I really would like to purchase Final Cut Pro X but I would like to check one thing. I need to know if Final Cut Pro X will import .MTS AVCHD files. These were recorded on a Panasonic 1080p Camcorder. I also have 1080i footage. I understand the methods of importing into Final Cut but I don't know if FC will work with these files. I would like to import then edit and then output to bluray.
Many thanks in advance.
Steven
Mac OS X (10.6.7)
Hi,again.
To sum it up:
When working with AVCHD you have two options.
1. You can import directly from the SD Card — go to import from camera for that.
2. You can copy the full — with all folders, exactly everything that is on the card — contents of the SD card to a folder on your hard drive an archive it that way. If you want to import an archived SD card later on you can go to import from camera and then go for the open archive button, then point to the folder where you keep the back up of that specific card.
It is not possible to import .mts files on their own.
AVCHD on Final Cut needs camera data that is included in the other folders of the SD card.
That's why it's called "Import from camera", even if you only insert the card directly.
If you only backed up the .mts files and that's all you have you will have to convert them outside of Final Cut beforehand. I recommend to make the best of the situation and just download the free tool called "Handbrake".
With Handbrake simply convert the .mts files to mp4 with the same bitrate. You won't lose that much quality. It's really no big deal.
So, if your camera records with AVCHD 17 Mbit for example, convert to mp4 with 17 Mbits. And then import to Final Cut.
In the future be more careful of what you do: read the documentation before you delete something and try to keep a full backup of your cards. I always have a card backup in the project folder, because AVCHD doesn't need that much space anyway.
Hope that helps.
Crap Store will not get any support from me. I don't like the philosophy of over-mutated-maximize-profit and in-app-purchases principles behind that ****. Fortunately iVI is downloadable on their homepage, too.
ffmpeg does produce the errors as described above. ivI produces the same problems as it is base on ffmpeg (see package contents). Only program, that works beautifully is Clipwrap. It's conversion is based on Perian, an maybe on ffmpeg, but in some way, so the re-wrapped are natively editable without artefacts and strange green-flickering frames.
Have you tried the current version 2.4.2 of Clipwrap?
The tool for switching audio channels only changes on .plist-file from perian (com.cod3r.a52codec.plist). The one and only twoChannelMode-key got set to 0. This could be done with the perian preferences panel, too. Set "Audio Output" to "Multi-Channel Output". This will perform the .plist change as described above. All audio convertion of Clipwrap depends on the setting of this Perian-...a52codec.plist-file
Now, all 5.1 channels should be reserved and usable by FCPX without jerkiness. Important is the switch "Convert Audio to LPCM". Without this setting, audio will only be copied and is not usable by FCPX.
No need to be snarky...fcpx is buggy and has serious problems. I was tired of being a beta tester for apple and got a refund. premiere is half off and is the same price now.
If you are having issues with fcpx then I encourage you to demand a refund and switch. Apple makes great computers, but not pro apps
Read my blog at http://blog.bershatsky.com to see how I got a refund for fcpx.
Tom Wolsky wrote:
Doesn't say it imports it, just says that it edits it in its native codec. But that's just the lawyer in me.
Even without saying the obvious, that it's nothing to edit before you import it, no, it does not. Using 60p framerate in any format makes FCPX almost unusable. In addition 60p AVCHD native footage is extremely unstable, show black/green frames in preview and/or corrupt gamma. I have a 2 hour concert in 60p that is completely black in the preview and ok in the timeline in native mode. If it's not a bug in FCPX then what is?
Hi muppetchef,
From experience, this is what I would suggest:
1) Shoot in PF25. I would do this anyway regardless of the specifc issues with iMovie, as I don't want to deal with interlacing at all. The only issue is that with fast moving content (eg sports) it may appear less smoth. You should remember that movies are shot at 24 fps, so if you don't have a problem with the smoothness in movies, I don't think you will find this an issue.
