Help importing AVCHD to final cut pro

[Storm9]

I just installed final cut pro, but when i connect my sony AVCHD camcorder it wont detect it. Even tho it shows up in iMovie

[CaptainChunk]

You have to use Log & Transfer to get the footage in. From here (depending on your sequence settings), the footage gets transcoded to AIC or ProRes. None of Apple's apps work with AVCHD natively yet. However, if it's a DVD-based camcorder, you're out of luck. More information here (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305997).

[bobbleheadbob]

You have to use Log & Transfer to get the footage in. here (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305997).

Yes. I got one of the new Canon AVCHD camcorders a couple weeks ago and haven't had any problems importing the footage this way. It works fine for me. :)

[deejaydoubleyou]

I am having some problems with AVCHD files as well. I can use the log and transfer function with no problems, but when I load the clip into the viewer or timeline the video is very jittery... audio is fine. I have tried different resolutions and have tried different scratch disks. My network drive connected via USB through my airport extreme resulted in the clip being played for 1-2 seconds before freezing. My external drive connected through firewire results in the jittery video. I have set the sequence to match my video settings (apple pro res 422, etc). I am using a mac pro 3.2 ghz with 6gb ram, final cut pro, Sony SR12.

Any help appreciated.:confused:

[NeoMayhem]

I am having some problems with AVCHD files as well. I can use the log and transfer function with no problems, but when I load the clip into the viewer or timeline the video is very jittery... audio is fine. I have tried different resolutions and have tried different scratch disks. My network drive connected via USB through my airport extreme resulted in the clip being played for 1-2 seconds before freezing. My external drive connected through firewire results in the jittery video. I have set the sequence to match my video settings (apple pro res 422, etc). I am using a mac pro 3.2 ghz with 6gb ram, final cut pro, Sony SR12.

Any help appreciated.:confused:

Are your timeline settings right? You need it setup for the exact resolution and type of file you are using or it will be super slow.

[KeithPratt]

My network drive connected via USB through my airport extreme resulted in the clip being played for 1-2 seconds before freezing.

You need faster drives than this for ProRes. Like two in RAID0.

[shadowschild]

so i am shooting in 30p and 24p do i need a special pull down for AVCHD editing or am i good to go because its so much better than HDV

[NeoMayhem]

so i am shooting in 30p and 24p do i need a special pull down for AVCHD editing or am i good to go because its so much better than HDV

You do for 24p, but not 30p.

[shadowschild]

what pull down and remocal and crap do i need?

[NeoMayhem]

what pull down and remocal and crap do i need?

compressor

[deejaydoubleyou]

You need faster drives than this for ProRes. Like two in RAID0.

Yes I realise that, tht is why I tried the firewire drive connected to the Mac Pro. I just mentioned it so that you know I have tried multiple drives.

@ NeoMayhem, yes my timeline settings are correct for my video. I thought that it might just be dropping frames but when I used compressor in different formats the jittery video still showed up so I thinking it's nothing to to do with FCP itself, maybe just something I might be doing wrong during the log and transfer?

[KeithPratt]

Yes I realise that, tht is why I tried the firewire drive connected to the Mac Pro.

You mentioned Firewire, but unless it's two drives in RAID0 over Firewire800, it won't be fast enough. Neither Firewire400 or a single 7,200rpm SATA drive have the necessary throughput.

[superwoman]

You mentioned Firewire, but unless it's two drives in RAID0 over Firewire800, it won't be fast enough. Neither Firewire400 or a single 7,200rpm SATA drive have the necessary throughput.

Which begs the question - does this mean that the Alu Macbook is incapable of editing AVCHD videos?

[shadowschild]

how do you do the 24p stuff in compressor?

[ericjohnson1981]

Agreed, compressor is definately the problem here http://saucekitpro.info/img/1606/i08d1211uavx/counter.jpg

[KeithPratt]

Which begs the question - does this mean that the Alu Macbook is incapable of editing AVCHD videos?

Not incapable, but not practical either.

