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Sony HVR-A1 and HDR-HC Series
Sony's latest single-CMOS additions to their HDV camcorder line.

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Old April 29th, 2008, 05:21 AM   #1
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Changing JVC HD7 for SR11/12 - thoughts re mac

I've been attempting to work with JVC's HD7 cam and its .tod file formats with a mac for about three weeks now and have decided to sell it on as frankly its been HELL. Great camera but the devil to work with on a mac.

I have had such a horrendous time with the AVCHD file formats in TOD extention files for the HD7 that I am more than a little cautious about going for another hard drive cam. I've seen some discussions re mac usage of the sr11 and sr12 here but I have been left entirely unclear as to whether the sony will be as much hassle as the JVC.

Anyone have an opinion on this? I'm going to return to a hdv camcorder with tape based codec if the sr11 looks to be even half as bad as the HD7 but would like some opinions from sr 11 and 12 mac users. Can see some discussions regarding this but opinions seem entirely split and I can't make much out of them. Someone want to offer fresh thoughts?

I have a 2.33ghz mac book pro with 4gb ram on leopard btw - it SHOULD be able to handle a lot... but I have already been proved wrong with the JVC - I am running FCS2 and have recently bought imovie 08 to try and resolve my issues with the HD7. I use cameras to shoot films. I am a professional user. Thanks

Last edited by David Carter; April 29th, 2008 at 06:18 AM.
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Old April 29th, 2008, 06:57 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by David Carter View Post
I have had such a horrendous time with the AVCHD file formats in TOD extention files for the HD7 that.../...
The format used by the GZ-HD7 is not AVCHD (a variant of Mpeg-4 AVC) but is Mpeg-2. An CBR option is even proposed on the HD7 to permit to use any video editor capable to handle properly HDV.

So, IMHO, if despite the many posts on forums (and the availability of a cheap HD7 Handbook proposed by Stephe Mullen) given different solutions to use the HD7 footages on PC or on Mac, you are still not confortable with the .TOD extension, I advise you to not enter now in the AVCHD world... Maybe in some months...

All the other actual HD consumers/prosumers cams recording on memoring and/or HDD use this AVCHD format (except the JVC HD-Everios, like, as said, the GZ-HD7) and this format is still very hard to edit, because the implementation of the AVCHD codec is new and is still not very optimized on the software side, and because a more powerfull PC/Mac is required.

FYI, some users of iMovie-08 say that they can handle AVCHD with a 2.16ghz Mac Book Pro, but some other not... (depends on the AVCHD cams and on the quality/speed rates used, I presume...).

I've read too that the Final Cut and iMovie can extract easilly AVCHD directly from the HDD of the cam but cannot do it if the files are firstly copied on disk. Hope it's a temporal limitation. But you can see that, for the moment, the work with the AVCHD format is still not trouble free...
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Old April 30th, 2008, 09:38 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by David Carter View Post
I've been attempting to work with JVC's HD7 cam and its .tod file formats with a mac for about three weeks now and have decided to sell it on as frankly its been HELL. Great camera but the devil to work with on a mac.

I have had such a horrendous time with the AVCHD file formats in TOD extention files for the HD7 that I am more than a little cautious about going for another hard drive cam. I've seen some discussions re mac usage of the sr11 and sr12 here but I have been left entirely unclear as to whether the sony will be as much hassle as the JVC.

Anyone have an opinion on this? I'm going to return to a hdv camcorder with tape based codec if the sr11 looks to be even half as bad as the HD7 but would like some opinions from sr 11 and 12 mac users. Can see some discussions regarding this but opinions seem entirely split and I can't make much out of them. Someone want to offer fresh thoughts?

I have a 2.33ghz mac book pro with 4gb ram on leopard btw - it SHOULD be able to handle a lot... but I have already been proved wrong with the JVC - I am running FCS2 and have recently bought imovie 08 to try and resolve my issues with the HD7. I use cameras to shoot films. I am a professional user. Thanks
I am very much comfortable with JVC GZHD7, it has been more than one year since I am using it, I have no problem, I have Canon HV20 also but I am more comfortable with JVC GZHD7!

I am not using Mac, I have window vista on my Laptop.

