Have Mercy, Answer Basic Question about Viewing HMC40 output in High Def

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Denniscasey

Well-known member
New to HD camcorders and SD media. I am used to watching my VX2000 tapes directly on TV. Keep tapes so can watch again on tv even if I don't edit and burn to DVD.

If I buy AG-HMC40 I understand I can watch HD output via HDMI connection to 1080P plasma as long as I leave recorded card in AG-HMC40 (in fact my Panasonic Plasma has SD card slot but don't know if it would play SD card video from camcorder). But, I will need to erase and re-use SD cards. However, it seems to watch true HD of my recorded media on TV I need an SD card with media on it in the camcorder--I don't have blue ray burner and am very slow to edit and burn DVD's anyhow.

To re-use SD cards for camcorder recording I will download all my recorded SD cards onto hard drive (Panasonic seems to say I need some software from them to do this), then erase SD card for future use recording in camcorder--this part is clear. But then for purposes of playing HD on TV, can I select clips from hard drive and somehow record on another blank SD card which I would load into HMC40 and use HDMI output from camcorder to watch that high definition clip on 1080 P plasma? After viewing I could erase that SD card and then use it for another clip when I wanted to? Or is there a much better workflow to use to view my clips on HD tv without going through editing and burning Blue Ray? I expect this is obvious to all of you, but it is all new to me at this point. Thank you,
 
P.S. Another way to ask this--Does AG-HMC40 camcorder have input that I could record clips stored on computer hard drive back to blank SD card in HMC40?
 
First, it is very likely that you could plug the SD card directly into the TV and that it will work and play the footage without having to have the camcorder involved at all.

So all you would really need to do is to copy the footage back to the card in exactly the same format as it came off the card.
 
Some Panasonic Plasmas have SD card inputs, but most of those will not play AVCHD files directly. Check your operating instructions for more on this. Nearly every Panasonic BluRay player that has a SD input will play AVCHD files.
 
Thank you both for input; both Panasonic TV and Panasonic BluRay player have SD input. I don't have the HMC40 camcorder yet so can't try directly but will check documentation. However, my question is so basic in terms of computer and codec knowledge that I expect it is not totally clear what I am asking. Here is my proposed workflow I wonder about:

1. After initially viewing on TV the SD card I recorded in my HMC40 presumably in same 1920X1080 HD I recorded in I will then need to download card to computer hard drive and then erase SD card to re-use it for future recording--so that card is no longer available to play on TV

2. However, I have now put SD card contents (call it CARD 1) on computer HDD in some archives in full 1920X1080 HD I recorded it in along with eventually a bunch of other downloaded SD cards--not sure what format HDD needs to do this --maybe that is what the Panasonic software helps with? But I don't know how to view desktop HDD contents on my TV so looking for way to get content back off HDD and onto another SD card. What I was wondering is if I put a blank SD card into my computer SD slot can I now download CARD 1 media from computer hard drive onto the blank SD card? If so I would then have basically a duplicated SD card with CARD 1 media on it--I can then play that SD card on my TV. It seems this would be possible, but with all the different codecs and all will I need some software to do that?

3. The other thought would be could I use USB 2 output from computer plugged into USB 2 port (input) on HMC40 and "record" CARD 1 media from computer HDD onto a blank SD card installed in HMC40? I would then again have an SD card with CARD 1 media on it for playback on TV.

I expect those with experience find this intuitively obvious, but moving from standard def and mini-dv tapes is still new to me. Thank you for help, Dennis
 
2. Yes. You don't need any software to do this, just copy the card contents completely to the hard disk. And later, format an SD card and copy the contents back onto the SD card.
 
