Timecode and AVCHD Footage

I have a Panasonic HDC-TM700 camcorder that shoots AVCHD footage. I can use ClipWrap to transcode the footage to Apple ProRes 422 or I can use Toast Titanium Pro to transcode the footage up to Apple ProRes 4444. Both of these have worked wonderfully as far as just getting footage into Final Cut Pro 7. However, neither of these methods provide any workable timecode. I used the log and transfer window in FCP and set In and Out points on my clips before capturing them, but once they got into FCP all of the timecode disappeared. How is it possible to share the footage with other editors or, for example, work with an offline quality, when there is no timecode to share and no timecode with which to reconform to online quality?
Does anyone know how to assign timecode to clips captured on file-based, as opposed to tape-based, media?
PLEASE HELP

I completely understand the "tortilla chip" analogy, and I don't wish to argue that point. It's a logical argument. But I was given AVCHD footage to work on that I Quicktime converted to ProRes 4444 and the image quality WAS far superior. The footage was simply an actor in front of a black curtain. Before the conversion there was all kinds of pixel-shifting on the black background, as well as on the actor's suit, and there was no real definition to the image at all. After the ProRes 4444 conversion all pixel-shifting disappeared and some definition definitely appeared. It was a far cleaner image, and I had a few other people look at it to verify this fact because I couldn't believe it myself. Of course, the 4444 option was overkill. I'm sure 422 (of any kind) would have achieved the same effect. In any event, the image was superior AFTER the conversion. Perhaps an external NTSC monitor would be better suited for color-correcting (and the cost of that device would be justified if I was doing work that needed to meet broadcast-quality standards), but the fact remains that the image was much "better". This was not imagined. No eyes were tricked.
True, a broadcast monitor is much better at evaluating image quality than a computer monitor. But sharper is sharper. Cleaner is cleaner. Pixel-shifting is pixel-shifting. And in 2011 many, many more videos are meant to be watched on a computer screen than on a television or movie theater screen.

Similar Messages

Combining XDCAM and AVCHD footage

Hi all,
Has anyone successfully merged AVCHD footage into an XDCAM project? If so, what presets have they used? I've run 720 25p in XDCAM (EX1) (PAL) and when I import the AVCHD it is very jittery
Regards
Paul

I've just completed a small project that used some really old digital 8 footage and footage from my Everio HD7, and it worked fine. If you export in standard def, the footage seems to match up pretty well.

Logged and Transfered AVCHD footage has dropped frames or appears jerky.

Hey I just got off the phone after 2 hours with Apple care which offered no answers to this issue. My co worker is able to log and transfer without problem on his computer from my "Sony HDR CX12" AVCHD Full 1080. But both of my machines no go. I re-installed OS X 10.5.7 and all applications including FCP 6.0.6 and discovered that if you have QUICKTIME or iLife apps (i.e. iMovie, iPhoto etc... open then your doomed!!!! Dropped frames for sure on logged and transfered AVCHD footage.
I called back Apple Care and they are attempted to recreate the same system set up as I had to verify that iLife 2009 is screwing up FCP 6.0.6
I've found some other work arounds if you are having this problem. Please let me know since my case is still open with Apple Care and I would like to be able to mention that others are having issue with this.
Rod

This is one weird post. I don't understand what you are babbling about.
I re-installed OS X 10.5.7 and all applications including FCP 6.0.6 and discovered that if you have QUICKTIME or iLife apps (i.e. iMovie, iPhoto etc... open then your doomed!!!!
COMPLETELY wrong. That couldn't be more wrong. Quicktime is the basic engine of FCP...it captures all footage as QT files. Without QT FCP would not function. And of course it works with iMovie and iPhoto installed...those are basic Apple applications. I have those on all my machines that have FCP and have had zero issues. Well, the issues you have are NOT related to having those applications installed. That is silly talk.
Now...when you import AVCHD footage, you have the choice on what CODEC you can use when you import. Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) or ProRes. AIC is nice and light, and can be played back on a firewire drive, but lack essential things like TIMECODE...and the quality isn't all that great. ProRes on the other hand is great quality and has timecode, but has a high data rate. A firewire 400 drive will not work...firewire 800 might, but raided firewire 800 like a G-Raid would be advisable. eSATA drives or internal SATA drives all the better.
iLife 09 is not screwing up FCP 6.0.6. I have iLife 09 and FCP 6.0.6 and have zero issues. most people do.
Shane

