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AVCHD Format Discussion
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Old March 11th, 2008, 02:06 PM   #16
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Hey friend, it's not up to Apple to make Sony's video cameras work with it. In fact, Apple already did add support. Sony does not make Mac compatible consumer products. Their pro-level video stuff is superb - i have nothing against sony or windows for that matter. I'm just saying, this post is about using AVCHD on a MAC, and the verdict is loud and clear for me: do not bother.
That's fine Dave, but please do not condemn the entire AVCHD world because one brand doesn't work on a Mac.

OK, I see you did do that in your next post. Thanks.

Dave, does Canon's AVCHD work on a Mac?
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Old March 11th, 2008, 04:02 PM   #17
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That's fine Dave, but please do not condemn the entire AVCHD world because one brand doesn't work on a Mac.

OK, I see you did do that in your next post. Thanks.

Dave, does Canon's AVCHD work on a Mac?
Hey Ken, I'm sorry, but i really have no idea about any other HDD cameras. I'm just working with a client right now that has a Sony HDR-SR7.

I normally use a JVC HD100 that records to HDV tape, and I have a Canon HV20 as sort of a mini personal camera, also records to HDV tape.

david.
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Old March 11th, 2008, 04:41 PM   #18
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My goodness you guys go to an awful lot of trouble to avoid using a PC that would solve all your problems.

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Old March 11th, 2008, 05:49 PM   #19
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My goodness you guys go to an awful lot of trouble to avoid using a PC that would solve all your problems.

Ron Evans
Oh, I wouldn't mess with that Ron!!!! :) :)

I've learned to stay away from Mac fans...a very dedicated bunch!
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Old March 11th, 2008, 05:58 PM   #20
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Isn't the Mac mantra "everything you can do I can do better"? <wink>

Seriously, I doubt it will be very long before AVCHD is a simple on Mac as it is on PC - early adopters of AVCHD had lots of things to overcome from all accounts. That's new technology for you...

And along with new technology come a whole lot of "consumer malfunctions" that can create a false impression as new users struggle with something they haven't encountered before and label it unfairly...

I myself struggled with the 2G file break when dealing with long clips while trying out the CX7 (on PC no less). Even Sonys tech people couldn't find an answer. Ultimately, needed the PMB software, which didn't come with the cam I bought used. Sorta silly that you have to have the software to use the camera if you ask me, but I guess that with the early phases of any technology, there have to be "custom" bits of software to interface things together. Now I just accept that the software is a part of the package, and am happy with the overall performance and quality.

I'm sure that Mac users will get the kinks worked ouf soon enough <wink>!
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Old March 11th, 2008, 08:23 PM   #21
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Frankly I don't know why Sony stay with FAT32 file format as being compatible with old machines that would be too slow to process the video files seems a little silly!!!! Since Sony just seem to have software for the PC, NTFS would be a better solution and specify that the OS has to be Win2K, Win XP or Vista and have done with it.
I am not really getting at the MAC group it just seems that even as a hobby I am prepared to get what it takes to do what I want to do. IF that happened to be software on a MAC I'd get a MAC to use it. I have had lots of computers, including MAC's, even made a MAC from my ATARI( think I still have it in the basement somewhere!!!) but at the moment prefer to assemble my own, hence its a PC and have a range of software that covers all I currently want to do. Edius 4.6, Vegas 8/Architect, PPro CS3( with Encore, On Location,Audition), Womble, Ulead Movie Factory 5, Sound Forge 9, TMPGenc Express 4.0, DVDLab 2.0, Sonicfire PRo 4, Neat filter etc

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Old March 11th, 2008, 08:53 PM   #22
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Edius Pro is, in my opinion, one of the best editing programs out there. It's deep and extremely fast. It's also getting widespread acceptance among HD broadcasters. I've used it for quite awhile and love it.
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Old March 11th, 2008, 09:13 PM   #23
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Yes Edius is my main editor excellent multicam feature and quality codecs,realtime output. I still have DVRaptor RT2 hardware on the PC so can monitor on a NTSC monitor or output DV realtime with hardware acceleration. Sound is usually done in Vegas as this is the easiest to get multitrack control with stereo editing in Sound Forge integrated. Upgraded to CS3 to get Encore for BluRay authoring but really haven't done any yet still prefer DVDLab. At the moment Vegas 8 is the best for integrating AVCHD, HDV and DV on the timeline.