Denniscasey said:
Thank you both for input; both Panasonic TV and Panasonic BluRay player have SD input. I don't have the HMC40 camcorder yet so can't try directly but will check documentation. However, my question is so basic in terms of computer and codec knowledge that I expect it is not totally clear what I am asking. Here is my proposed workflow I wonder about:

1. After initially viewing on TV the SD card I recorded in my HMC40 presumably in same 1920X1080 HD I recorded in I will then need to download card to computer hard drive and then erase SD card to re-use it for future recording--so that card is no longer available to play on TV

2. However, I have now put SD card contents (call it CARD 1) on computer HDD in some archives in full 1920X1080 HD I recorded it in along with eventually a bunch of other downloaded SD cards--not sure what format HDD needs to do this --maybe that is what the Panasonic software helps with? But I don't know how to view desktop HDD contents on my TV so looking for way to get content back off HDD and onto another SD card. What I was wondering is if I put a blank SD card into my computer SD slot can I now download CARD 1 media from computer hard drive onto the blank SD card? If so I would then have basically a duplicated SD card with CARD 1 media on it--I can then play that SD card on my TV. It seems this would be possible, but with all the different codecs and all will I need some software to do that?

3. The other thought would be could I use USB 2 output from computer plugged into USB 2 port (input) on HMC40 and "record" CARD 1 media from computer HDD onto a blank SD card installed in HMC40? I would then again have an SD card with CARD 1 media on it for playback on TV.

I expect those with experience find this intuitively obvious, but moving from standard def and mini-dv tapes is still new to me. Thank you for help, Dennis
Click to expand...

The HMC40 card will have a AVCHD-format specific folder structure. When you pop the card into your computer after you're done recording to it, just open the card, create a folder on your computer, and copy/paste the whole memory card's contents to the empty folder on your PC. That folder is now a 1:1 copy of your card.

You can then take the SD card, format it (HIGHLY recommended to format it IN THE CAMERA) before your next use, and keep on shooting.

The folder may be burned to a writable DVD data disk or writable BluRay data disk, where it will act as an AVCHD disk in most BluRay players. It may also be copied to another SD card for viewing via a TV's card slot, provided that it supports AVCHD folder support (which some do, some don't - my 46" Sony has the card slot, but does not support AVCHD *.mts files).

Alternately, you can use software on your computer to view/play back the AVCHD files from your copied-to-the-computer cards. VLC Player is popular for this as it's free.

I recommend using a card reader to transfer files from the SD card to your computer. This keeps the usage hours down on your HMC40, as it doesn't require the camera to be on during file transfers. Eject the card, put it in the reader on your PC, and download away!

Happy shooting,
-Jason
 
Here's how I like to look at my videos:

I have a WD Media Player; the media player plus a USB Hard Drive, and my computer is all I need. When I read the card from the camera, I use a separate USB Card reader. No special software is required. The files are copied onto my hard drive and later copied on to a second external hard drive. The external hard drive is moved to my WD Media Player, where I can watch the video files directly from the drive.

Another way I like to watch the files is after I finish editing the video, I burn an AVCHD disk. An AVCHD Disk is on a standard DVD, but in the Blu-ray format. This allows me to watch the HD video on most Blu-ray players. The maximum time is around 20 minutes of HD Video and it takes FOREVER to render the disk, but once burned, it will last a long time.


Bob Diaz
 
Thank you all for helping a newby get up to speed. I upgrade equipment about every 6 years or so and moving from tape based standard def VX2000 editing on Avid Liquid to solid state based high def (with all the various codecs) and learning to edit on Avid Media Composer is a bit daunting for me. Just to confirm my understanding, I think Jason is saying I can just download SD card contents to HDD and then format SD card in camcorder to re-use for recording. If I want to watch on TV the content now on HDD I can just copy HDD content to writeable DVD or BluRay data disk (is data disk different from DVD's I use to burn my standard def edited content onto?) without editing and watch on TV or BluRay as long as they can read AVCHD*.mts files. This means I don't have to do editing in order to get into some format necessary to put on a DVD I can play on any DVD player. Again of course the caveat being player must be able to play AVCHD format--I think I read somewhere that Sony PS3 can read/play AVCHD? I hope someday to get up to speed and be a contributor as well as a "taker" from this forum.
 
Yes the PS3 can directly play AVCHD files off an SD card.

Also, you can copy AVCHD files to a regular DVD-R and play that in many (most?) blu-ray players; it's called authoring an AVCHD DVD. But because of the limited capacity of DVDs you can only get about 40 minutes playback time, even so, it's an inexpensive option.
 
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