Importing C100 AVCHD footage (timecode, media start, clip names)

I primarily shoot and edit AVCHD footage from Canon C100. Typical ingest workflow is to use the Data Import Utility by Pixela. This creates individual .MTS files on my with unique file names (GREAT)...BUT when I bring the files into PP CS6 it sets the media start time for each clip at 00:00:00:00 (essentially wiping out the timecode reference). Alternatively, if I simply copy entire contents of the card to my raid then use the Media Browser in PP to import the footage, the timecode—and media start time—is maintained from the shoot (GREAT)...BUT the individual clip names that it assigns always start with 00000.mts, 00001.mts and so on). This creates a problem when relinking footage...because now I've got multiple projects with the same file names. Any ingest workflow recommendations?
Appreciate your perspective(s).
~ Brian

Use the original media, which gives you the timecode, and upgrade to CC, which gives you the new Link and Locate feature, making relinking a breeze.

How to back up projects and raw AVCHD footage???

Please bear with me as I'm really new to digital editing. I'm trying to understand how to work with AVCHD files. Obviously, these are too large to store on my computer once they are ingested; hence, the only option is to store the raw footage. I can burn the raw AVCHD footage to DVD no problem (I use an optional DVD burner that works with my Canon HF-10 camera). Now I'm trying to understand how to work with the system (i.e. save project files for re-editing later on). I'm using a Canon HF-10, and Final Cut Express 4, on a new MacBook Pro.
Here's how I think it might work, but please correct me if I'm wrong:
1) I begin a new project, ingesting the raw AVCHD footage as I need it.
2) I edit the footage and save the completed project.
3) With the project completed, and since the ingested video files are too big to save, I delete the ingested footage from the scratch drive, but still saving the FCE project file (This means that if I open the project file now, I will get a message telling me the media files have gone offline).
4) I move on to my next project, and carry on ingesting new AVCHD files as I did with the original project.
Here's where I'm confused...
5) I later come back to the original project to make a few changes.
QUESTION: Can I simply re-ingest the raw AVCHD footage into the scratch folder and carry on editing the first project? Or will I have problems with Final Cut Express finding the media files??? Or any other problems??
There may be easier ways to do this for someone who understands computers better than I do. I am looking for the simplest solution that will work for me, since I really don't have any technical computer skills/abilities. Will the procedure I described above work???
Thanks so much for your advice!

I'm no pro, and surely not a technical wizard, but what I plan on doing is this:
Back up the raw AVCHD files on DVD (2 copies ideally). Delete them from the camera. Ingest the files into FCE and edit. I won't change the name of the raw media files at any time, to avoid confusing FCE. Once I've finished editing, I'll keep the FCE project file (and any related files) on my hard drive. However, I will delete the huge ingested files from the hard drive (because, no matter how big an external drive you have, to me using 160GB to store two hours of video is nuts). Then, if at a later date I want to re-edit, I'll re-ingest the original files back onto the scratch drive. I figure FCE will read them fine, since they haven't changed; they've merely been removed and replaced. One key point here is that, when ingesting the AVCHD files, you must ingest the complete clips, not just a part of them. That way, nothing about the files (such as the length, starting and finishing points, etc.) will have changed. It may seem a bit awkward, but that's about the only way I, being a technophobe, can understand how to do it without keeping huge files on a hard drive. And, I am only speculating that this will work. At this point, I'm still waiting on the DVD burner that works with my Canon camcorder to arrive in the mail. Then I'll do some testing/experimenting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

FCP Crash when opening log and transfer with some AVCHD footage on a card

Hi,
I'm using a freshly (re)installed version of FCP 7 on a brand new macbookpro loaded with 8gb ram and equipped with a small 2ghz Intel Core i7
I get footage shot on Panasonic ag-hmr10 minicams coming on SD cards as AVCHD footage. Sometimes the files are quite big, 17gb of compressed footage.
When I go to log and transfer, to convert the footage in apple prores, the l/t window opens, I see a preview of my footage, than the spinning beach ball of death shows up and FCP crashes every time. I've tried deleting the preferences and reinstalling the software. Still, it keeps crashing. Now the same file on a different computer equipped with FCP will be processed, slowly but surely.
Now I know I can work around this problem by going to toast as an encoder, but I want to fix this issue so I can operate from FCP. I've seen this problem posted before but never found any good solution.
Any suggestions?

