Editing Hmc150 with Final Cut

[Anthony Nguyen]

Hey guys i just recently went from tapes to tapeless with the hmc150. Im still a little bit new to this so hear me out. I recorded some video on my hmc150 but i cant seem to edit with final cut pro because it wont recognize the file. Is there someway i can do to fix this? Also is there a way to import the files by connecting my camera to the computer?

[Robert Turchick]

process involves taking the whole folder from the card named "AVCHD" and put it on a hard drive. (you can transfer from the card but it's slower)
Then open the "log and transfer" window in FCP and navigate to the AVCHD folder and your clips should show up. then just drag them to the transfer queue and they will convert to pro res which is a FCP-friendly format.

Make sure you have ample space on your hard drive and I believe this only works in FCS3 which is the latest.

There are two other options but require extra software purchase...Toast 10 (which you will want to purchase anyway for burning BR) or Cineform which is expensive but some say is much better. I will be trying out Cineform in a few days when my workload clears. Toast saved my butt when I got the mysterious FCP error saying "directory not valid" Mainly because it doesn't care about the rest of the folders, just the mts files.

[Anthony Nguyen]

Thanks man i really apreciate the help. I just got it to work on final cut pro! haha

[Guy McLoughlin]

Originally Posted by Robert Turchick

Cineform which is expensive but some say is much better

Cineform Neo Scene does do a much better job, and only costs $129 to buy.

Cineform Neoscene

[Robert Turchick]

Ok that's not the product I was looking at...what's the difference between that and NeoHD which is $500?

[Guy McLoughlin]

Take a look at the Cineform product grid to see how their different products compare:

Cineform Product Grid

[Robert Turchick]

OK...I will try it out and post results!
Thanks for the info!

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Guy McLoughlin

Cineform Neo Scene does do a much better job, and only costs $129 to buy.

Cineform Neoscene

Do you have any side-by-side stills to compare Cineform Neoscene to the FCP Log & Transfer results?

[Guy McLoughlin]

Originally Posted by Dave Partington

Do you have any side-by-side stills to compare Cineform Neoscene to the FCP Log & Transfer results?

...Just download the NEO SCENE trial and test it out yourself.
Cineform Neoscene

I edit mostly under Windows ( Sony Vegas Pro 9 and Premiere CS 4.2 ), but sought out the NEO SCENE solution for the Final Cut Pro editors that I work with.

I have standardized on NEO SCENE for several reasons:

- Automatic telecine removal (24p extraction from 60i)
- Automatic deinterlacing (30p/25p from 60i/50i)
- Transcodes to 10-bit 4:2:2 color space
- Files are cross platform for Mac and PC
- Smooth editing on a fairly average computer

[Robert Turchick]

well, maybe it's because I shoot 30p with both cameras...but I am not seeing any difference between FCP and Cineform.
Seems from the description that if the footage is interlaced, it makes a big difference.

[Guy McLoughlin]

Originally Posted by Robert Turchick

well, maybe it's because I shoot 30p with both cameras...but I am not seeing any difference between FCP and Cineform

Editing in Sony Vegas Pro, I noticed a lot of difference with video from my consumer cam ( Canon HG21 ) and Canon 7D. With video from my HMC150, it was more subtle, but I found the CineForm footage to have a slightly smoother tonal range. I normally shoot 24P unless the job requires something else.