AVCHD Panasonic cam

[EssentialParado]

If you watch the new Apple media event Steve Jobs plugs the Panasonic HDC-SD1 video cam and said it's fully supported by the new iMovie. I did some research and it looks like (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/panasonic_hdc-sd1.html) an excellent cam at an excellent price (with a newer version coming out next month (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/newsitems/panasonic_hdc-sd5-sx5_news.html))

I was just curious, when Steve Jobs said iMovie supports it, how do you get the footage from the cam or the SD card? There is no Firewire connection. Does it require special software, or will you connect the cam to the Mac via USB 2.0 and the SD card will appear like a mounted drive which you can drag the footage straight off and into iMovie?

[Multimedia]

If you watch the new Apple media event Steve Jobs plugs the Panasonic HDC-SD1 video cam and said it's fully supported by the new iMovie. I did some research and it looks like (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/panasonic_hdc-sd1.html) an excellent cam at an excellent price (with a newer version coming out next month (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/newsitems/panasonic_hdc-sd5-sx5_news.html))

I was just curious, when Steve Jobs said iMovie supports it, how do you get the footage from the cam or the SD card? There is no Firewire connection. Does it require special software, or will you connect the cam to the Mac via USB 2.0 and the SD card will appear like a mounted drive which you can drag the footage straight off and into iMovie?Right off the 8GB SD Cards (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/newsitems/panasonic_8gb_sdhc_news.html) which look like HDs when plugged into the card reader OR Via the USB 2 connection to the camera.

Panasonic unveils HDC-SD5 and SX5 (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/newsitems/panasonic_hdc-sd5-sx5_news.html)

Great find EssentialParado! These new models hit the streets in September and they look great. 3 CCDs for under $1K is what I've been looking for for a while. Hope it has manual audio gain as well as a LANC port. Max data rate is only 13Mbps/CBR compared to 25Mbps/CBR with HDV but the avoidance of tape and 3CCDs may make that a moot point.

[Blazer5913]

Exactly. Watch the iLife 08 tutorial thing and it shows you that it connects via USB 2.0 and it transfers with that. I guess this is a first, b/c just like a camera, you can preview the clips before hand and even fast forward them and stuff... pretty cool. but yes, usb 2.0

[EssentialParado]

Wow. I just watched the tutorial vid for importing footage, it's so simple for an SD camera. Being flash it should transfer at lightspeed as well. I'm hugely impressed.

I agree with you Multimedia, this looks like an amazing camera, and 3CCDs and HD for under a grand makes it a must-buy for me. I wonder how much Panasonic paid Steve to make that little plug. ;)

[Multimedia]

Wow. I just watched the tutorial vid for importing footage, it's so simple for an SD camera. Being flash it should transfer at lightspeed as well. I'm hugely impressed.

I agree with you Multimedia, this looks like an amazing camera, and 3CCDs and HD for under a grand makes it a must-buy for me. I wonder how much Panasonic paid Steve to make that little plug. ;)Link please?

[EssentialParado]

Link please?
Tutorial vids: http://www.apple.com/ilife/tutorials/#imovie-oneplace-8

By the way, the Panasonic cam does feature manual audio gain.

Though I don't know if you get an SD card with the camera or not. Will be an extra $100 if not.

[Multimedia]

According to the 8GB SD Card page on Simply DV (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/newsitems/panasonic_8gb_sdhc_news.html) they're going to cost EUR129 or almost $178 according to today's exchange rate. Panasonic will probably throw in no more than a 1GB card for starters. I would have to buy several 8GB cards as when I shoot, I shoot a lot.

Thanks for the link.

[BornAgainMac]

I like the fact it is using flash hard drives but I wish they would have used a 60 or 80 GB hard drive until flash is more affordable. Or perhaps work with either type of drive as removable media. Still, it looks like a great product.