The RAID0 and Firewire800 thing was with regards to ProRes, but if you were to use Apple Intermediate Codec, USB2 would technically have enough bandwidth. But it's an interface not suited to constant data-flow and in reality would get quite stuttery. Gigabit ethernet has plenty of bandwidth but not many products designed for providing a fast constant stream.

So using the current MacBook to edit is a pain in the rump — whatever Jobs will have you believe.

[deejaydoubleyou]

What about using an eSata drive, this is the one that I am trying to use as the scratch disk.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEAQ7H1TB32M/

[KeithPratt]

What about using an eSata drive, this is the one that I am trying to use as the scratch disk.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEAQ7H1TB32M/

It should work when the drive is fresh, but once it fills up a bit it won't run fast enough.

It's like having a car with a top speed quoted at 80mph, and working out that that means it's fast enough to get you from New York to Philadelphia in the hour you have. Then you realise you didn't take into account the slight incline on the road, the wind blowing against you, the added weight of all your luggage and the traffic. (You can break the speed limit though — Firewire would be the equivalent of a speed limit.)

So, theoretically, yes. For a short while at least. In practical terms, unless you only do very short projects and then wipe the drive, no.

[deejaydoubleyou]

Thanks for your answers Keith.

Well as of right now I am stumped. The drive is empty and all the presets are correctly setup (as far as I can see). I have tried importing with Pro Res 422 and AIC, various different resolutions and frame rates, I have copied all the video clips on to various drives as well as the camera itself and everything all ends up with the same jittery video.

One thing I did try is using iMovie, which of course worked flawlessly! I then exported the XML files and imported into FCP and the clips played perfect. Do you know how iMovie imports the video? And how I can set FCP to copy it? I really don't want to have to export every single clip individually from iMovie.

I have uploaded clips to youtube if looking at the video might help figure out the problem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8BWn_f1sks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX25UfK9KTE

I have decided I am going to take my camera into my Apple store next week and see how it works the Mac Pro there.

[SchneiderMan]

Im really having a hard time exporting my avchd video with fce to mp4/h.264 720p
I always get a bad pixelated video after, what are the right settings?

[deejaydoubleyou]

Just as an update, I took my Sony SR12 camcorder in to my Apple store here in Edmonton and hooked it up to the Mac Pro on display. Log and transfer worked flawlessly. Something is obviously wrong with my setup. I have been able to edit my clips but with a very long winded process by importing through iMovie, then exporting as XML then importing in to FCP.

Thanks for all the info and help guys.

[harddriveowner]

Use Voltaic and convert the files to .mov . This format is easy to work with for FCP or imovie and there will be much less of a hassle for you. Transfer the file from the camcorder by USB and then run the files through Voltaic. It is quick and easy. This is the best option until Apple wakes up and realizes that no one is selling firewire camcorders any more.

[Courtaj]

no one is selling firewire camcorders any more.What the . . . ?

[costabunny]

Just as an update, I took my Sony SR12 camcorder in to my Apple store here in Edmonton and hooked it up to the Mac Pro on display. Log and transfer worked flawlessly. Something is obviously wrong with my setup. I have been able to edit my clips but with a very long winded process by importing through iMovie, then exporting as XML then importing in to FCP.

Thanks for all the info and help guys.


Its is likely the display macPro had a RAID card in it so it would have masses of throughput capacity.

[bbq2k]

Among the top reasons I bought a video camera with SD storage (Canon HF100) is putting log and capture behind me forever. My workflow now is shoot to SD, put the SD card into a card reader, copy the STREAM folder onto my scratch drive, convert its .MTS file contents to 540p with Voltaic, and just drag the resulting .AIC files into my project. It could hardly be easier, unless FCP were able to edit ACVHD. I can't see any reason for log and capture anymore.

[deejaydoubleyou]

convert its .MTS file contents to 540p with Voltaic, and just drag the resulting .AIC files into my project. It could hardly be easier.

Just curious, how long does it take you to convert say 10 mins of AVCHD to 540P using Voltaic HD? I am finding that it is taking close to 1hr for 10 mins. Is it faster to convert from your scratch disk? And if so, how long does the transfer from camera to disk take? I am converting straight from the camera at the moment.

Thanks.