Have you tried setting the L&T AVCHD audio conversion prefs to plain stereo?
Open the L&T window.
Click on the gear icon towards the upper center of the frame.
Select "Plain Stereo" For the AVCHD plugin.
MtD

Log and Transfer AVCHD footage

Hello,
got a bizarre situation here with trying to log and transfer AVCHD footage: It's worked perfectly fine before, the volume automatically showing up in the Log and Transfer window. I shot additional footage on the same card (without erasing the older footage) and now nothing shows up in the Log and Transfer window. File structure on the card is intact, FCP seetings (ProRes LT) are the same and I can see the footage is there on the camera. Whatever I try, I can't get FCP to 'see' the card's content, not even the older footage which it transferred alright before.
I'm running FCP 6.0.6 and the only difference I can think of to the previous time when log and transfer worked is that I may have updated FCP (not sure what my previus version was, but it was only an incremental update).
I'm totally at aloss with this one – anyone out there with a clue what might be causing this?
Thanks in advance!
Des

Try using the add volume button and pointing to the card, which I assume is mounted on the desktop. If you select the volume do the clips load?

AVCHD footage plays green and jittery

Hi there,
I've ingested via Log and Transfer some AVCHD footage from a Sony hard drive camcorder. It comes in to FCP 6.06, however, when I view the footage in FCP it plays jumpy (plays for about a second and jumps back for a frame and then continues) and also flashes to green occasionally.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to what this may be?
Thanks,
Simon.

Do you happen to be using Perian? Looks like that might be a problem for some, look at this:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2572?viewlocale=en_US

Why is Panasonic AVCHD footage not work in QuickTime and FCPx?

I have Yosimite 10.10.3
Final Cut Pro version 10.2
QuickTime player version 10.4
Attempting to import AVCHD "footage clump" off the card or off an internal disk...
Yields only a video window with sound; but NO PICTURE.
It worked last week, and every week prior to that week
Thank you very much for your solutions

Search result:
after 10.2 update- imported clips displaying black

CS3 - Can I Import AVCHD footage into Premiere and if so, how ?

Hello All;
Can you tell me if I can Import AVCHD footage (Like from a Panasonic Professional Camcorder) into Premiere CS3 ? My version doesn't recognize the .MTS files that the camcorder generates. If there is any way to import AVCHD footage, could you tell me how ? Thanks.
Tim

Convert AVCHD to HDV http://forums.adobe.com/thread/390605?tstart=0
or Cineform Neo Scene $100-$129 http://www.cineform.com/neoscene/

Help with getting high quality DVDs from AVCHD footage

Hello,
I know enough about video editing with PE7 to be dangerous, and was hoping someone could help me out.
My question is regarding getting the highest quality standard DVD from AVCHD footage. I have a Sony HDR-SR12 camcorder recording in AVCHD. I am editing footage natively in AVCHD with PE7 on a quad core system. No problem with that. However, when I export to standard DVD the quality of the video goes down drastically. (Yes, I know burning to Blu-ray would give me higher quality, but I am giving this DVD to a friend who doesn't have Blu-ray).
So far I have tried starting my project in both HD 1080i 30 5.1 channel:
General
Editing mode: HDV 1080i
Timebase: 29.97 fps
Video Settings
Frame size: 1440h 1080v (1.333)
Frame rate: 29.97 frames/second
Pixel Aspect Ratio: HD Anamorphic 1080 (1.333)
and Full HD 1080i 30 5.1 channel:
General
Editing mode: HD 1080i
Timebase: 29.97 fps
Video Settings
Frame size: 1920h 1080v (1.000)
Frame rate: 29.97 frames/second
Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)
But I see no discernable difference in the quality of my output onto DVD.
This is where my knowledge is lacking...how can I get the best quality output from my AVCHD onto a standard DVD? Is there some format I can convert to first, and then burn to DVD? Also, I am willing to break the footage into a couple of DVDs to improve the quality, but I don't know how or what to do for that.
My footage looks REALLY great when viewing from the HDR-SR12 direct to HD TV with HDMI cable, but not very good on the DVD. My footage is of a ballet recital, and I lose definition in the faces, costumes, etc on the DVD output.
Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Gina

Hey Gina,
This may be a year late, but as I have been pulling my hair out trying to solve this problem for the last 48 hours I finally did find somewhat of a work around, but it requires Adobe PP CS4.2.
There is a plug-in here:
http://www.mainconcept.com/site/prosumer-products-4/mpeg-pro-hd-7850/features-7861.html
Which will actually output your edit as an AVCHD file. You can then burn this straight to an AVCHD using Nero 9 and keep the highquality level of your clips and not need Blu-Ray. The DVD player will need to be AVCHD capable, but I just bought one of those for $40 as compared to the $200+ of most Blu-Ray players.
Hope that helps.
Regards,
DSW

How to view timecodes on imported footage

I'm new to Imovie and need to view the timecodes on the footage i've imported to know where to edit. Can't seem to figure out how to get this to show up. Anybody know how?
Thanks!