[MacAficionado]

According to the 8GB SD Card page on Simply DV (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/newsitems/panasonic_8gb_sdhc_news.html) they're going to cost EUR129 or almost $178 according to today's exchange rate. Panasonic will probably throw in no more than a 1GB card for starters. I would have to buy several 8GB cards as when I shoot, I shoot a lot.

Thanks for the link.

I think the current models come with a 4 GB which is nice, but 8GB would be much better. I stopped using my MiniDV camcorder a long time ago because of the hassle with tapes and the horrible motor noise.
I'm now excited about this new cameras, the format and iMovie's support. It looks like it works awesome, can't wait to get me one of these.

[LethalWolfe]

Something to keep in mind is a figuring out an easy and reliable way to backup all of your footage since you no longer will have master tapes to go back too. It would suck quite a bit to have a HDD go down and take the only copies of your videos with it.


Lethal

[mrgreen4242]

Something to keep in mind is a figuring out an easy and reliable way to backup all of your footage since you no longer will have master tapes to go back too. It would suck quite a bit to have a HDD go down and take the only copies of your videos with it.


Lethal

Just drop them on a DVD? Assuming you're using a 4gb SD card like people here are talking about, you can just dump the entire contents of a full card to a 20 cent DVD in its original format... seems like it would be cheaper than keeping the DV tape around?

If you're using an 8gb card you could us DL DVD (more expensive than DVD-R but cheaper than tape still I think) or split it onto two regular DVD-Rs...

Dunno, is there something wrong with that or am I missing something important? I JUST started reading about this ACVHD business today, so maybe I'm way off.

[LethalWolfe]

Just drop them on a DVD? Assuming you're using a 4gb SD card like people here are talking about, you can just dump the entire contents of a full card to a 20 cent DVD in its original format... seems like it would be cheaper than keeping the DV tape around?

If you're using an 8gb card you could us DL DVD (more expensive than DVD-R but cheaper than tape still I think) or split it onto two regular DVD-Rs...

Dunno, is there something wrong with that or am I missing something important? I JUST started reading about this ACVHD business today, so maybe I'm way off.

Yes, you can dump the 4gig ones onto DVDs and 8gig onto DL-DVDs if you have a DL burner. I should have said "instituting" instead of "figuring out" a workflow to back up all of your videos. Going tapeless means you have an extra step in there to make the backups and users just need to remember to do that and not procrastinate until it's too late. :(


Lethal

[66217]

Would this camcorder work with FCE?

[mrgreen4242]

Yes, you can dump the 4gig ones onto DVDs and 8gig onto DL-DVDs if you have a DL burner. I should have said "instituting" instead of "figuring out" a workflow to back up all of your videos. Going tapeless means you have an extra step in there to make the backups and users just need to remember to do that and not procrastinate until it's too late. :(


Lethal

Ah I understand. I thought I was missing something important. :)

[Hopstretch]

There were a few gripes (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-HDC-SD1-Camcorder-Review.htm) about aspects of the HDC-SD1 setup, although the current street prices are very tempting. The -SD5 update looks fairly modest. (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-HDC-SD1-Camcorder-Review.htm)

[scu]

I bought the Canon HV20. I shot 40 minutes of video and it took up 19 Gigs in iMovie.

I am not sure how an 8Gig SD card will do the job unless it compresses the video as it records it.

[bloodycape]

I have seen 16gig sd cards going for like $120 I think that maybe a good choice if it works with these cameras.

[ftaok]

I bought the Canon HV20. I shot 40 minutes of video and it took up 19 Gigs in iMovie.

I am not sure how an 8Gig SD card will do the job unless it compresses the video as it records it.

Your numbers don't sound right. The HV20 is an HDV camcorder, right? If so, it records at 25 Mbps ... so 40 minutes of video should clock in at about 7.3 GB. Do you have a bunch of stuff in the trash, or maybe some a bunch of titles and transitions?

Anyways, the new Panny records at a max 13 Mbps, so you'll get about 80 minutes on an 8GB SDHC card.

