View Full Version : straight AVCHD or convert to CanopusHQ


Paul Mailath
August 28th, 2010, 09:21 PM
I'm starting with Eduis and use the Panasonic GH1 - AVCHD files. they seem to drop right into Eduis with no problem - I'm just wondering what if any advantage there is in converting the CanopusHQ before starting?

Ted Ramasola
August 29th, 2010, 04:30 AM
if you're using edius 5.5 then No need to convert.

I would suggest to convert to HQ if you will do some compositing work in another software like After effects for instance.

David Andrews
August 30th, 2010, 03:30 AM
Just to add, it helps (read `need`) if you have an i7 processor. On slower processors it may be necessary to convert to HQ to be able to scrub the timeline and edit easily.

One further point, AVCHD files need much less storage space than HQ. I find that, using 17Mbps AVCHD, I need about 7x more storage space for HQ conversions.

Denny Lajeunesse
August 30th, 2010, 11:59 AM
Depends on what you are outputting for.

Outputting for film (or effects work) then upres. I prefer Avid DNxHD codec over canopus only because it is FREE.

Technically there is recompression around each cut point when you edit a long gop codec but for practical sake, unless it's for a theatrical release you likely won't even notice.

Also, if you are doing multicam you may need to convert as you can only handle so many layers of AVCHD, especially with any RT effects added into the mix.

Randy Johnson
August 30th, 2010, 12:54 PM
Personally I have a low end i-7 (920) it plays fine and scrubs o.k. if I drag the timeline but if I use JKL it gets really choppy around 16X to 32X which isnt good for the way I work. I do weddings and its more of a clean up kinda editing where I drop an hour of footage into the time line and then scrub through it. So I still convert, THEY say version 6 MAY be faster in which I can try and edit native. It would be nice. BTW many people on the GV forum are editing just fine with rigs like mine and have tried to solve my problem personally I think its a matter of standards and taste. I have 3 systems I cant see all three having issues.

Ervin Farkas
August 30th, 2010, 07:52 PM
Depends on what you are outputting for.Outputting for film (or effects work) then upres.
Just to clarify the terms used, "upres" has nothing to do with transcoding to Canopus HQ.

Upres refers to increasing the frame size (720x480 to 1280x720 for example), while transcoding to Canopus HQ is decompressing an interframe-compressed format to an "all I-frame" format.

Ervin Farkas
August 30th, 2010, 08:03 PM
THEY say version 6 MAY be faster in which I can try and edit native. It would be nice.
Edius v6 is supposed to further refine what has already been implemented into Neo 2 a while back, and that's editing 2-3 streams of AVCHD (multicam) on i7 machines.

In case GV won't deliver on this speculation, Randy, you can purchase Neo 2 for $200, do your rough cuts in Neo, then import the project into Edius 5 or 6 for further processing once intensive scrubbing is no longer needed.

I'm in the same boat... I thought I hit the jackpot with my i7/920 with 12GB of RAM, just to find that it works with certain flavors of AVCHD an not with others. Darn conpirators... just when you thought you have arrived... they throw in the next "big thing" to make you spend more $$$ on upgrades or new computers... lol... But I think we're still fine compared to say Adobe users, they need to spend the money we need to build a whole computer... just for their video card, in order to edit AVCHD...

Randy Johnson
August 30th, 2010, 08:15 PM
Its good to know that im not the only one having issues, I guess if Edius 6 doesnt do it I need to upgrade my processor maybe the 6 core intel. I have CS5 also I may be wrong but its my understanding that the video card only comes into play with effects. If your just scrubbing video or doing a multi-cam switch the video card doesnt matter. BTW I have Neo 2.5 also it came with my cameras but I cant run Neo and Edius on the same machine.

Ervin Farkas
August 30th, 2010, 08:19 PM
Thanks for clarifying that... I didn't know you can't install both.

Ron Evans
August 31st, 2010, 06:30 AM
Edius 5.5 has the same AVCHD booster as Neo 2.5.

Ron Evans

Randy Johnson
August 31st, 2010, 01:40 PM
yes but I wonder if Neo performs better because it has less features to bog it down.

Denny Lajeunesse
August 31st, 2010, 09:15 PM
I have to wonder how many of you have issues do to having indexing service still turned on? I'm using an i7 920 system with 6GB ram and I don't seem to have the issues many of you complain about.

ALos, turning off servoces that are not necessary and making sure you don't have realtime scanners scanning your media files.

Randy Johnson
September 1st, 2010, 11:05 PM
My systems are very clean I dont even have virus software installed.