I'm looking to buy a panasonic hmc 150, but not real sure about the transcoding and audio dropouts due to 4gb thumbnails. I hear that mts merger would fix the audio droputs. I've been looking for the program but have yet to find it. Can anyone help???

Hi Ricco,

Here is a link to download the merger tool.
http://vontraining.net/download/

If you edit on Edius 5 or Edius Neo 2.5 you do not need to merge clips. Those programs merge automatically without missing any frames. Other NLE's have probably solved the problem as well, but you can use the merger tool until your NLE of choice has a fix for missing frames.

Just to be clear...all of the frames are recorded on on the card, it's just a matter of how your NLE sees the footage.

Hi Mark, thanks for the download!!!
Do you know of a transcoder that will convert avchd files from the hmc150 that wont make the files so huge after conversion? If so, which one and do you have that program also? Thanks a bunch!

Hi Ricco,

You are welcome. All of the programs that I know of do make the file sizes big. I know from my own experience, a typicaly 60 Gb wedding would come in around 300 Gb. With Edius Neo 2.5 that 60 Gb weddings stays that size, which means I can have several entire weddings on my laptops video hard drive. I am really loving Edius Neo.

What NLE are you using?

Man you are the best with response times!!! Does neo come with the 150? And just to be sure, I would not have to do any transcoding with neo??? right? And 1 more thing, does the 150 come out the box ready to shoot? If not, what settings do you suggest? Judging by your work on your site, I value & trust your opinion! I will be shooting board meetings, depositions, parades, and probably a few weddings. Thanks Man!!!

Hi Ricco,

Response times vary...depending on my schedule. :-)

Neo does not come with the HMC150. I saw it at Video Guys for $199. Make sure you get Neo 2.5 or also called Neo Booster. You will not have to transcode with Neo if your computer if fast enough. It works great on my Quad Core 2.0 laptop.

Additional items that you will want to consider are the larger batteries. The battery that comes with the HMC150 will not last very long. A shotgun mic if you are in really loud environments. Some wedding receptions get really loud. One other high priority item is Barry Green's book on the HMC150. It really helps to better understand the HMC150.
HMC150 Book Order Page (http://www.fiftv.com/HMC150/index.html)

Quote: Neo does not come with the HMC150.

Are you sure? I just bought an HMC40, from B&H, and Neo came with it..

(If needed, I could be be persuaded to sell you my unopened copy half-price).

Hi Graham,

I wasn't sure, so I went to the B&H site and did not see Edius Neo listed with the HMC150. I believe the HMC40 comes with Edius Neo 2.0 (Non Booster). It would need to be upgraded to 2.5 (Booster Pack) to take full advantage of AVCHD native editing, but certainly worth looking into.

If you go to Panasonic AVCCAM (http://www.panasonic.com/avccam) it seems to indicate that any AVCCAM camcorder comes with a free copy of Edius Neo. As I recall that promotion ends either at the end of this month or the end of March.

I got Edius 2.0 with my HMC40, but it was a free upgrade (via the Panasonic PASS site) to Edius Neo Booster. If you buy a camera now, I suspect it will ship with Booster.

Hi Rich,

COOL! Thanks for the info.

QUOTE: If you go to Panasonic AVCCAM it seems to indicate that any AVCCAM camcorder comes with a free copy of Edius Neo

That was how I read/understood it too. (That Pass site is hilarious - could they have possibly made it any more complicated to navigate??)

Yeah, it pretty amazing that a company a large as Panasonic can not seem to manage a more user friendly website. When I ordered (requested) my copy of Neo Booster it was like it fell into a black hole. A DVD just showed up a month or so later. So if you do request the upgrade don't expect much feedback from them.

Rich, can you briefly explain how the booster upgrade rquest works? Do I need to have actually installed Neo to request it? Or can I just use my Neo DVD (or camera?) serial number to validate the request?

The thing is I'm not planning to use Neo presently, and so haven't installed it, but I'd like to keep my future options open.

Thanks.