BTW, all of these digital camcorders compress the video. It's just a matter of how "gentle" the compression is.

ft

[LethalWolfe]

Your numbers don't sound right. The HV20 is an HDV camcorder, right? If so, it records at 25 Mbps ... so 40 minutes of video should clock in at about 7.3 GB. Do you have a bunch of stuff in the trash, or maybe some a bunch of titles and transitions?


HD coming into iMovie gets transcoded into the Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) which is a much higher bit rate codec than HDV or AVCHD.


Lethal

[Multimedia]

Would this camcorder work with FCE?Not YET. Need FCE 4 - gotta be soon. Take that back. Apple should be able to do a very modest update to the existing FCE 3.5 to make it AVCHD compatible IF the code in 3.5 is close enough to the code in FCP6. Don't know if it is. If not, need a full blown new version similar to FCP6 Light.

[ftaok]

HD coming into iMovie gets transcoded into the Apple Intermediate Codec (AIC) which is a much higher bit rate codec than HDV or AVCHD.


Lethal

OK, good to know.

I have a question now. With iMovie'08, does the video library keep the HD footage in it's original format, or does it convert it to AIC? Maybe they can have an option where the footage is kept in HDV or AVCHD, and it only converts it to AIC after it's placed in the timeline (or whatever it's called now).

I can see HDD space filling up quickly over time.

ft

[Multimedia]

OK, good to know.

I have a question now. With iMovie'08, does the video library keep the HD footage in it's original format, or does it convert it to AIC? Maybe they can have an option where the footage is kept in HDV or AVCHD, and it only converts it to AIC after it's placed in the timeline (or whatever it's called now).

I can see HDD space filling up quickly over time.

ftNope. 750GB HDs are $200 and 1 TB HDs are now $259 so space is not a problem any more. Alll must be converted to AIC because the native MPEG2 streams are uneditable in their native condition.

[Glenn Wolsey]

Nope. 750GB HDs are $200 and 1 TB HDs are now $259 so space is not a problem any more. Alll must be converted to AIC because the native MPEG2 streams are uneditable in their native condition.

1TB drives for $259? Where?

[thefunkymunky]

Any advantages over using a Flash-based camera as opposed to a HDD-based one. Sony have many HDD-based (http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProductCategory.action?site=odw_en_GB&category=HDD+AVCHD+Hard+Disk+Drive) cameras as well as a Flash-based (http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=HDR-CX6EK&site=odw_en_GB&imageType=Main&category=CAM+High+Definition+on+Memory+Stick) one.

If choosing a Flash-based model, would it be the Sony or the new Panny (http://www.panasonic.co.uk/pukweb04-otm-cam-highdefinition/hdc-sd5eg-k/index.htm).

:confused:

[Donnacha]

Any advantages over using a Flash-based camera as opposed to a HDD-based one.
Weight, size, durability, energy consumption?

Plus, with 16GB cards (4hrs footage at the highest quality) coming before year end, is there any need for a 60GB HDD? I mean, seriously, are you really going to wait to dump 60GB of footage onto your Macbook Pro all in one go? A 16GB card, or even a few of them if necessary, makes more sense.

[Donnacha]

... and 1 TB HDs are now $259 ...
Really? I haven't come across those prices yet but I do expect them pretty soon, when the Hitachi is no longer the only 1TB. Competition will kick in when Seagate releases it's 1TB soon.

[sananda]

did steve say this camcorder was $799? because in the panasonic brochure i picked up recently it's listed as £900. ouch!

[thefunkymunky]

did steve say this camcorder was $799? because in the panasonic brochure i picked up recently it's listed as £900. ouch!

^ Thats inflated UK prices for you. :mad:

[ftaok]

Weight, size, durability, energy consumption?

Plus, with 16GB cards (4hrs footage at the highest quality) coming before year end, is there any need for a 60GB HDD? I mean, seriously, are you really going to wait to dump 60GB of footage onto your Macbook Pro all in one go? A 16GB card, or even a few of them if necessary, makes more sense.

