AC130: NLE makes a glitch when camera closes the file and starting the next file.

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ELN614

Well-known member
I taped this before I left for NAB and never bothered to check the footage until now.
It is hard for me to explain but I will try. please note: I do not have this problem with SD footage.

recording High Definition (pretty sure it's set @ 108060i , highest record quality)
Editor: Adobe CS5.5

As we all know--- When the camera recording gets to around 30 minutes it starts a new file. (reason why: file size limitations based on fat32)

I am noticing a huge glitch when this does this. FAR FROM SEAMLESS. plus this was consistent problem throughout my clips/ taping.

first you will notice the audio will cut out for a fraction of a second. (never a good thing during a singing piece)
next you will notice the footage 'freezes' for a half of a second (this is at the start of the new clip) sidenote: The footage looks like it alternates between fields on the uploaded video - for this example.
lastly I will show you how there is a distinct jump (lose of image) between clips.

Anyone else have this problem??

I am hard pressed on what to tell the client since this is IMPOSSIBLE to re-shoot. If I knew this camera had this problem I would of used my JVC HM700.


Please don't tell me this is the SDHC card I am using. It only stores what the camera gives it. It doesn't decide to cut off audio and freeze frames in video. additionally the camera never reported errors during the recording. It records fine when in SD mode which is more demanding than HD mode.
 
ELN614 said:
Anyone else have this problem??
Click to expand...

Pretty much everyone has this problem the first time they work with an AVCHD camera; however, the problem goes away once you fix your workflow and properly rejoin multi-file clips so there are no skip or jumps. The general idea is to physically paste the parts back together before plopping them on the time line. Pasting the clip back together can be done with the manufacturers import program or with a DOS command such as

Code: 
copy /b 00001.mts + 00002.mts + 00003.mts + 00004.mts joined.mts

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-x...a-10-avchd-files-divided-causes-problems.html
 
To reiterate - your footage does NOT have glitches or dropouts in it. The camera recorded everything accurately.

Import your footage through the Media Browser and you should find that the error goes away. This error comes up when you try to directly grab the .MTS files out of the STREAM directory and put them in the bin or the timeline. Don't Do That. Import through the Media Browser and I bet everything will be just fine.
 
Yeah I just copied the actual files only to my HDD
Well let me ask then--> do I copy the "stream" folder over to my HDD or some other folder? (to keep the integrity). I will then use adobe's Media browse to import.
 
Hi ELN614,

Never had any problems with glitches myself, but I always copy ALL the folders off the card onto a hard drive.

They are on the card for a reason. One of my friends learnt this the first set of concerts he recorded for us with his new AC130, the same as you have.

Just copy ALL folders over, and you won't have a problem.

Cheers,

Vaughan
 
Hi Guys

I just copy the MTS files from the Stream folder and drag them onto my Vegas time line. There are no glitches at all but I do notice that the end of the first clip has about 1/2 second (or maybe even less) of "nothing" ..If I just drag the blank section back and line up the clips it's totally seamless when you play it. It's stange cos my HMC cameras never used to have the tiny blank piece at the end. Next time I have a really long clip I'll try Barry's method too.
Vaughan?? Is there any reason why you import all the folders??? All the video information seems to be only in the Stream folder ..I normally just make a sub-folder in the client's folder called "CamA" or "CamB" and copy the stream folder files directly into it and haven't had any issues at all?? What NLE are you bringing the video into...maybe some NLE's are different but Sony Vegas 10 has no issues with pulling the files from a custom folder on the drive.

Chris
 
The only perfect workflow for AVCHD footage is to copy ALL OF THE CONTENTS from the card to your hard drive. ALL means ALL. Don't pick pieces to use, particular clips, etc. If you have segments of footage that are unusable, delete them in the camera that recorded them before locking the card and inserting it into your computer.

Don't rename any files, don't move any folders, nothing. Just open the card on your computer, copy whatever you see there directly to a unique folder on your hard drive (Reel01, Card01, something like that....unique name).

AVCHD footage management, when done properly, never requires you to do any wrangling or use any 3rd party software to rejoin your clips inside an NLE. In Premiere Pro CS5 and later, you just use the media browser, browse to your footage location and import the clips. If you recorded a full hour of footage, for example, without stopping the recording, there will actually be 4 or 5 unique MTS files on the card, but your NLE will only see ONE (it knows all the clips are supposed to be joined and so it joins them seamlessly).

As hard and fast of a rule as there can be, it's this....if you are finding gaps in the audio or video of your MTS files when you import them to your editor, it is because you skipped a step, changed a file or generally did something you should not have. The proper AVCHD workflow will prove 99.9% effective in eliminating these issues.
 
ChrisHarding said:
I just copy the MTS files from the Stream folder and drag them onto my Vegas time line.
Click to expand...

If you want to be 100 percent certain of seamless footage you should be using "Device Explorer" found under the "View" menu of Sony Vegas Pro to import all your footage on to your hard-drive.

If you are in a hurry, you can copy the entire contents of an SDHC card to separate folder ( one folder per card ) on your hard-drive, and then perform the "Device Explorer" import using the card image ( folder of card files ) on your hard drive as the source.
 
