Record AVCHD or .MP4 files for FCP X? Does it matter which?

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Record AVCHD or .MP4 files for FCP X? Does it matter which?

My old Panasonic SD800 gives the choice of recording FHD at 50p and several different bit rate versions of FHD 50i. I believe they are all AVCHD but you do not have to choose between AVCHD or .mp4

However, my new Panasonic FZ300 has numerous recording modes (FHD50p, FHD25p etc.), most of them available as either .mp4 or AVCHD.

What is the difference and which is it better to use with FCP X? Or doesn't it matter?

The resulting films will be shown mainly on TVs or projectors via memory sticks or hard drives. Rarely, if at all, will DVDs need to be created.

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 29, 2019 1:20 AM

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Answer 1

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Karsten Schlüter

Level 7

34,125 points

Nov 29, 2019 8:55 PM in response to Ian R. Brown

AVCHD and mp4 are both just 'containers', …

in your case, both containing same formats.

Main difference is:

AVCHD has, due to its standards, limited bandwidths, which determines 'quality' of video (aside resolution and framerate). So, in theory, a 100MB/s mp4 should be better than a 'capped' (=26MB/s) AVCHD clip. Do real-life tests, if you notice any noticeable differences.

… and: if you backup/copy manually the original mp4 files from SDcard to some drive, FCPX allows to 'leave files in place' = much faster import; whereas AVCHD has always to be rewrapped (automatically) and stored internally in the Lib. Depends on your workflow.....

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Answer 2

Nov 29, 2019 1:40 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

I would steer clear of any interlaced format. Other than that, you may want to experiment a bit.

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Answer 3

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,133 points

Nov 29, 2019 3:34 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I invariably shoot at either 50p or 25p. The only time I consider using interlaced is if I am running out of SD card space, as the "long play" choices on my SD800 are all 50i.

I feel there will probably be no real difference shooting either AVCHD or .mp4 but there may be someone who knows more about it than I do and can state why one may be preferable.

There is no choice when shooting 4K as it is only available as .mp4

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Answer 4

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

24,133 points

Nov 30, 2019 5:32 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

So it looks as though it doesn't matter one bit!

Of course, with 4K there is no choice, just .mp4 take it or leave it!

Incidentally, whilst testing the camera in 4K mode, I used an ND8 filter so that I could shoot at F2.8 using a reasonably slow shutter speed to avoid staccato motion.

I had bought the filter in 2015 to use on my Sony a58 DSLR but the results had been appalling. The darkening and colour shift of the videos were really bad. I assumed it was because the filters were dead cheap bargain-basement ones and nearly threw them away.

So imagine my surprise when I used the ND8 on my FZ300 and discovered that I couldn't tell the difference between clips shot with and without the filter.

They were all bitingly sharp with brilliant accurate colours.

Any ideas why the filters should behave so differently on the 2 cameras? (And yes, I had both cameras setting the exposures automatically).

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Record AVCHD or .MP4 files for FCP X? Does it matter which?

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