Compatibility with Sony Nex5 Camera

Did you record in the camera's AVCHD 1920x1080 mode? What process are you using to import? Have you tried Log and Transfer?

This seems like a still camera, so not sure whether or not it will be compatible.

Please answer the above questions. Are you shooting in the AVCHD 1920x1080 mode? What version of FCE are you using? Have you tried FCE's Log and Transfer process?

Hi, I'm having the same problem here. my Sony DSC-H1 used to work with my power book G4 smoothly. But MacBook Pro just seems not able to detect it at all. not with iPhoto or even any app in the machine.

more over, Sony doesn't have any driver for Mac OS X. Had you solve your problem yet?

I am trying to import AVCHD files from a Sony Nex-5 using FCE 4.01 also. This is a still camera that records HD video onto a SD card. It has version 1.0 firmware, and makes AVCHD files at 1920x1080, 17Mbps, 59.94 fps. I can see the clips in the Browser using Log and Transfer and they play in the Viewer, but when I add the selection to the queue, the file is not imported and I see the red circle with an "!" in it. Has anyone successfully imported AVCHD files for FCE from a Nex-5?

Help!!!/Thanks!!!

Ed

FCE doesn't support 59.94 media. You really need FCP if you want to work at this frame rate. You would also need ClipWrap to transcode the media as FCP can't ingest 59.94 AVCHD media either.

Thanks. The value of 59.94 fps for the frame rate was provided by Sony via a support chat window. Is this a plausible rate? They said 29.97 is a standard definition rate and that the Sony Nex-5 uses 59.94. Is that an expected rate? I don!t see any option for changing that rate.

I did some research and now I think I understand. The Nex-5 is 60i (interlaced) and Final Cut will accept only 60p (progressive). (Wikipedia was helpful here). In this case the 59.94fps noted by Sony would be correct. Am I getting this right?

I guess there is no work around for using 60i files with FCP or FCE except to convert the files with another program beforehand. What is the best output file type for such a conversion and what is the best converter?

Why does Apple say it supports the Nex-5 with FCE4? Something is wrong here.

Ed

This is quite wrong. 60i is the standard North American frame rate of 29.97fps used in all broadcast television. That's what FCE works in.

59.94 is 60p. This is converted to 29.97 for broadcast. This frame rate is not supported in FCE.

Thanks Tom for correcting this misunderstanding.

Here, cut and pasted, is the video resolution used by the camera:

Video Resolution : AVCHD: 1920 x 1080/ 60iMP4 HD.

This is interlaced. Given what you say, I am still at a loss why it doesn't work with FCE 4.01.

I know this is frustrating. I appreciate your insight.

Ed

Ed

Have you done a forum search? There are a number of possible causes for the red exclamation point: audio needs to be set to plain stereo, Perian can cause a problem, not using the correct settings in FCE can cause a problem, not ingesting to a correctly formatted drive can cause a problem. There are others as well.

Thanks Tom!

The problem went away when I updated the firmware of the camera from Version 1 to Version 2. This is an update that Sony issued in the summer but in their mysterious wisdom, although necessary for Apple software to work, was only available through a Windows PC. So all worked with the new firmware.

I still don't understand the frame rate. I thought that 59.94 fps was the rate for interlaced frames with odd lines showing in one frame and even in the next. This could be collapsed into 29.97 fps progressive. Is that right?

Anyhow it worked and thanks for your advice!

Ed

Interlaced video is made up of two fields of alternating lines that create a single frame. Each field is half the image information. There are 29.97 frames per second. Material in 59.94 is made up of complete frames, no fields, not interlaced, 59.94 frames per second.