Mov? Mp4? Avchd?

[vanvideo]

I just purchased an HC-X1000. I'm shooting a simple speech video and I want to do it in 1080. It will be used as a demo, never broadcast.
What would you recommend for the format? I'd like to use one that can be easily edited by most any NLE system.
I don't know the difference between MOV and MP4. I've used AVCHD.

 

[Barry_Green]

Easiest way to answer that is -- try a sample clip of each and bring it into your NLE, and see how it handles them.

On Windows, using Sony Vegas, .mov files are usually quite a bit slower and more cumbersome to work with than .mp4 files. On a Mac, I would expect the opposite; Macs prefer .mov files. The data contained within the files is the same, it's just the file wrapper that changes.

 

[vanvideo]

The client will edit on a Vegas. I don't have an NLE.
Is MP4 a true 1920 x 1080 format?
Would you recommend MP4 over AVCHD?

 

[Barry_Green]

The client will edit on a Vegas. I don't have an NLE.
Is MP4 a true 1920 x 1080 format?

If you choose MP4 as the recording format, and FHD as the system format, then yes it's a true 1920x1080. The HC-X1000 makes incredibly sharp HD, given enough light.

Would you recommend MP4 over AVCHD?

Depends on the purpose, the recording format, the client's needs, etc. All the MP4 recording formats are notably higher quality than any of the AVCHD formats. Even the MP4 50mbps is quite a bit higher quality than the best AVCHD recordings.

However, AVCHD may edit faster on your client's computer -- AVCHD plays back completely real-time on my 4-year-old system, but the MP4 files don't quite make real-time. If they have a fast modern computer it may not be an issue.

The other question is file size and storage. The AVCHD takes up only about 25 megabits, whereas the MP4 can be 50, 100, or 200 megabits. You can store 8x as much footage in AVCHD as you would be able to in MP4 ALL-I 200-megabits. If it's a short production, that may be fine, but if it's a two-hour lecture, you may have to go to AVCHD just to make sure it all even fits on the memory cards.

 

[daihard]

AVCHD has a bitrate limit. I think the Sony and Panasonic lines give a max of about 28Mbit and average of around 24Mbit.
In my experience, MP4 seems the most universal.
Most likely, if the computer is struggling with the files... its because of the bitrate, which in turn starts with having a fast enough Hard Drive. My old iMac i3 (2010) could edit AVCHD, MP4 (48MBit), and MOV without skipping a beat... as long as the files where on the main HD or an external Firewire 800.