my equipment and software:
    OS -Windows 8
    Program - Adobe Premiere Elements 11
    System-
    Processor- Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4430 CPU @3.00GHz 3.00 GHz
    Installed memory (RAM)- 12.0 GB
    System Type- 64-bit Operating Sytem, x64- based processor
    Video Card- GEFORCE GTX 760 2GB GDDR5
    Video Camera- Sony HDR-FX1
    Product Type Camcorder- 1080i
    Progressive scan- Yes
    Camcorder Media Type- Mini DV (HDV)
    Digital Video Format- MPEG-2
    Image Recording Format- JPEG
    I did a sample 10 minute video (with no editing) burned it to DVD and the quality is almost VHS looking when I watch it on a DVD. I've tried many different options and still get the same results. I tried  up-ing the DVD space by purchasing a Dual Layer Double Couche DVD+R but came out the same results. I put the settings ( when burning to DVD anywhere from NTSC_Widescreen_Dolby DVD to Just NTSC_Dolby DVD. I have put the Quality to 'Fit Contents to available space' and Highest Quality with no difference to the burned DVD. I've gone to File/New/Project and changed the settings to NTSC-AVCHD-Full HD 1080i 30 and regular HDV 1080i 30 with no change. There are like 15 different options and really don't know what I'm doing wrong. Please HELP me before I go Crazy!
    Any help would be very much appreciated.
    Thanks
    Chris

    Chris
    For your consideration...
    1. HDV data capture firewire into Premiere Elements 11 Capture Window.
    a. Beforehand, set the project preset manually to NTSC HDV HDV 1080i30 via File Menu/New/Project. Before exiting the new project dialog, make sure you have a check mark after Force Selected Project Settings on This Project. Then go back to the Premiere Elements 11 Expert workspace and Add Media/HDV Camcorder.
    or
    b. Do your DVD Data capture, let the program set the project preset. Then verify the project preset via Edit Menu/Project Settings/General. Editing Mode should be HDV 1080i, Timebase should be 29.97 frames per second, and frame size should be 1440 x 1080. The pixel aspect ratio (grayed out) should be HD Anamorphic (1.333). Field Order should be shown as Upper Field First. If that is not the case, then start over and set the project preset yourself manually as described above in "1a".
    Once you get the MPEG2.mpg on the Timeline, we are going to look at two different situations
    a. the DVD-VIDEO results with Right click the video on the Timeline, select Field Options, followed by Reverse Field Dominance.
    and
    b. the DVD-VIDEO results with Moving forward not doing anything with the Field Options.
    Since your source is 16:9, the you want to stay with the DVD-VIDEO widescreen (NTSC_Widescreen Dolby DVD preset in the burn dialog...Publish+Share/Disc/DVD disc)
    If you select Publish+Share/Disc/DVD disc you will be viewing DVD-VIDEO widescreen format on DVD disc. The frame size is 720 x 480 and is stretched for display after encoding. As I said no where near 1920 x 1080.  My recollection is that it is about 856 x 480. This can be played on the DVD player. Maybe some Blu-ray players if the players specifications provide for that.
    If you select Publish+Share/Disc/AVCHD disc, you will be viewing AVCHD format on a DVD disc. You can set the preset for 1920 x 1080 and thus be viewing 1920 x 1080 on that DVD disc. BUT, AVCHD DVD cannot be played on a DVD player. It needs a Blu-ray player. And even all of Blu-ray players may not play it. It also can be played on the computer if you find a computer player to play it.
    You mention your end results being pixelated. I am wondering if your pixelation is really an interlaced problem.
    Your source is interlaced video with a field order = Upper Field First. The DVD-VIDEO standard calls for field order = Lower Field First. My suggestion above to look at Field Option Reverse Field Dominance goes to that point, reversing the field order. More on that later.
    Let us see the results and then decide what next.
    If you think you want to go Blu-ray, then we can talk about that too. Do you have any Blu-ray equipment now? For the time being, to get the flavor of the higher resolutions on disc, you could make the comparison of your DVD-VIDEO widescreen on DVD disc versus AVCHD on DVD disc.
    Looking forward to your follow up.
    ATR
    Add On...After all of the above, I forgot to mention. Do your DVD work with a check mark next to "Fit Content to Available Space". The only time you want to leave "Fit Content to Available Space" uncheck is when and if you get a Data Rate error message where you have to lower the bitrate to be able to continue.