[bbq2k]

Just curious, how long does it take you to convert say 10 mins of AVCHD to 540P using Voltaic HD? I am finding that it is taking close to 1hr for 10 mins. Is it faster to convert from your scratch disk? And if so, how long does the transfer from camera to disk take? I am converting straight from the camera at the moment.

My conversion time is about the same. Keep in mind that with this low rate of data transfer usage, the processor is your bottleneck, not your drive. In short, it doesn't matter if you convert from the scratch disk or another disk.

[emeek77]

Not practical? Macbook Pro cant edit 422 good enough? TOTALLY WRONG STATEMENTS. Read my comment below.

I edit Pro Res on my mac pro on a weekly basis. No RAID. Just a stock 7200rpm HD. Its not painfully slow either. My 15inch Macbook Pro even edits it, let alone the new one. The new macbok pro with up to 8gb of RAm two nvidia GPU's and an optional 250gb Solid State Hard Dive would burn through 422 fast as almost anyone with these options. Even with the 7200 rpm stock HD the new macbok pro 17 would edit pro pres. Thats what its for. I work at a tv station locally and they edit pro res on the macbook pros in the field just fine. And they are the old model. So whoever said 422 is to much without a RAID is completely wrong. I can easily show my mac pro working with 422 and have no problem. I dont know what you have but my mac pro does just fine. Granted its not like editing dv or something but its not super slow or unworkable at all. Also I also edit pro res on an eternal FW800 With no problems at all. So please guys, dont listen to everything you hear. Listen to people who actually work with pro res. Not ssaying people who posted here do not. im not saying that at all. I dont care who cant edit in pro res. My mac pro with a stock HD and LOTS O RAM edits it just fine. So maybe you are having problems but I never do. Log and Capture your AVCHD media and work in 422.

[Mister Three]

I've read everything I can find about how to get avchd into fcp6 but it won't work for me. It will see the files in log and transfer and I can put in and out points and edit the text and see all the glorious footage but after it injests I get the red exclamation mark. Every time. In imovie i get an error the files may be damaged. Why does this happen? Does anybody know? I'm on a mac pro with 8 cores, 2gig ram (rubbish i know but not the cause of this problem i don't think, will get the upgrades soon i promise)...
I can get all the files to quicktime using voltaic which is grand but have you seen how long it takes? My god a 40 minute interview takes four years to convert. Four years! (I'm exaggerating cos I just don't get it but it does take an extraordinarily long time - please don't anybody tell me to film shorter clips :)
I know that it simply works for some of you so has anybody any ideas? I've just re installed everything, the program (6.0.5), the system software (10.5.6), all the updates and got rid of every single thing I can find, like perian, that might be causing glitches.
I must be missing something or have some button checked or unchecked somewhere cos it should bloody work and I've spent months on and off looking for the smegging answer. So for my sanity, can you help?

[skana]

Just as an update, I took my Sony SR12 camcorder in to my Apple store here in Edmonton and hooked it up to the Mac Pro on display. Log and transfer worked flawlessly. Something is obviously wrong with my setup. I have been able to edit my clips but with a very long winded process by importing through iMovie, then exporting as XML then importing in to FCP.

Thanks for all the info and help guys.

I went to my local mac store here in Vancouver, (Simply Computing) with my camera and hooked it up to a stock Mac Pro (4Gig Ram, 2 x 2.7Ghz CPU's, ATI 2600 graphics card, etc) and got the jittery video after Log and Transfer process, as well.

The other question I have is: can you use the log and transfer function for files which have been transferred to the hard drive, instead of directly from the camera?

[dreetn]

Thanks for your answers Keith.

Well as of right now I am stumped. The drive is empty and all the presets are correctly setup (as far as I can see). I have tried importing with Pro Res 422 and AIC, various different resolutions and frame rates, I have copied all the video clips on to various drives as well as the camera itself and everything all ends up with the same jittery video.

One thing I did try is using iMovie, which of course worked flawlessly! I then exported the XML files and imported into FCP and the clips played perfect. Do you know how iMovie imports the video? And how I can set FCP to copy it? I really don't want to have to export every single clip individually from iMovie.

