AVCHD as a fast or slow edit format?

[Shaneo]

I produce travel shows on the road and I am trying to upgrade my field kit to full tapeless HD and a streamlined shoot to edit workflow. I have a Sony EX1 which has tested well in my FCP macbook pro. I am looking for a small camcorder to act as a second camera/perspective and the Sony HDR-SR12 seems to fit the bill for a consumer grade camera, however, I get mixed reviews on the edit workflow...I understand that AVCHD converts to ProRes 422 when it goes into FCP where the file then expands 10x the original size...is this right? Does this drag the system down or what? Is there another way to utilize the footage in full res without dealing with giant files like this? Seems odd to have to deal with media this large from a 1 chip camera. If this format slows down the edit process, then it defeats the purpose of saving digitizing time, right? And does anyone know if there are any issues with editing XDcam footage with AVCHD footage? Any help would be appreciated.

Shane O

[bytehoven]

The biggest problem I have seen with AVCHD is the extra time it takes to convert to a codec you will want to use, which I have heard import times 2x+ the tape time.

If you're looking to save space on those 2nd camera shots, a HDV camera might be a better choice. Then you could possibly import using HDV, Apple Intermediate (still 4:2:0) or ProRes. Don't forget to chose ProRes and not ProRes (HQ).

If you simply must go tapeless, your EX1 really has dialed in the alternative which fills your production workflow need and records uncompromised video.

How about shooting the 2nd camera to something like a Firestore HD recorder? Then you could select a pro editing codec to record while shooting. It records via FW with all of the image compromises associated with recording HDV to tape/HDD.

There have been rumors of a Cineform HDMI recorder which might preserve 4:2:2 as well as use cleaner compression then HDV, but I believe it's still vaporware.

The intermediate ground between the EX1 and a HDV or AHVHD camera is probably a Firestore and a compatible camera.

Good luck