Good people, hi..

This is in the nature of preliminary research, so here goes.

If I were daft enough to buy one of the new video DSLRs that record in AVCHD, is there any way to get the footege into MC3.0 whilst keeping the full rastor.

I know Panasonic have a utility to convert to DVCProHD, but that loses the full rastor, and I would rather not stump up for a new NLE, being short of cash at the moment.

Idealy (Yeah, right!) I would like to convert straight the most logical flavour of DNxHD.

Oh, yes, I'm in PAL-Land so would be using a 25 fps format.

Thanks,

Dave

I know this will require some setup, but after it's done then it's very easy.

You should be able to recode the files -> DNxHD quicktime media using Sorenson Squeeze (that is bundled with MC).

This is a good workflow to get almost any (at the moment not supported) format to MC.

You can also setup a watchfolder, so if you put some files in that folder, squeeze will recode them and put nice QT files for you do import.

If you set the project & mediacreation and import settings correct, you should be able to do fast import of the QT files when they have been recoded. And you will have very little quality loss.

If QT is crashing when you try to define the codecs, then that's a bug in QT. (here is how you fix it)
http://www.avid.com/cgi/kbase-redir.aspx?p_faqid=75096
http://www.sorensonmedia.com/forum/?ao=sfaq

And here are some good links on how to use sorenson:
http://www.sorensonmedia.com/pages/?pageID=143


http://community.avid.com/blogs/training/archive/2008/07/29/how-to-add-a-watermark-to-your-compressions-in-sorenson-squeeze.aspx

http://community.avid.com/blogs/training/archive/2008/07/28/how-to-setup-a-watch-folder-in-sorenson-squeeze.aspx

http://community.avid.com/blogs/training/archive/2008/07/25/how-to-do-multi-core-compression-in-sorenson-squeeze.aspx

http://community.avid.com/blogs/training/archive/2008/07/22/how-to-constrain-file-sizes-with-sorenson-squeeze.aspx

http://community.avid.com/blogs/training/archive/2008/07/14/quick-tips-for-creating-flash-video-with-sorenson-squeeze.aspx

http://community.avid.com/blogs/training/archive/2008/07/21/how-to-add-chapter-markers-in-sorenson-squeeze.aspx

I'd be very interested to see if this works.  I was on the beta for the current version of squeeze and couldn't get it to recognize AVCHD from a Sony HDD based camcorder. As far as I know, it wasn't solved.

There is a Panasonic tool to convert their version of AVCHD (guess what - they are not all equal.  Another great standard :) ) to P2 but I ended up buying Final Cut Express.  I use that to capture the AVCHD footage and then export it as a QT for use in Avid. 

It's a hell of a faff though.  I would avoid AVCHD for now if I were you; I use it purely for personal use.  I wouldn't dream of using it on a shoot for a client.

D.

Cheers, guys.

I'll look into Sorrensen, as I'm just about to upgrade to 5. Meanwhile there are other video converters that *may* do the job (Or not, as the case may be).

I'ts likely to be May-June before I spring, so plenty of time for research. But I can't deal with anything Apple as I'm PC and don't have the readies for a Mac just yet.

Dave

Hi Dave, I'm using a Panasonic HD camcorder (AVCHD) but am using the Mainconcept DVCPro transcoder which works fine, I'd also like to be able to maintain the full resolution though so the sorenson transcode sounds exciting.

If you manage to get it to work would you report back? -

At present I'm only on the trial version of MC and don't have Sorenson at all. Normally I use Xpress Pro 5.5 - am considering the upgrade but not sure untill there's a significantly better way of dealing with the transcode.

(EDIT: p.s. PAL too, using 1080i but then transcoded to DVCPROHD)

I can't get Sorenson 5 to recognize the AVCHD from a Sony lipstick camera we're using on a current show.  It simply says "This filetype not supported."

I'm currently trying to wrestle MediaCoder into doing it - there's an article here:

http://blog.mediacoderhq.com/how-to-convert-avchd-with-mediacoder/

...but it's also defying me.  It recognizes the .m2ts files and displays their full info etc, but as for outputting to another codec I'm still struggling.  If anyone finds other useful info, please report back here.

In Vegas I was able to open and convert all the AVCHD footage I was given so far. And my friend used the Edius with success as well.

PP

Yip - exactly what I found on the Beta Chad.  I sent them over test files and footage and it just drifted until I decided life was too short and I gave up.  Their main problem seemed to be they didn't actually understand AVCHD (and I can only speak from a Sony perspective here) file structures at all.

When I queried them on it I got a response basically asking for test footage as they do not have access to any.  How did they develop support for a format without actually having access to it?  The mind boggles...