Actually, the newest Panny gets 80 minutes on an 8GB card at the highest setting (13 Mbps). So with a 16 GB card, you're looking at about 2.5 hours. I think the new Sony flash AVCHD camcorder records at 15 Mbps, so a 16GB MemoryStick would get you a little over 2 hours.

ft

[bloodycape]

I've been told by a reliable source that Best Buy had the Hitachi 1TB drives on sale at that price recently. :eek:

You are kidding? That low I would have to get 3. What was the regular price? Now someone needs to get 500gig or more built for laptops.

[EssentialParado]

Not YET. Need FCE 4 - gotta be soon. Take that back. Apple should be able to do a very modest update to the existing FCE 3.5 to make it AVCHD compatible IF the code in 3.5 is close enough to the code in FCP6. Don't know if it is. If not, need a full blown new version similar to FCP6 Light.
Surely could you not just mount the SD card and drag the .mp4 video files (I assume) into Final Cut Express?

[Kingsly]

Something to keep in mind is a figuring out an easy and reliable way to backup all of your footage since you no longer will have master tapes to go back too. It would suck quite a bit to have a HDD go down and take the only copies of your videos with it.


Lethal

Listen to Lethal here. I recently had an entire project go down (~60 gigs worth of MXF files) because the POS LaCie drive died on it's way to the sound editor. Good thing I did a rough pass and exported it, but still... I will never be able to color correct or do a proper sound edit now. Don't be me. Make backups immediately!
:o

[LethalWolfe]

Listen to Lethal here. I recently had an entire project go down (~60 gigs worth of MXF files) because the POS LaCie drive died on it's way to the sound editor. Good thing I did a rough pass and exported it, but still... I will never be able to color correct or do a proper sound edit now. Don't be me. Make backups immediately!
:o

Ouch dude, sorry to hear that.


Lethal

[Kingsly]

Ouch dude, sorry to hear that.


Lethal

Yeah, I don't think I'll be buying another LaCie drive again. Dual hitachi 500GB in an enclosure w/ mirrored RAID ftw! :D

[LethalWolfe]

Yeah, I don't think I'll be buying another LaCie drive again. Dual hitachi 500GB in an enclosure w/ mirrored RAID ftw! :D

This is just my opinion, but I think the LaCie's are fine for non-continuous use(back-up drive for instance) but for continuous use like editing the passive cooling enclosure seems inadequate and the HDD cooks. Many people seem to be happy w/G-Tech (http://www.g-technology.com/) drives (they are passively cooled too but have a heat sink on the bottom as well as better air flow). I'm not a huge fan of using a mirrored RAID as a sole back-up because if a power surge or something hits you're up a creek 'cause both your main and backup drives just got fried. I prefer using FW drives that stay unplugged and disconnected expect for when I'm updating them. For a current project I'm working on I'll have a set of drives and the master tapes at my place and the director will have a mirrored set of drives and clones of the master tapes at his house. We have over 100hrs of footage so far (probably have another 50 before shooting is done) so it's a chore keeping things organized and doing all the clones myself, but it's worth it knowing I have these "safety nets" in place incase anything goes wrong (I also keep the project file saved in three different places).


Lethal

[diamond.g]

Nope. 750GB HDs are $200 and 1 TB HDs are now $259 so space is not a problem any more. Alll must be converted to AIC because the native MPEG2 streams are uneditable in their native condition.

Nevermind. So, when do you think we will see 20mbps AVCHD (with CABAC encoding)?

[Peel]

So, when do you think we will see 20mbps AVCHD (with CABAC encoding)?

Well, for that kind of real time encoding, the cams will have to have a LOT more processor horsepower, which of course will eat at battery life. With the extra encoding necessary to "binarize" then encode for CABAC (vs. one pass encode for VLC), and the increase from 13 to 20Mbps, I'd say that is at least a doubling in processor power. So taking Moore's Law into account, I'd say 18 months minimum. At least at the $1000 price point.

[bkvideography]

Does anybody here know the file size for an hour of the highest quality HD this thing can shoot (in the AIC format).