I have uploaded clips to youtube if looking at the video might help figure out the problem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8BWn_f1sks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX25UfK9KTE

I have decided I am going to take my camera into my Apple store next week and see how it works the Mac Pro there.



Hi,
I am experiencing the same problem with the jittery import and was wondering if you might have found a solution to it, seems kinda
stupid to constantly import through iMovie :(

[deejaydoubleyou]

Hi,
I am experiencing the same problem with the jittery import and was wondering if you might have found a solution to it, seems kinda
stupid to constantly import through iMovie :(

Sorry for such a long absence for an update, but here it is. I use Voltaic HD as was stated earlier. Convert to 540 and import the resulting .mov files into FCP. Not the best solution for various reasons but as far as I can tell it's the penalty for working with AVCHD files in FCP.

[cabbageevo]

Thanks for your answers Keith.

Well as of right now I am stumped. The drive is empty and all the presets are correctly setup (as far as I can see). I have tried importing with Pro Res 422 and AIC, various different resolutions and frame rates, I have copied all the video clips on to various drives as well as the camera itself and everything all ends up with the same jittery video.

One thing I did try is using iMovie, which of course worked flawlessly! I then exported the XML files and imported into FCP and the clips played perfect. Do you know how iMovie imports the video? And how I can set FCP to copy it? I really don't want to have to export every single clip individually from iMovie.

I have uploaded clips to youtube if looking at the video might help figure out the problem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8BWn_f1sks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX25UfK9KTE

I have decided I am going to take my camera into my Apple store next week and see how it works the Mac Pro there.

For everyone's information, I am getting the exact same jittery video importing AVCHD on my MacPro. It does it after every 12th frame.

It's definitely NOT a hard drive speed issue as some people think though. This is what I've narrowed it down to so far:

- I'm running FCP 6.0.5 and my 'old' Macbook Pro (15" Alumnium, approx 3yrs old). It Log & Transfers AVCHD from my Sony HD Handicam perfectly. I've been importing my videos on it for the past 6 months. It is capturing video fine on very slow, 85% full, laptop hard drive no probs.
- I just bought a Mac Pro recently (8corex2.8GHz - "early2008" model) and trying to use this machine I now get the jittery video. Mac OS and FCP versions the same as my laptop. I tried a single hard drive and 2x RAID 0 drives, still jittery video.

Interestingly enough, I thought I'd check to see if it was a software problem, so I booted my Mac Pro off my MacbookPro harddrive via Target disk mode. I found that it was definitely a hardware issue on the Mac Pro as I got the same jittery video effect.

Any solutions anyone. I wonder if it's a RAM problem as I haven't upgraded the RAM on the Mac Pro yet? Still running the standard 2GB (which incidentally is all my Macbook Pro is running).

[cabbageevo]

Hi everyone, I've just found the solution to my problem.:)

I run "Perian" to watch .avi files. Simply turn it off in the system pref's and AVCHD will transfer perfectly into Final Cut Pro 6.0.5.

Strange though, as I run Perian on my laptop without problems but obviously on the Mac Pro the hardware may be more sensitive to the app.

[TheStrudel]

Why does Perian interfere? That sounds like an awfully strange conflict.

[stanton.wong]

Hi everyone, I've just found the solution to my problem.:)

I run "Perian" to watch .avi files. Simply turn it off in the system pref's and AVCHD will transfer perfectly into Final Cut Pro 6.0.5.

Strange though, as I run Perian on my laptop without problems but obviously on the Mac Pro the hardware may be more sensitive to the app.

He's right. I just tried it and it works. Turn off Perian if you're having jittery video problems while working on a Mac Pro. It now works like it does on my 2.5 year old Macbook Pro...

[casablanka]

He's right. I just tried it and it works. Turn off Perian if you're having jittery video problems while working on a Mac Pro. It now works like it does on my 2.5 year old Macbook Pro...

I have Final Cut Pro 6.06. and my video is still Jittery after 'uninstalling' Perian.

But maybe I just don't know how to 'turn off' Perian. I didn't see a 'turn off' option - only an uninstall option. When I tried it - it just says 'not installed' - and the AVCHD that I import is still jittery.

What else can I try?