  • WHITE SCREEN IN PRE 9

    Hello, I just upgraded to  PRE 9 about a week ago from PRE 8 and have not been able to playback a video on PRE 9. I get a white screen and the audio plays.
    HP envy 14
    intel i7 q720 @ 1.6 GHz
    4 GB DDR3 RAM
    windows 7 64 bit
    plenty of hard drive space
    ATI mobility radeon hd 5650
    I have downloaded what seemed to be any graphics driver updates and defragged my hard drive.
    Any advice???

    Assuming your video is from a traditional camcorder source (miniDV, HDV, AVCHD or Flip), I think it's time to contact Adobe Tech Support. Your issue is likely too deep for us to troubleshoot on this forum. Sorry.
    EDIT
    From your picture, it appears to be something called .3g2 video -- which is likely the source of your problem. As you can see if you do a Google search, lots of people are having trouble with that format and are looking for converters to convert it to an editable format.
    You can try Super (though Quicktime Pro would be better), per the FAQS to the right of this forum. But I make no guarantees. I don't know enough about where the type of video came from.
    http://forums.adobe.com/thread/415317?tstart=0

  • Worth the effort? 8 bit AVCHD 1080p 4:2:0 versus 1080i 10 bit uncompressed

    Hello,
    I am i homing in on a final MacBook Pro versus Mac Pro decision to enable both real-time capture (argues for portable) and final cut - color - motion work flow.
    i have a new sony HXR 5NU that provides me with 25 Mbps 1080p AVCHD 8 bit 4:2:0 from the camera or 10 bit uncompressed 1080i 4:2:2 via SDI or HDMI. The latter would involve a MacBook (not lugging a 45 pound Mac Pro around on the set) and an external MOTU HD Express HDMI or or a Matrox O2 LE.
    The key question is if the extra information is significant in terms of final look, constructing quality masks, etc. I believe the answer is yes as it relates to simply comparing 8 bit 4:2:0 versus 10 bit uncompressed 4:2:2. Seems the answer is murkier with the trade-off of 1080i (the uncompressed signal) versus 1080p from AVCHD.
    I do not know the internal workings of the camera, it is possible that it is 1080i off of the sensor electronics and a pull down is happening with the avchd encoder which means that it is not really a trade-off.
    Any opinions?
    Otherwise I just focus on getting the best out of my camcorder's avchd output using a waveform monitor and go for a Mac Pro in Post.
    Any thoughts on this?
    Wayne
    Portland

    Thoughts or opinions? Remember, you asked for it.
    You haven't done the math.
    You do seem to realize there might be some kind of quality difference between 4:2:0 AVC and 10 bit uncompressed, which is a good thing, but haven't dealt with the larger issues.
    First off, while FCP might deal with AVC without too much fuss, it is not an approved codec for use with COLOR, and you will be dealing with a transcode at some point.
    If you are dealing with some kind of sub-cinema format camera, which is producing AVC, then the practical reality is that its sensors are indulging in a serious amount of voodoo, and if your project is going to involve anything like a lot of greenscreen, then you are also buying yourself a certain amount of downstream pain, since the bandwidth that an actual 10-bit 4:4:4 camera produces is what you might really want. But that brings us to the real math.
    Your first paragraph contains the phrase:
    MacBook Pro versus Mac Pro decision to enable both real-time capture
    Uh.... I guess you'd also be looking for some other kind of AJA/Io or whatever interface to work with the MacBook Pro, since it only supports USB and FireWire natively, neither of which will support 10-bit Uncompressed, or some other kind of slot34 device. I expect you really meant "on-set" capture, rather than real-time, since the only other way into a MacBook would be a P2-type card interface. In addition, real time Uncompressed 1920x1080 is very demanding no matter whether it is 24/30 frame, 8- or 10-bit. I'd be surprised if any Mac laptop could hack it. Its harder to do than HDV.
    If you are recording on tape, then you can bet that the recorded format is segmented, which is a special, non-temporally related form of interlace, that allows a progressive frame to be recorded on a format that is maxed out at 1080i. Pull down is a term reserved for use with generating redundant frames to bridge a rate difference -- most notably "24" fps to "30" fps, which you don't mention. But which would be another significant hurdle.
    I used to have this handy-dandy chart that listed all the bitrates and storage requirements for uncompressed formats SD, HD, 2K, etc., but it isn't in my field of view at the moment. 10-bit Uncompressed 1920x1080 at 29.97 takes up about a TeraByte per hour... do you have that much storage for field work? It isn't RED. It also requires a transfer rate in the Gigabit range, so in a practical sense it really requires a fibre-channel interface.
    I'm kind of thinking you will eventually wind up with a ProRes workflow. You could get away with a laptop and AJA interface doing that.
    jPo

Maybe you are looking for