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Old March 11th, 2008, 10:59 PM   #24
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Well, to keep it in perspective here, this thread was about whether or not to buy a consumer sony camera to operate with the poster's father's mac.

The only experience I've had with a Sony consumer camera is the one I'm having now and it's been a nightmare mostly because it did not work the way it was supposed to. I don't know who to blame for that. I know that when i reformatted the hard drive on the camera, it now works as it should - FCP sees it right away and ingesting and converting clips is easy and quick. The problem with the format, in my opinion, is that a slight variation in the directory structure on the disk makes it invisible to the mac editing applications (and to the camera). And dealing with the raw .mts files is a terribly long process involving third party software.

I'm also kind of old-school in the sense that I like the security of having a tape to go back to - a tape with a continuous time code. I've had three perfectly good hard drives fail in the last year (with different computers) and have been burned by keeping poor and irregular backups. I can't imagine at this point in time moving to an all hard-disk workflow. Maybe when 30TB flash drives are available... haha. I wouldn't trust my originals to today's hard drives - IMO they're just too unreliable.

But, whatever. I know things are moving to tapeless recording and someone will come along and invent a solid, long-term, safe archiving method.
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Old March 12th, 2008, 05:41 AM   #25
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Dave two points here on what you said. Yes I agree that it can be dicey just relying on the internal hard drive for storage, but keep in mind that you can and should back up important footage to your computer anyway. You can also ultimately back it to tape if that's your preference.

Second, remember that the Sonys also record to memory stick with none of the 'crash' concerns of the hard drive. So you have both options and can back both up to another hard drive or ultimately tape if that's your choice.

But you see you did get it working with the Mac as it turned out. It will be interesting to see how the Canons do with the Macs.
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Old March 13th, 2008, 03:33 PM   #26
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Dave, I'm glad you got everything working and I'm sorry you had such a fight in the beginning. My experience has (so far) been the opposite of yours.

I bought an SR7 last fall along with an Intensity card - I was able to do transfer into FCP using ProRes and I did some tests doing live capture through the Intensity. I was lucky to have everything work pretty painlessly.

Further, a couple of weeks ago I bought 2 more SR7s for a last minute 3 camera shoot. I captured an hour of continuous footage on each camera and I was able to transfer all 3 files to my Mac Pro through FCP in ProRes without incident. The only downside is that on my quad 3.0, it took roughly 90 minutes to ingest and transcode each hour (and of course the files were much larger). I was able to sync up the three files and edit everything in multicam mode without a hitch.

I never have had to reformat any of my cameras. They just worked out of the box.

Please understand I'm not trying to pooh-pooh your situation. I have certainly endured many instances of hardware or software refusing to do something correctly and I definitely feel your pain! I just wanted to let you know that now you have gotten things in synch, you should have a good experience.
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Old March 14th, 2008, 03:45 PM   #27
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Why don't you guys use the free "Mpeg Streamclip" utility to transcode the AVCHD files the Sony produces to Mac-friendly files for iMovie or FCP?

It's fast and free- works for me with ANY camera's AVCHD files!!!
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Old April 10th, 2008, 12:15 AM   #28
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Originally Posted by Steve Nunez View Post
Why don't you guys use the free "Mpeg Streamclip" utility to transcode the AVCHD files the Sony produces to Mac-friendly files for iMovie or FCP?

It's fast and free- works for me with ANY camera's AVCHD files!!!
Will the file size be much larger than the original AVCHD file size then?

How much larger would it be?
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Old April 10th, 2008, 05:34 AM   #29
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That's the single beauty of AVCHD- small file size. When converted it will blow up considerably.
HDV is 13Gb/Hr! so Plan accordingly. (If converting to HDV)
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Old April 10th, 2008, 06:16 AM   #30
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I have a HDR-CX7 and use iMovie (Version 7.1.1) or Voltaic to import the AVCHD clips to Apple Intermediate Codec. The new .mov files are about 3 times the file size but can be easily edited in iMovie or FCP with sufficient RAM.

Voltaic is a $20 app. iMovie was free.
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