Help with AVCHD playback/importing

[Tydog07]

So although I'm not using FCPX, I'm trying to figure out what the best way is to playback and store files that my Canon HF20 camcorder takes (AVCHD). When I record onto SD cards, I plug it into my MBP and it reads them as .mts files, which I found a video player in the app store to playback. But if I want to edit them in iMovie for example, I have to convert them into an acceptable format, AIC it appears to me. Here are some questions.


If I just want normal playback and viewing of my raw footage, what is the best way to store my video files on my mac? Windows had a my videos folder, what am I looking for in Mac OS X?

It appears that my CPU is doing all the heavy lifting for the transcoding process (well right now it is image stabilizing), why isn't my GPU doing the work, isn't that what it is for?


Once I import all my video files into iMovie for Apple's liking, what if there are some clips that I want to delete and get rid of to save disk space? Can I delete the files right inside iMovie and that will take them off the disc?


Where does iMovie put all the video files that it transcodes?


On my Canon Camcorder, I want to record quality footage, but HD takes up gobs of room, will I notice the difference between 17 and 24 MBPS? Will recording in 60i, PF30 or PF24 make any difference?


Thanks for the help, I promise I'm a better editor than I sound, I was using Windows with Avid Media Composer, but I don't really think it's necessary to explain myself.

 

[Tydog07]

So although I'm not using FCPX, I'm trying to figure out what the best way is to playback and store files that my Canon HF20 camcorder takes (AVCHD). When I record onto SD cards, I plug it into my MBP and it reads them as .mts files, which I found a video player in the app store to playback. But if I want to edit them in iMovie for example, I have to convert them into an acceptable format, AIC it appears to me. Here are some questions.


If I just want normal playback and viewing of my raw footage, what is the best way to store my video files on my mac? Windows had a my videos folder, what am I looking for in Mac OS X?

I found the movies folder and I found that iMovie creates a .mov for each clip, so now I can erase all the .mts files on my card and create new video.



It appears that my CPU is doing all the heavy lifting for the transcoding process (well right now it is image stabilizing), why isn't my GPU doing the work, isn't that what it is for?


Still haven't figured this one out yet.

Once I import all my video files into iMovie for Apple's liking, what if there are some clips that I want to delete and get rid of to save disk space? Can I delete the files right inside iMovie and that will take them off the disc?

How can I erase part of the .mov clip and save the good parts?


Where does iMovie put all the video files that it transcodes?

Found the MOV files in the movies folder.


On my Canon Camcorder, I want to record quality footage, but HD takes up gobs of room, will I notice the difference between 17 and 24 MBPS? Will recording in 60i, PF30 or PF24 make any difference?

Still don't know about this one quite yet.


Thanks for the help, I promise I'm a better editor than I sound, I was using Windows with Avid Media Composer, but I don't really think it's necessary to explain myself.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tydog07]

Bump, how to I move my .mov files and iMovie events to an external hard drive, but so iMovie loses and doesn't know where the files are?

 

[AngryRedTicTac]

I you want to save room, keeping the .mts files on your hard drive is a good way to go. I archive all my .mts, .mov files are 4x the size or greater. The .mov are good for editing in iMovie, but after a project is complete I archive it and can my .mov files if they won't see normal use. You can import the .mts files directly, a ton will fit on a DVD for cheap, reliable storage if you don't want them taking up drive space.

I have an HF20 as well, I shoot most of the time at 17mbps, PF30. I find it generates the best footage for my purposes, a lot of my filming is just chasing my kids around so 60i ends up being a disaster. The difference between 17 and 24 in not noticeable to me, so I don't bother with maxing the bitrate.

Transcoding is basically all CPU, and iMovie won't even take advantage of all the cores in a Pro. That is something I am looking forward to once I pick up FCPX, full CPU usage with GPU utilization as well.

You can move .mov files anywhere you want, just grab them and move them to the folder of your choice, keeping them on an external is fine. You can direct iMovie to look wherever you choose to stash your .mov files, it will work fine. I tend to do a lot of my transcoding in Voltaic, a program I picked up in my G5 days, so I end up importing most of my .mov stuff straight into iMovie for quick edits, I found that I liked the quality of the Voltaic converted footage. I run a pair of Voltaic instances with VM to speed things up, nearly twice as fast that way. In addition, I like the ability to trim and do basic edits of the AVCHD footage before I transcode it. Kind of a cool old program.

 

[AngryRedTicTac]

Oh, I forgot to add Movist is a fantastic .mts player if you are still having trouble with playback, and it's FREE ;-) I use it for all my quick views, because it is super quick and smooth.