[ftaok]

Does anybody here know the file size for an hour of the highest quality HD this thing can shoot (in the AIC format).

The Panny doesn't shoot in AIC, it shoots in AVCHD. In the highest quality mode, it clocks in at 13 Mbps, or about 5.8 GB per hour.

When you import the video into iMovie'08, it converts it to AIC. I don't know the bit rate for AIC, but someone mentioned 110 Mbps, which is about 50 GB per hour.

ft

[bkvideography]

50gb/hour for dv/hdv? What a joke!

[cbtscheid]

I just got off the phone with Panasonic and they are accepting pre-orders for the new HDC-SD5 at $995.95. I also checked on Amazon and they are also accepting pre-orders and showing a shipping date of around September 15th. :( Bummer for me as my Colorado vacation starts on Sep 3-15th. However, I really can't see buying the HDC-SD1 when the newer one is coming out just around the corner.

[Peel]

50gb/hour for dv/hdv? What a joke!

No, the poster said the 50GB/hr was for AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec). this is a non-temporaly compressed codec (unlike HDV and AVCHD). It is used for editing only (which HDV and AVCHD aren't good at due to the temporal compression), not for shooting, not for storage. Once you've edited your footage, you use compressor (for FCP) or export from iMovie to a different format, like h.264, or mpeg2 or 4. Then you can delete your AIC files.

[bkvideography]

No, the poster said the 50GB/hr was for AIC (Apple Intermediate Codec). this is a non-temporaly compressed codec (unlike HDV and AVCHD). It is used for editing only (which HDV and AVCHD aren't good at due to the temporal compression), not for shooting, not for storage. Once you've edited your footage, you use compressor (for FCP) or export from iMovie to a different format, like h.264, or mpeg2 or 4. Then you can delete your AIC files.

still....if i want to put AVCHD on my computer, it will be 50GB/hr unless i edit it and change the format. that is pathetic. its a consumer format!

[LethalWolfe]

still....if i want to put AVCHD on my computer, it will be 50GB/hr unless i edit it and change the format. that is pathetic. its a consumer format!
It's also a complicated and very CPU intensive format. That's the trade off for such a small file size. AVCHD is based on h.264 and as rough idea of how demanding a codec it is just look at how steep Apple's h.264 system recommendations (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/guide/hd/recommendations.html) are just for play black. Even using a completely maxed out 8-core would flat out suck for editing that format and using a consumer machine w/iMovie would just be an absolute nightmare. Interframe codecs like HDV and AVCHD are not very good editing codecs because they are so CPU demanding.


Lethal

[jmelario]

If you watch the new Apple media event Steve Jobs plugs the Panasonic HDC-SD1 video cam and said it's fully supported by the new iMovie. I did some research and it looks like (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/Reviews/panasonic_hdc-sd1.html) an excellent cam at an excellent price (with a newer version coming out next month (http://www.simplydv.co.uk/newsitems/panasonic_hdc-sd5-sx5_news.html))

I was just curious, when Steve Jobs said iMovie supports it, how do you get the footage from the cam or the SD card? There is no Firewire connection. Does it require special software, or will you connect the cam to the Mac via USB 2.0 and the SD card will appear like a mounted drive which you can drag the footage straight off and into iMovie?

Just purchased the SD1 , discovered that we simply cannot download the sd card to our Macs (pre imovie 8 ) . They will however load to imovie 8 . I've not yet attempted to copy to any other storage type items . BTW , B&H photo is selling for about $750.

Also the Apple demo on imovie 8 , neglects to show that the camera needs more than a simple USB line , it must also be connectd to ac-power via the charge unit .

JM E

[ftaok]

Just purchased the SD1 , discovered that we simply cannot download the sd card to our Macs (pre imovie 8 ) . They will however load to imovie 8 . I've not yet attempted to copy to any other storage type items . BTW , B&H photo is selling for about $750.



Good info.

