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Avchd Problem

D

dswan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
7
0
Hello,

I have a maxed out brand new Imac 24". 750GB HDD.
I have a sony avchd camera.

This is what I need to do,

1. import Camera contents to Imovie for editing at a reasonable size
2. export edited files in avch format so I can put them back on the camera.


I have heard NEO HD might help with this.

I would appreciate any help.
 
tcgjeukens

tcgjeukens

macrumors regular
May 16, 2007
202
357
Esbeek, the Netherlands
What I need to do

Dswan,

1. "at a reasonable size" is subjective. With AVCHD you have little choice. Upon transfer from camera to Mac the content will be transcoded. A euphemism for "exploding" in size. With iMovie you as a user have no choice. iMovie will transcode to Apple Intermediate Coded (AIC) which makes the content about 10 times bigger. In Final Cut Express: same same. In Final Cut Pro you can opt for ProRes. But expect a sizeable increase in file size. All transcoded formats are for editing and not for archiving. There are rumours that Adobe Premiere does edit in native AVCHD files.
2. "so I can put them back". Now this does sound strange. As far as I know there is No way of a reverse transcoding process. Explain what you want to do after it is back on the camera.

Coen
 
D

dswan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
7
0
What I want to do is take the camera to relatives house and use the HDMI out to plug into their HDTVS and play my movies.

How much smaller are the prores files then the .mov files iMovie produces?

Any idea about Neo HD
 
D

dswan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
7
0
Another question.
How does this chain end, that is, what formats can imovie save in?

SONY CAM (AVCHD) --> Imovie (AIC) --> SAVED ON HARD DRIVE (?)
 
tcgjeukens

tcgjeukens

macrumors regular
May 16, 2007
202
357
Esbeek, the Netherlands
Distributing AVCHD

Dswan,

Your workflow to show your result to friends using your camera as player unfortunately is not possible with AVCHD because you can't "record" your edited footage to the camera.
For oldfashioned people like me who shoot with HDV tapes, yes we can "record" back to tape.

In your case you need to find an approprioate "distribution format".
Since it is HD a DVD as medium is a no-no/ not-yet.
Blu-ray is user friendly workflow has not yet come to :apple:.
So you need to "export" iMovie to a file.

To reduce size choose a mp4 or H.264 format.
Transfer the output file to your friends on USB stick or portable HDD and have your friends connect their PC/Mac to the HD TV.

Good luck.

Coen
 
D

dswan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
7
0
Hmmmm,

If I had a PC and sony vegas could I save export to the camera as avchd?

Cause one possibility is to go that route.
 
D

dswan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 10, 2008
7
0
Another question

I had heard some avchd cameras come with software to put movies back onto the camera in avchd format. I mean it seems unbelievable to me that there is no way to get the finished product back onto a camera. I mean essentially it is a storage device.

Any ideas
 
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