You can use these files, but the first time you open them in iMovie 09, they will be upgraded so they will no longer work in iMOvie 08. New cache and thumbnails files will be created.
It is probably not working now because, for performance reasons, iMovie 09 will not work with a network drive. There are workarounds involving symbolic links. But you still have to deal with the performance issue.
So, do you want these files to still work in iMovie 08?
*If no...*
Simple drag and drop these Event Folders to a locally attached external drive that is formatted as MacOS Extended (journaled). They should be placed in a folder called iMovie Events at the top level of the drive. Attach this drive to the computer with iMovie 09, and start iMovie 09.
Note: You could also move these files to your internal hard drive if you have plenty of room. In this case, they go in the Movies/iMovie Events folder.
*if yes..*.
Attach a properly formatted external drive to the computer with iMovie 08. In the finder, copy (not move) the Event folders to folder named "iMovie Events" at the top level of the drive.
Also, if you have created projects from your imported footage (the events), and you want to port your projects to iMovie 09, it gets a little more complicated. Let me know.
Message was edited by: AppleMan1958

Elements is inteferring with playback of AVCHD footage with Windows Media Player

I recently downloaded a trial version of Elements.
As soon as I installed this, I started having problems with playing ACVHD mts files in Windows Media Player. Whereas I have never had trouble playing these files in Windows Media Player before, after installing Elements the footage suffers from significant stuttering and the sound drops in and out. Interestingly, the footage continues to work perfectly in VLC and in Pixela ImageMixer. There is also no problem with AVI-DV footage.
As soon as I unistalled Elements the problem disappeared. I have replicated this several times by reinstalling an uninstalling Elements.
Can anyone explain why this could be happening? I am running Vista Busiess. My video camera is the Cannon Legria HF20, and I captured the footage using the supplied ImageMixer 3 software.
Unlike Windows 7, I don't believe that Vista has native support for AVCHD, and the only reason I can play AVCHD footage is because I have ImageMixer software installed (which came with the camera). Could there be some conflict between this software and Elements?
Any help would be appreciated. I am really tearing my hair out.
Update: I have also noticed that the same problem occurs in Windows Live Movie Maker when I install Elements.

I'd be inclined to uninstall both PRE and ImageMixer. Then install PRE first and ImageMixer last.
Cheers,
Neale
Insanity is hereditary, you get it from your children

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.

AVCHD footage to DVD in FCP - best output options?

Hi - I've been importing AVCHD files from my Panasonic HDC-SD1 camera into Final Cut Pro 6.0.2 Using the Log and Transfer to get the files in works like a charm, editing them is no prob. However, when I export the files and view them on a large screen, the footage looks pretty low quality, especially when I do any slow-motion moves (it gets stuttered) or when there is a lot of movement onscreen, it just looks BAD.
There are a lot of choices for how to export my film, and I'm clueless as to which is best. Hoping to get some advice on here. Thus far, I've tried exporting it as a QT .mov file, and I've also tried using Compressor, but there are so many output choices and I don't know which will work best.
In terms of "Log and Transfer" import, I've been using AVCHD - Apple Intermediary Codec. I tried switching it to "AVCHD - Pro Res 422" but it won't let me import that way.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! I'm starting to worry that the "3CCD broadcast footage quality" camera I thought I bought is lower quality than I expected...

I'm starting to worry that the "3CCD broadcast footage quality" camera I thought I bought is lower quality than I expected
The term "broadcast quality" gets thrown around a lot in the marketing business. And while footage from all across the quality spectrum might be broadcast on one network or another (especially the cable networks), the camera you listed is far from what those in the industry would call "broadcast quality." But even more so than that, the format the camera records in is definitely not broadcast quality.
-DH

Timecode and AVCHD Footage

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for