2) If your camera is like mine, when the 25p footage is converted to AIC on import into iMove it will be incorrectly tagged as interlaced. This is only a problem is you apply a special effect that alters frame size (ie. Stabilize, PIP, Crop, Ken Burns effect, Wipes, Ripple, Zoom etc). In this situation, iMovie deinterlaces the content from 1080i to 540p and you lose resolution.
3) To overcome the issue you could try using JES Extensifier to retag as progressive. However, I am not sure how effective this actually is (refer to the discussion in my link in the previous post). You could do some tests yourself by viewing the output on the HDTV.
4) Many people claim that unless you have a high end camera with a large sensor that there is very little vissible difference between 1080 and 540 ersolutions even when viewed on a HDTV. If this is correct, maybe you should be stressed about the issue in point 2 above, or perhaps you can just import at 540 and forget about all these issues. The advantage of this is that your file sizes will be nore manageable, and editing will be less demanding on your system.
5) Regardless of the approach you take, you should ALWAYS still archive your original .mts files through the archive import option in iMovie, so at least you know you have the full resolution native files if you want to redit the files in the future.
6) As a left field idea, you could try using Adobe Premie Elements 10 (just released). This edits the AVCHD footage natively so you avoid all these issues. You can download a trial.
I think the most important thing is to just decide on an approach and run with it. I wasted so much time a couple of years ago trying to sort this out, and it really destroyed my enjoyment of my camera.
Good luck!
If you still have the project in iMovie you could select Optimize in the file menu and select 960x540. This will remove any interlacing artifact that you are seing, although you are halving the resolution. Again, depending on the quality of the camera, this actually may not be that noticeable.
Yes, FCPX and the Mac are not particularly friendly to AVCHD files. I have had some problems with ClipWrap quality and prefer the Elgato device for my non-FCP encodes. It has a simple cuts editor that's useful for trimming the in and out points and I rarely have to use FCP before going to Vimeo.
Not sure why Apple packaged the MTS files in Mountain Lion. Just another couple steps in th workflow. Maybe Apple will wake up about this drill one day.
maybe my situation is a little different. I have some old footage, as well as more recent footage, on my hard drive, file structure intact (learned that lesson a long time ago). Had no problem importing .mts files until i updated to mt. lion. (you couldn't necessarily preview all of the files, but you could import directly in to a new event).
With mt. lion, now you can preview the files through Quick time, but can't import because they're all consolidated under one "private" Quick time file. The only way i've found to navigate to the individual stream files is to use "show package", but you still can't select the files to import.
.... and the way they're now wrapped up as "private", nothing I know of recognizes it.... VLC, handbrake, mpeg-streamclip, compressor... can't even import the file and then save as mp4 or 422
Your research is inaccurate. The files do not need to be converted, they can simply be rewrapped using a commercial product. There is also software called AVCAM Restorer or maybe AVC Restorer that can rebuild the AVCHD wrappers from the .mts files.
Unless I'm mistaken, when you selected "Optimized Media", Final Cut Pro itself transcodes video from the camera's native format into ProRes when video is imported, so your suggestion that there is no benefit in transcoding to ProRes should probably be shared with Apple's developers. The only thing I still haven't heard is any reason to preserve the card's entire file structure when video is archived.
You can't leave the file in place. You don't want to. You want to keep the file as a separate archive on a separate drive in case of the inevitable failure. All drives are a failure waiting to happen. The question isn't if, but when, which is why the archive is saved independently of the production media, which a lot of faciliuty archive as well at the end of production.
I import without optimization and copy to an external folder outside of the library, a separate folder for each production. If there are files that will need heavy effects work or a lot of grading I'll optimize those from the Browser as needed, just the shots that need a lot of work and are actually in the project.
I always export a master file in ProRes and compress from that. The master file is saved with all the project data, If you don't want to, you can export directly to whatever device or site you want.
I cannot import anything from the Panasonic TM700 footage (SD card) in 1080p60. Final Cut import does not see it. 1080i60 from Canon is fine.
Demo mode? Is there a free trial?
And don´t forget to load the preset for Media Converter: "Re-wrap AVCHD for Quicktime - uncompressed Audio" is the correct one.
Import of AVCHD .MTS files