Hey guys, this is what i found on the B&H site for the 150!

What's in the Box Panasonic AG-HMC150 AVCCAM Camcorder AC Adapter/Charger
2640mAh Battery Pack
AC Cord
DC Cord
Wireless Remote Control
Microphone
Eye Cup
Shoulder Belt
Component Video Cable
PIN-BNC Conversion Plugs
Ferrite Core
CD-ROM
EDIUS Neo 2 Software
1-Year Warranty (Expands to 3-Year Once Camera is Registered)
Guides and Manuals

Hi Ricco

There is a free Mainconcept Transcoder on the Panasonic website that does a good job for me. It will transcode only Panasonic AVCHD to either P2 or (what I use) DV-AVI in anamorphic, letterbox or even 4:3 cropped mode. It does a good job too and the price is right!!

Whatever you use grab this transcoder anyway as it's free!!

Chris

but not real sure about the transcoding and audio dropouts due to 4gb thumbnails.
Just for clarification -- there is absolutely *no* issue with audio dropouts due to the 4GB file sizes, as regards the original footage. If you play back the footage in the camera, you'll see (and hear) that the transition across the file boundaries is absolutely seamless.

So if you encounter any issues, it's your computer software that's doing it -- so please report on what programs are failing to properly handle it, and let's report that bug to the manufacturers of the software.

I work with adobe cs3 on a pc.
I have the i7 processor w/ 6 gbs of ram.
1Tb of hdd space on vista 64 bit.
From tutorials i've seen with ppro cs3, with the 4gb limits of the sd card during recording, where the files end and start up again the audio drops out!!! According to the tutorials.......

Rich, can you briefly explain how the booster upgrade rquest works? Do I need to have actually installed Neo to request it? Or can I just use my Neo DVD (or camera?) serial number to validate the request?

The thing is I'm not planning to use Neo presently, and so haven't installed it, but I'd like to keep my future options open.

Thanks.

Graham sorry about the late response, I have been out of town.

You do not need to have Neo installed. Just go the the PASS website and let them know you'd like the upgrade. I just went to the contact section. If things work out like they did for me a new Neo Booster DVD will just show up a month or so later (no notification). Then you can go to the PASS website to get your Neo Booster serial number.

It all worked fine, but the complete lack of any feedback was a bit disturbing.

I was pretty much in the same boat as you with respect to Neo. I had never installed it (i generally use Vegas Pro); but thought I'd give Neo Booster a try. It does work amazingly well with native AVCHD clips, but I still have not made the mental transition from Vegas to Neo )-:

Hi guys, has anyone ever heard of, or used the video converter (Super c)? Its a free download and converts alot of different video formats. Just wondering if any of you professionals out there had any knowledge on this for me? Like, the ease or difficulty of use, and does this converter with (AAC Advanced_Audio_Coding) would this eliminate the need for me to use MTS merger to join audio clips together (seemlessly)? I'm planning on buying the hmc 150 and I use ppro cs3 on a pc, and from what I understand, when avchd clips are converted and imported into ppro cs3, where the clips join, the audio drops out! Just doing my homework b4 I make my purchase so i'll know what steps & procedures I have to do, so my learning curve wont be so extensive.

Hi Ricco,

Here is a link to download the merger tool.
http://vontraining.net/download/

If you edit on Edius 5 or Edius Neo 2.5 you do not need to merge clips. Those programs merge automatically without missing any frames. Other NLE's have probably solved the problem as well, but you can use the merger tool until your NLE of choice has a fix for missing frames.

Just to be clear...all of the frames are recorded on on the card, it's just a matter of how your NLE sees the footage.



Hi Mark

Do you import it in a special way or do you just drop the chunked parts on the timeline?

Thanks.

/Ulf

Hi Ulf,

Just copy the MTS files to your hard drive and bring them into the bin window. Neo 2.5 will automatically join the clips that are larger than 4 gb when you bring them into the bin window.

This is great! Thanks a lot Mark :-)

/Ulf