Question

AVCHD is a type of MP4.

And no, MP4 is not a good editing format.

But still, Final Cut X can import AVCHD and play it and edit it. If you're doing a simple project (some cuts, a fade up, a title) then by all means, leave it as AVCHD and just work with that.

But the instant you get into anything processor intensive (filters, color-corection) then you'll find that editing AVCHD is a bit of a pain. To avoid that, tell Final Cut to "Transcode: Create Optimized Media" when you import. This converts your footage to Apple ProRes.

It will use more hard drive space but you'll find you can actually work without having to wait for stuff to happen.

Based on your description, it sounds like using AVCHD will be fine for you. But it depends on your computer. Try it and also try some ProRes. See if it's worth it to you or if you don't notice a difference.


(Extra Note: When Final Cut X converts to ProRes it leaves the AVCHD footage in its folder, so you'll have both versions while you work. Often, after I'm done editing and exporting a final video I'll poke around in Finder and find the ProRes files and erase them. This way I reclaim some drive space while keeping the original AVCHD files. Should I ever need to re-create the ProRes files in the future, it's technically possible.)

 

FCPX works fine with AVCHD and MP4. Both are just different contains for the same kind of video, h264. AVCHD uses the MPEG-4 H264 encoding. So it's all the same thing.

H264 in any container is not the best for editing but FCPX is able to transcode the video to Apple ProRes format which is good for editing. The conversion takes time so you may or may not want to have FCP do this for you. You set up what FCPX does there are quite a few options.

FCPX also allows you to edit using "proxy media" which is down sampled copy. Then after edits you render from the camera media.

As a data point a new MacbookPro with Retina (and all SSD storage) edits AVHCD vide very well. It's fast enough and works for small projects like yours. just get at least 8GB RAM.

 

You will very quickly fill up a 256GB disk. You will need to move "libraries" between the fast 256k disk and your external disk(s) The newest version of FCPX allows you to move libraries very easy now. SO create a new one for each project

a 1TB drive is to small, the larger 2Tb and 3Tb don't cost much more

FOr backups. Let Time Machine take a snapshot every hour and keep a local copy of your work in a fire safe in another room and also keep a copy off-site in a second safe.

Buy a few external drives and rotate them around. A disk kept in a safe for years is not a backup because you don't know if it was failed. Retire them BEFORE they fail after three to five years

Yes the computer will be fast enough once you find the settings you like (transcode to prores r mage proxy ties of edit the h.264 directly. Try and see which you like.

I also have a Canon Vixia. The best video mode (1080p 60 fps) plays back choppy on a system like yours you you may have to use a proxy file to edit. But if you reduce the bit rate on the camera you can directly edit the h264.