As I say earlier, I gave up.  I'm not in love with Squeeze at the best of times and I decided to cut my losses as far as AVCHD goes and turned elsewhere.

If you have no access to a Mac (and Final Cut Express) I believe one of the cheaper versions of Vegas can transcode.

Of course, the other option is to just play out through the camera and capture it.  Given the time taken to transcode it this is probably not so stupid an option as it sounds :)

I know it is a consumer format, but I would like to incorporate it into my toolkit.  Being able to plonk a small camera into a corner and not have to worry about replacing tapes etc etc is a nice way to provide the odd extra bit of footage.  C'mon Avid, hold your nose to avoid the smell and get the format supported :)

It really is time Avid stopped turning their collective noses up at this format. Ok it's (Sort-of) consumer-ish but remember the Panny HMC 151 records AVCHD, and that's a fair step up fron your average consumer-cam, plus the Canon 5DII which is attracting all sorts of Pro interest, for fairly serious work. So....Avid was behind the curve with HDV, and then there was the infamous 720/25p saga of horrid memory. Can they get it right this time, I hope so.

I don't see editing in natve AVCHD as being worthwhile, but surly the ability to trancode to a suitable flavour of DNxHD is a no-brainer.

I've just stumped up for an upgrade to the latest Sorenson, else I'll look for consumer-level editing software which may be able to do a transcode.

Still I won't be moving to buy a Video DSLR at least until I see reviews of the Panny GH1, and even then it's not (For me) a vital have.

Dave

Hi to all, I work in PAL region in SD format,but many of source recive from internet in diffrent formats.

I download avchd test material(Panasonic and Sony) from internet and have no problem to transcode in whatever format i want with TMPGEnc.

If you want send me some material(5-10 seconds) to make test.

Hi to all, I have been wrestling with this for a month. I work in NTSC and on a PC. And, like Stefanopolus, I found the TMPGEnc codec to work for my equation of equipment. I have a Canon Vixia HF11 and I am able to transcode all of my 1920 x 1080, MTS files to QT files using the Avid DNxHD Cdec Compression type. The settings  I use are 1080i/59.94 DNxHD 220 10-bit resolution. There is very little quality loss after importing it into MC. Although I could have a major three couse meal and a movie waiting for the file to import into MC.

Vegas 8.0 and Pinnacle Pro studio 12 will import the AVCHD files flawlesly but have a real hard time playing smooth video for editing. MC, after trans-coding to QT is a smooth working process. Most of my time is spent trans-coding and importing when I work with AVCHD. Avid needs to address this issue because this type of storage is the direction all cameras are heading towards. It's cheaper, lighter and no moving parts.

Hi Stefanopolus, I looked at TMPGEnc but didn't get very far with their website. Is it a straightforward process?

could you try it with this .MTS file? :

http://www.boardie.com/avchd/swanatholmepierrepont_seanriley.MTS

Its an AVCHD file from my (domestic) Panasonic HD camera. - Feel free to try this anyone else who needs a quick test clip, it's not very long and is about 20Meg to download.

Thanks in advance

Sean

p.s. on the topic of it being a 'domestic' format, yes it is, but these days we lend cameras to punters all the time and this kind of camera is ideal, yes you can play out from it in SD which would suit my workplace as we're still SD but surely there must be a cleverer way!

p.p.s. DaveSwan, its not a joke on your name, just a clip I happened to shoot/upload at the end of last year of a swan... no pun was intended!

I also use TMPEG Enc for nearly everything. I find it to truly be a must-have application. It has the added benefit of being able to remove pulldown from the 24p varieties of AVCHD (I own and use a Canon Vixia HF11), providing a 23.976 DNxHD encode. Worth every penny.

Chris

I think I've finally worked out where I was going wrong on the TMPGEnc website - for some reason it kept sending me to the v2.5 download area. I've now managed to download v.4 and it appears good. One question though (apologies for hijacking this thread btw!) - Must I download the Avid DNxHD codecs separately and install them for TMPGEnc to be able to encode DNxHD? Also, do you get that awful combing effect on interlaced source or is that not an issue.

THanks in advance.

Hi sean.

I hadn't thought of TMPGEnc encoder, I'll look it up. I think you should alrady have all the DNxHD codecs with MC.

I'm just off to have a look for your swan footage. As for the combing effect, I don't know, I've seen it bofore with both SD and HD footage, but not consistantly. I think it's an artifat of the MPEG encoding to disk, though I may well be wrong. Perhaps someone who knows for sure will chime in.

Cheers, Dave