And Bruno Donnet, wrote you that JVC GZHD7 is not AVCHD based camera, JVC still support MPEG2 not AVCHD.

How if you use window vista base computer, since you already like HD7 very much!

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Old April 30th, 2008, 09:43 AM   #4
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Thanks Kaushik. I think I will leave AVCHD cams and the HD7 mpeg2 cam well alone. I've had too much trouble with the HD7, its been absolute torture and the TIME and EFFORT has been far more than should be given to such business. I will perhaps return to them when the mac software catches up and workflow speeds up.

BTW replacing my mac based editing suite is not an option... have a great time with your HD7! I think they are great cams. Just not for me and my mac. I am selling mine. It's been too much hard work and I'm still having a hard time.
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Old May 1st, 2008, 01:10 AM   #5
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Thanks Kaushik. I think I will leave AVCHD cams and the HD7 mpeg2 cam well alone. I've had too much trouble with the HD7, its been absolute torture and the TIME and EFFORT has been far more than should be given to such business. I will perhaps return to them when the mac software catches up and workflow speeds up.

BTW replacing my mac based editing suite is not an option... have a great time with your HD7! I think they are great cams. Just not for me and my mac. I am selling mine. It's been too much hard work and I'm still having a hard time.
David, Carter,

But I am afraid, there are so many Mac user are using HD7, they must be happy, I guess. I would advise keep HD7, if you can it is very good camera, indeed!

Kaushik
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Old May 1st, 2008, 02:10 AM   #6
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I sold it yesterday Kaushik, and I am VERY happy to see it go, as without spending even more time and money on additional software etc the camera has been absolute hell to edit with.

I have replaced it with a more manageable sony HDVideo hdr-hc9e (steering clear of avchd thanks to this thread) - the JVC HD7 when all is said and done has been more bother than it was worth for me. The sheer amount of TIME I have lost this week and when I bought it at first - trying in vain to edit the footage has been astronomical.

The footage is beautiful and rich, I really like it. But despite DAYS of trying, despite buying the e book to enhance my understanding, despite phonecalls to JVC and upDates (and downgrades) to my mac, despite outlaying approx $320 on upGrades to my mac, despite all these things and hours and hours and hours and HOURS of my time, this camera never offered a realistic workflow. Certainly not with FCP2. In imovie hd6 or 08 or even on a pc with the bundled software this footage was horrendous to manipulate.

I know most HD7 users on the forum are very happy with their purchase but the few that have emailed me with the same problems and who have ALSO SOLD their HD7's must prove that this camera is just not for everyone. In a few months time this may be a far more consumer friendly cam - but I don't have a few months and need a good working cam now which is why I chose to ditch it.

Thanks Kaushik and have a great time with your HD7 - as this is a Sony thread, I would like to put it to rest. Thanks to all for your thoughts and advice.
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Old May 1st, 2008, 09:29 PM   #7
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I sold it yesterday Kaushik, and I am VERY happy to see it go, as without spending even more time and money on additional software etc the camera has been absolute hell to edit with.

I have replaced it with a more manageable sony HDVideo hdr-hc9e (steering clear of avchd thanks to this thread) - the JVC HD7 when all is said and done has been more bother than it was worth for me. The sheer amount of TIME I have lost this week and when I bought it at first - trying in vain to edit the footage has been astronomical.

The footage is beautiful and rich, I really like it. But despite DAYS of trying, despite buying the e book to enhance my understanding, despite phonecalls to JVC and upDates (and downgrades) to my mac, despite outlaying approx $320 on upGrades to my mac, despite all these things and hours and hours and hours and HOURS of my time, this camera never offered a realistic workflow. Certainly not with FCP2. In imovie hd6 or 08 or even on a pc with the bundled software this footage was horrendous to manipulate.

I know most HD7 users on the forum are very happy with their purchase but the few that have emailed me with the same problems and who have ALSO SOLD their HD7's must prove that this camera is just not for everyone. In a few months time this may be a far more consumer friendly cam - but I don't have a few months and need a good working cam now which is why I chose to ditch it.

Thanks Kaushik and have a great time with your HD7 - as this is a Sony thread, I would like to put it to rest. Thanks to all for your thoughts and advice.
David Carter,

Congratulation on your new buying!

Kaushik
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