Files' issues - unable to playback videos on camera or import them (black thumbnails)

G

ground

New member
Some pretty wired things are going on.
I don't understand why, but suddenly some videos can't be previewed on the camera (it shows just a black thumbnails) or to be imported to, for example, iMovie. In this case, when even one file seems to be broken, I can no longer use iMovie for import, in any ways. iMovie just crushes on every attempt. Also, if I have this problem, it continues, recording unplayable videos and broken pictures. At the same time, MTS files I get straight out of the camera looks fine (but I suppose there could be some inner problems since Toast 10 returns error messages "-50" converting some MTS files).
I should mention, that I can't even delete these "black" videos via camera's interface. It returns some error message, which I can't understand, cause I don't speak japanese :) (I have a japanese version, there is no possibility to change the language of menus).

Since iMovie is very convenient way to import AVCHD, I really need to resolve this problem.
 
Sounds like a bad SD card. Try copying off everything you can to your PC and then format the card in the camera. The test it by shooting some random stuff and see how that works.

It will either be A-OK or not. If not, put the card into a PC and format it there. Do a "full" format that checks all sectors and substitutes bad ones. Then put the card back in your camera and format it again. (Do not omit this step.)

Then try more random videos. If those work you are good to go. If not, the card is likely bad and beyond fixing.
 
Agree with bbinnard, but does iMovie delete the video files from the card after you import them? If so it'll be leaving metadata on your card that might confuse the camera.
 
Thanks, bbinnard!
Actually, I was trying to fix existing files' structure or understand why it's happening.

Yesterday I found some interesting thing. After things went wrong and there was a first corrupted .mts file, after that moment (which occurred at an unknown moment, so I was keeping shooting), if we look to the STREAM directory, my camera has made a lot of excess .mts files, which I never recorded. Also, one video I've made was implemented in several .mts files, differently trimmed (really wired).

I have a Kingston 32 GB SDHC Class 6 card. Maybe it's not genuine, cause I've bought it on eBay, but it worked pretty well, copying large files from my computer, giving about 9.5 Mbps. SN on the card's package is valid (I've checked it on the Kingston's homepage).
 
Without getting into excrutiating datail, files get corrupted most often from interrupting the disk write operations while they are in progress. Typically this happens due to a power loss. With cameras its often an inadvertent bump to the on/off switch that drops power while the camera is trying to update the disk. Firmware is supposed to detect and compensate for this, but it is not always 100% effective. (For the gory details Google "File Allocation Table".)

Another typical cause is improper formatting. Cameras are not PC's and do not have the wealth of error detection & recovery software PCs have. So if your card experienced some sort of glitch during formatting you are again open to "unpredictable" (meaning bad) results. That's why its always best to format a card using the camera in which it will be used. (In my case I never delete files from my SD cards; instead, I copy them to my PC and then reformat the card in my GH1. This way the only thing that ever writes to the card is my camera.)

Kingston is a good supplier so your card is probably ok. The best way to test it is to format it, fill it up with pics & vids, and then see if you can view them all.
 
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