I've written about this in other threads/forums. Since iMovie06 is not compatible with these AVCHD camcorders, is there a way to use iMovie'08 to import and convert the AVCHD files to AIC? Then, using iMovie'06, import the converted AIC files to use all of the '06 features?

I guess it would take a little time to find the converted files, depending on how the iMovie'08 library is set up in Finder.

If this can be done, then iMovie'06 can use footage from the newest AVCHD camcorders. Someone could probably write an Applescript to automate the process.

ft

[EssentialParado]

Just purchased the SD1 , discovered that we simply cannot download the sd card to our Macs (pre imovie 8 ) . They will however load to imovie 8 . I've not yet attempted to copy to any other storage type items . BTW , B&H photo is selling for about $750.

Also the Apple demo on imovie 8 , neglects to show that the camera needs more than a simple USB line , it must also be connectd to ac-power via the charge unit .

JM E
Hmm… that's interesting. So if you plug it in via USB does the SD card mount? What files show up on it?

[Bunsen]

Here's a really good, top to bottom, review of the Panasonic sd1:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-HDC-SD1-Camcorder-Review.htm

I was looking at the Canon HV20, but this camera really had me tempted for a while, even playing with it in Circuit City for a bit. I really want to go tapeless, but I don't feel the AVCHD codec is there yet (in quality and support) Check out the Performance and Format parts of the review.
Also, they found the smaller ccd's (all 3 of them) couldn't compare to the Canon HV20's single one in low light conditions. It had more noise and less accurate colors.

I'm still on the fence, and will probably wait till around Christmas to buy. Then I can see if the sd5 rates any better, and maybe Canon will have something new.

Oh, also, I don't use iMovie at all, only FCP and I haven't yet upgraded to Studio 2. (spent too much recently upgrading to Adobe CS3 Production Premium:eek:)

[Multimedia]

Just purchased the SD1 , discovered that we simply cannot download the sd card to our Macs (pre imovie 8 ) . They will however load to imovie 8 . I've not yet attempted to copy to any other storage type items . BTW , B&H photo is selling for about $750.

Also the Apple demo on imovie 8 , neglects to show that the camera needs more than a simple USB line , it must also be connectd to ac-power via the charge unit .

JM EIt's iMovie 7.0.1 not 8. It's a part of iLife '08. You AVCHD people are really in for a rude surprise when you figure out you have no logical archival technique as do HDV users on HDV video tape.

[ftaok]

It's iMovie 7.0.1 not 8. It's a part of iLife '08. You AVCHD people are really in for a rude surprise when you figure out you have no logical archival technique as do HDV users on HDV video tape.

While I agree that HDV is currently better than AVCHD right now, the convenience of not having tapes is very tempting. I would love for someone to develop an HD camcorder that shoots HDV, but records onto Flash or a HDD.

As for archival, if you use a 8 GB flash card for the AVCHD units, you could always dump the raw files onto a DVD-R/DL. Plus, you always have the AIC version in the iMovie'08 library which would/should get backed up during your normal back-up routine.

The problem for the more advanced users (somewhere between shoot-n-watch and the pro) is that the lowest common denominator always wins. That's why the miniDV camcorders are going away. DVD and HDD camcorders have overtaken the SD market.

With HD camcorders, the pros know that tape is currently better, but the normal consumer will see the Flash/DVD/HDD AVCHD units and compare it to the tape-based HDV ones and automatically dismiss HDV. Consumers have been conditioned to think that tape means low-quality. You could talk about bit-rates, archiving, resolution, editing and cost until you're blue in the face ... the low-end consumer will opt for the "fancier" units. And when that happens .... shudder.

