AG-HMC40 Recording Problem
 

I've been looking around for others who may have experienced this problem, but have come up with nothing.

Last night I had a gig with the band, and decided to take one of the HMC40's. I set it up to the side on a tripod, and just let it record the entire thing. We played 2 sets, and I stopped the camera in between. I shot it all in the highest-quality 1080/30p, onto 16GB class 10 Panasonic SDHC cards. After we were done, I put the camera into playback mode, and 2 clips appeared. So far, so good.

However, when I got home and put the SDHC card into my computer, there were 5 MTS files. The first 3 files are the first "clip" shown on the camera, and the final 2 are the second "clip." When I lined the clips up in Premiere, the transition between clips that should be seamless is anything but. The end of the first video clip drops its audio for about a second, and the beginning of the next clip freezes for 3 or 4 frames. There's no way that I can put them together seamlessly, because frames/audio have been lost.

This is a problem, as I begin using the HMC40's for weddings this Spring. Has anyone heard of this kind of issue?

Thanks!

As I'm troubleshooting this, I think I've figured out the problem. The HMC40 starts a new clip when it hits 4GB. This limit is supposedly imposed by the FAT32 file system.

Apparently, editing software doesn't handle these splits very well -- explaining the glitch at the beginning/end of the files. I've read that I can work some magic at the command line, so I'm trying that next.

The "fix"
 

Corey,

Read up on your problem here:

.mts clip join tool

I downloaded the .mts clip join tool program. It's easy to use and will solve your problem. I sent you an email (through your web site)...give me a call when you have a chance.

Thanks for the link Herm! And it was great speaking with you tonight.