HMC40 Panning, FCP question...

N

Nethfel

Member
Hi all,

I just recently got my HMC40, and I love the camera. I do have one little problem I'm hoping someone might be able to clear up for me - panning, especially in one of the P modes (I didn't seem to see the problem much in 1080i60, but I really want to use 720p60) it seemed to stutter a little - I notice it more on import into Final Cut then I do when I play it back via camera.

This was hand held pan, so OIS was on. When I say stutter. I mean I'm panning then it looks like I pause for a fraction of a second, may even be only a frame or two) then continue on.

I am using Final Cut Pro 6, which I don't know if that is the problem - I know the camera specifically discusses compatibility with FCP7, and I don't know if anything changed between FCS2 and FCS3 that would make it better support 720p60 footage.

Has anyone had experience, hand held pan, 720p60, OIS, FCP6 with hiccups or pauses or stutters (whatever you want to call them ;) ) in the footage when played back in the editor?

Thanks in advance!
 
what is the shutter speed?

also, how fast is your computer?
perhaps even what codec you transcoding to? or are you editing directly on AVCHD?
 
Alejo_NIN said:
what is the shutter speed?

also, how fast is your computer?
perhaps even what codec you transcoding to? or are you editing directly on AVCHD?
Click to expand...

Hi!

Shutter speed was either 1/60 or 1/100 - I honestly don't remember off the top of my head, but I know it wasn't extraordinarily high.

My computer is more then powerful enough :) it's an octo (2xquad core) core 2.8GHz xeon w/ 8 gig of ram - video card could be better, but the 8800gt is working fine for now.

In terms of editing, I don't know if you've ever used Final Cut, or had edited on a Mac, but you can't edit native AVCHD (in FCP, FCE or iMovie) - it has to be transcoded, which it is converted automagically on import into ProRES (FCP) or Apple Intermediate Codec (FCE or iMovie) which is a high bit rate, I frame only codec (well, ProRES is, I think AIC is also i frame only, but I'm not sure). It expands the overall storage required dramatically (ie: a 1 hr 1080i60 video recorded on my HF100 takes about 8 gig in AVCHD and about 50 gig in ProRES), but it is a VERY CPU friendly codec to edit in (ie: you can easily edit with a much slower/fewer core CPU - I actually edit at work on a C2D 2.0GHz iMac). Of course, there are other pluses in not using native AVCHD in editing, but no need to delve further at this time :)

I have a feeling that either there is some deficiency in Final Cut Pro 6, or I have just done something completely wrong in the camera or some setting I'm missing in FCP6 that is causing my problems. As I mentioned, 1080i60 works really well - but I'm also more familiar with using that format in FCP.
 
Are you the same person that asked about this problem on the DVinfo forum?

I am currently using FCP7 with my new HMC40 and 720p 60p seems to work very well.
One thing to try is play the clips through quicktime and see how they play. If they play fine then there is nothing wrong with the footage. You may just have to deal with the slight jerkiness in FCP6. I'm sure any final rendering wouldn't reflect any of these issues and it may just be a playback issue while you edit. Try rendering a small piece from FCP6 and see if you notuce the issue in the rendered video. If it is fine you can either upgrade to FCP7 which will hopefully fix the issue or reduce the playback quality and see if that helps.
 
Thomas Smet said:
Are you the same person that asked about this problem on the DVinfo forum?

I am currently using FCP7 with my new HMC40 and 720p 60p seems to work very well.
One thing to try is play the clips through quicktime and see how they play. If they play fine then there is nothing wrong with the footage. You may just have to deal with the slight jerkiness in FCP6. I'm sure any final rendering wouldn't reflect any of these issues and it may just be a playback issue while you edit. Try rendering a small piece from FCP6 and see if you notuce the issue in the rendered video. If it is fine you can either upgrade to FCP7 which will hopefully fix the issue or reduce the playback quality and see if that helps.
Click to expand...

Hahaha, yeah, you caught me :) I'm the same person in both forums - I normally go by the nick Nethfel, but they require full names at DVInfo.

I honestly hadn't discounted your comment - but as it was directed specifically with FCP7, I was hoping to get some feedback with regard to FCP6, and it seemed this forum has more traffic with regard to the HMC40 (I honestly found this forum after my post in dvinfo) - plus I was still hoping it was some weird setting I hadn't toggled. I had noticed that playback in QT showed some stuttering but seemed not as much - but this is totally subjective rather then a "qualified" test.

But, in my travels on searching on this, someone else made the comment (not to one of my posts) about the movement being "butter smooth" in FCP7 - and specifically at panasonics website in the FAQ for the camera, they only refer to ProRES with regard to FCP7 (with no mention of FCP6 - at least none noticed by me). There are more ProRES options in FCS3 compared to FCS2 (and not just referring to 422 vs 444) so aside from bitrate, I suppose it is possible something else was changed. I did purchase FCS3 and it should be here later this week (I wanted it for more then just potentially fixing this problem ;) )

I did record another clip yesterday at 1080i60 panning, and I didn't see a stutter (well, there was one hiccup, but I'm not sure if it was something I did or an actual stutter) when viewed on a TV direct from the camcorder via HDMI, and I really didn't see stuttering on the computer (well, there was that one point, and I think one other that showed up on the viewing on the computer) - but I don't think it's necessarily a completely valid test as I know from my other cam 1080i60 works fine in FCP6 (basically I guess you could say it confirmed that the camera was working in it's 1080i60 record mode as one would expect).

@CMcMahon: I will give the higher shutter speed a try when I get some slightly better weather again - right now it's so gray and muddy out I don't even wanna look out the window lol It'd be more interesting if it rained!
 
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