[johns]

hello, does anyone know how to import or edit raw AVCHD files into the latest versions of imovie or final cut pro?

the reason for asking is i purchased a Panasonic HDC-SD1 back in march right when it came out in asia. i knew at the time this AVCHD format wasn't yet supported by imovie or FC but had a feeling it would sooner or later. when iLife 08 came out i was hopeful AVCHD would be included and apparently it is, but as far as i can see imovie 08 only support AVCHD when the video is played back directly from the camera into imovie.

here's the problem...i have over 200 gigs of raw AVCHD files sitting on a hard drive for eight months and now it appears i cannot import the raw video data for editing even in the new version of imovie or FC.

am i missing something?

is there a workaround with mac OS to sort this problem or are all these 50+ hours of video lost until another upgrade comes to imovie?

if there is anyone out there who could shed some light on this problem of importing AVCHD video files from HD's and not when connecting the camera on playback to the computer i would be extremely grateful.

thank you for your time.

all the best, john

[CristianTorrent]

Hi there!

I have a Panasonic SD5 like featured above. I tried to put my clips on my normal PC and the programme that came with it Pinnacle, well kept crashing.

I bought a G5 then and also Final Cut Pro, and the clips wouldn't show up. I rang Apple support, they told me a G5 wouldnt recognise AVCHD and to order an imac.

Then whilst that was on order I saw that even if I edited a film, a feature film and wanted to burn it to BluRay DVD, I cannot yet.

Ive spent all this money and ended up with nothing to show for it.

[ftaok]

Hi there!

I have a Panasonic SD5 like featured above. I tried to put my clips on my normal PC and the programme that came with it Pinnacle, well kept crashing.

I bought a G5 then and also Final Cut Pro, and the clips wouldn't show up. I rang Apple support, they told me a G5 wouldnt recognise AVCHD and to order an imac.

Then whilst that was on order I saw that even if I edited a film, a feature film and wanted to burn it to BluRay DVD, I cannot yet.

Ive spent all this money and ended up with nothing to show for it.OK, seems like you're in a pickle. Here's what you should consider.

1. Look into an application called Voltaic. It transcodes AVCHD to AIC. Your G5 should work flawlessly with AIC, but the storage requirements are high (note - even with an Intel Mac, iMovie transcodes the AVCHD to AIC).

2. Look into Toast 9. You can use it to burn AVCHD footage onto a standard DVD that can play on BluRay players. Sure, you wouldn't be able to fit a ton of HD material onto a DVD-5/9, but it'll get you through until they have BD-burners on Macs.

Hopefully, these suggestions can work for you until you can upgrade to a newer Mac. Just don't expect superfast computing. Unfortunately, you bought a 2 year old Mac that was built when AVCHD wasn't even established.

Good luck.

ft

[CristianTorrent]

Thanks for that answer. In fact I got rid of the G5 the other day. I will order an imac and see how I get on. I will use Final Cut Express to do my edits.

For the moment I am back on my Windows PC until the imac arrives.

Will there ever be a way of authoring a film project to BluRay DVD playable in any other BluRay DVD player? Surely this is what we all want to do.

ULead DVD Workshop did a great job making a DVD film project right from bringing in the clips to adding chapters menus and menu music, that is what I want to do in HD.

:)

[bertoa]

A month ago I bought the Panasonic HDR-SD5 camcorder. After editing the
HD videomaterial in FinalCut Pro6 compatible standard, I want to export this
material as Panasonic compatible AVCHD back to the camcorder.
Why buying a HD mediaplayer as I can use my compact camcorder with a
component and HDMI output?
Did anyone ever exported AVCHD material back to the camcorder (SDcard)
and play that out of the device? What encoder did you use? What settings?

[Courtaj]

A month ago I bought the Panasonic HDR-SD5 camcorder. After editing the
HD videomaterial in FinalCut Pro6 compatible standard, I want to export this
material as Panasonic compatible AVCHD back to the camcorder.
Why buying a HD mediaplayer as I can use my compact camcorder with a
component and HDMI output?
Did anyone ever exported AVCHD material back to the camcorder (SDcard)
and play that out of the device? What encoder did you use? What settings?

There is no "AVCHD-in" on the Panasonics. I doubt that FCP exports in .mts. Even if it did, the camera will not have indexed the file (assuming you copy it back to an SD card) and therefore will not detect or play it. Short of some kind of genius hack, I don't think it's going to do what you want it to.

Andrew.