AVC (panny) editing questions

D

Denwa

Well-known member
Getting back into the business after a 3 year haitus and I am planning on purchasing a HMC150 soon.

Do most of you convert the AVC files to another codec like dvcproHD etc then edit or are you editing straight on the timeline?

Since avc is an mpeg format, it must be interframe, so you will be recompressing parts of the timeline when editing right?

Also, what is the recommended processor for editing AVC footage in Avid Composer. I need to upgrade so I am wondering if a laptop would do it or if I should get a new desktop machine.
 
Last edited:
DJDecay said:
AVCHD is evil stay away from it if you can. I think your intermediate Codec would be DNAxHD.
You'll need a very fast CPU machine to go through AVCHD de-compression.

25mbps HDV from 2003 looks better than 17mbps AVCHD does.
Click to expand...

Well it would be PH mode so 21 mbps.

OK, figured directly editing an GOP codec would be bad. So you still need a fast machine for conversion? How fast?
 
I have just bought the HMC150 and have begun learning how the editing process will go. Avid cannot edit AVCHD directly (maybe the just announced 4.0 can, but...) so you have to convert to P2/DVCProHD. The free conversion software from Panasonic only works in Windows. I used Parallels on my MacBook, 2.16hz. It took four hours to convert about 40 minutes of footage. Ouch. But once converted, it was immediately usable by Media Composer just as any P2 card would be. Given the price of P2 cards vs. SDHC cards, I would still choose the 150 over the 170.

Also converted the same material on a 8 core MacPro, 2.2(?)ghz. It went in about two hours. However, Activity Monitor showed that Windows/Transcoding software was using less than 1 CPU out of the 8. Pretty frustrating. If Panny would release a Mac version that was multi-core aware, the conversion time would be much more bearable.

I have the MojoDX, and from now on will simply digitize from the camera. However, before I can do that, I will need to buy a $400ish HDMI to HD-SDI converter box as the Mojo only has SDI in. (HDMI out for monitoring).

Overall, I'm happy with the camera so far. A cheap Class 4 memory chip gave me trouble. Stick with brand name Class 6 memory. The LCD/Viewfinder is nothing special and it is hard to confirm focus, as it is for most small cams (I'm coming from the BetaSP side of things). However, the autofocus on this camera is pretty darn good. It does not 'hunt' in and out. Once it locks on to the subject it does not easily loose it. You can go off center, someone can walk quickly between you and the subject, the subject can move toward you and away from you, and the camera holds focus. Impressive. Also, when it changes focus (say, panning from one person to another) it is very smooth, not too hasty -- looks a lot like how a skilled cameraman would change focus.

It is not as sharp as I would like. But when panning the picture does not break up nearly as badly as HDV does, so that's nice. The wide lens is very nice, I would like more length in the zoom, but hey. It does have a problem with flare in the lens when pulled out wide. (A small circular flare, always in the same spot when pulled wide, allowing ceiling lights into the frame.) Will need to get a shade of some sort on it. It was only about $2,800 here in Japan, so a lot of camera for little money.
 
selander said:
I have just bought the HMC150 and have begun learning how the editing process will go. Avid cannot edit AVCHD directly (maybe the just announced 4.0 can, but...) so you have to convert to P2/DVCProHD. The free conversion software from Panasonic only works in Windows. I used Parallels on my MacBook, 2.16hz. It took four hours to convert about 40 minutes of footage. Ouch. But once converted, it was immediately usable by Media Composer just as any P2 card would be. Given the price of P2 cards vs. SDHC cards, I would still choose the 150 over the 170.

Also converted the same material on a 8 core MacPro, 2.2(?)ghz. It went in about two hours. However, Activity Monitor showed that Windows/Transcoding software was using less than 1 CPU out of the 8. Pretty frustrating. If Panny would release a Mac version that was multi-core aware, the conversion time would be much more bearable.

I have the MojoDX, and from now on will simply digitize from the camera. However, before I can do that, I will need to buy a $400ish HDMI to HD-SDI converter box as the Mojo only has SDI in. (HDMI out for monitoring).

Overall, I'm happy with the camera so far. A cheap Class 4 memory chip gave me trouble. Stick with brand name Class 6 memory. The LCD/Viewfinder is nothing special and it is hard to confirm focus, as it is for most small cams (I'm coming from the BetaSP side of things). However, the autofocus on this camera is pretty darn good. It does not 'hunt' in and out. Once it locks on to the subject it does not easily loose it. You can go off center, someone can walk quickly between you and the subject, the subject can move toward you and away from you, and the camera holds focus. Impressive. Also, when it changes focus (say, panning from one person to another) it is very smooth, not too hasty -- looks a lot like how a skilled cameraman would change focus.

It is not as sharp as I would like. But when panning the picture does not break up nearly as badly as HDV does, so that's nice. The wide lens is very nice, I would like more length in the zoom, but hey. It does have a problem with flare in the lens when pulled out wide. (A small circular flare, always in the same spot when pulled wide, allowing ceiling lights into the frame.) Will need to get a shade of some sort on it. It was only about $2,800 here in Japan, so a lot of camera for little money.
Click to expand...


Nice to know about Avid and AVCHD. I thought they had a release for that. I'll have to check their site and see if I am imagining things.

I'm on PC. Will a dual core handle this conversion OK or do you need a quad core? Does Pansonic's conversion program utilize multi core CPU's?

I came form the DVCPro (SD) world so yeah, I hate these viewfinders as well. Give me a crisp B/W CRT viewfinder any day!. I'd actually pay to have a decent HD viewfinder. Wish it was removable.

Why oh why do the not include tone when you use the color bars?! That's a peev of mine with all prosumer cams.

OK.. back to editing related questions....

Upon further reading, I have discovered that panasonic's AVCHD is in fact an intraframe codec. I thought it was inter, like HDV. While intra is much better for various reasons, I take it it is still a CPU hog for those of you using an NLE that can handle it? If so, then even if Avid has an AVCHD update I'll probably stick to converting to DVCPro HD as I haven't seen any quadcore PC laptops on the market yet.
 
Upon further reading, I have discovered that panasonic's AVCHD is in fact an intraframe codec. I thought it was inter, like HDV.
Click to expand...
I think you're confusing AVC-Intra with AVCHD. AVCHD *is* inter, like HDV. It's a "super" HDV.

AVC-Intra is an intraframe codec, and basically the best codec one can get in a video camera, and much better for editing than AVCHD (although still much more CPU-intensive than DVCPRO-HD).
 
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