ChrisHarding said:
Is there any reason why you import all the folders??? All the video information seems to be only in the Stream folder ..
Click to expand...
All the folders are there for a reason. If you're just dragging the MTS file you're losing timecode, you're losing clip associations that link together multiple spanned clips, you're losing all metadata, you're losing lots of things.

I'll say it again -- if you're just dragging the MTS file, you're doing it wrong. It <sort of> works, but you are using the system in a way it was not designed to be used. And there's no valid reason to do that. Just copy the PRIVATE folder over. It doesn't take up any additional room (well, maybe 1%) and that way you will have everything, including timecode, including spanned clips, including glitch-free importing.

normally just make a sub-folder in the client's folder called "CamA" or "CamB" and copy the stream folder files directly into it and haven't had any issues at all?
Click to expand...
Well, you have had issues. You've had half a second of blank stuff at the end of a clip. And if you've ever needed timecode, you'll find out that you don't have any.

Again, just copy the PRIVATE folder instead of the STREAM folder. It is actually quicker to do because you don't have to navigate deep into the folder directory to find the STREAM folder, you just drag the PRIVATE folder right off the root. And then when you import, don't navigate into the STREAM folder, instead use your media browser to import the files.

What NLE are you bringing the video into...maybe some NLE's are different but Sony Vegas 10 has no issues with pulling the files from a custom folder on the drive.
Click to expand...
Again, yes it does. Any NLE can go into the STREAM folder and drag the MTS files to the timeline (well, any editor except FCP, of course). But if you do that on any editor, you're doing it the wrong way and opening yourself up to glitchy file spanning and loss of timecode and metadata.
 
scapsinger said:
The only perfect workflow for AVCHD footage is to copy ALL OF THE CONTENTS from the card to your hard drive. ALL means ALL. Don't pick pieces to use, particular clips, etc. If you have segments of footage that are unusable, delete them in the camera that recorded them before locking the card and inserting it into your computer.

Don't rename any files, don't move any folders, nothing. Just open the card on your computer, copy whatever you see there directly to a unique folder on your hard drive (Reel01, Card01, something like that....unique name).

AVCHD footage management, when done properly, never requires you to do any wrangling or use any 3rd party software to rejoin your clips inside an NLE. In Premiere Pro CS5 and later, you just use the media browser, browse to your footage location and import the clips. If you recorded a full hour of footage, for example, without stopping the recording, there will actually be 4 or 5 unique MTS files on the card, but your NLE will only see ONE (it knows all the clips are supposed to be joined and so it joins them seamlessly).

As hard and fast of a rule as there can be, it's this....if you are finding gaps in the audio or video of your MTS files when you import them to your editor, it is because you skipped a step, changed a file or generally did something you should not have. The proper AVCHD workflow will prove 99.9% effective in eliminating these issues.
Click to expand...

This is all absolutely correct.
 
ELN614 said:
MTSMerger fixed this issue perfectly. next time I will copy the folder over. My JVC - I just copy media file over - no folders
Click to expand...


The only folder you need to copy over is the PRIVATE folder. It will contain everything that you need. Then import any clips using Premier's Media Browser as Barry explained, and everything will be fine.

OOPS, I now see that Barry also pointed this out in a later post.
 
Barry_Green said:
Any NLE can go into the STREAM folder and drag the MTS files to the timeline (well, any editor except FCP, of course). But if you do that on any editor, you're doing it the wrong way and opening yourself up to glitchy file spanning and loss of timecode and metadata.
Click to expand...

See? See?!? Apple was right all along!!! ;-p
 
Hi Barry

Thanks for that information..OK I'm shooting on 2 x AVCHD cameras so can I put the private folder into a folder called CamA or is it better to rename each Private folder to a new name in the clients main folder???

Now, I'm not sure if you have used/use Sony Vegas but I normally just import the MTS files as needed into Project Media from the HDD .... in this "correct" procedure is it incorrect to then choose your video files from the stream folder on your HDD ..I'm not sure if Vegas allows a folder to be added to Project media and also most of the time I don't want all 100 clips in project media..let's say I'm doing the bridal arrival at a wedding..I just open (as an example) clips 00010,00011, 000012 and 00013 and work with just those on the time line...I must admit I never had any gaps or issues on MTS files on my HMC70's or 80's at all ??? It would certainly be a pain in the butt to have 10gb worth of clips inside every project so integrity is preserved !!

Chris
 
ChrisHarding said:
OK I'm shooting on 2 x AVCHD cameras so can I put the private folder into a folder called CamA or is it better to rename each Private folder to a new name in the clients main folder???
Click to expand...
You must not rename the private folder. Put it in a separate directory, as you mentioned - CamA/PRIVATE and CamB/PRIVATE would work.

Now, I'm not sure if you have used/use Sony Vegas but I normally just import the MTS files as needed into Project Media from the HDD .... in this "correct" procedure is it incorrect to then choose your video files from the stream folder on your HDD
Click to expand...
That's the wrong way to do it. Look at what TheDingo wrote in post 10:
If you want to be 100 percent certain of seamless footage you should be using "Device Explorer" found under the "View" menu of Sony Vegas Pro to import all your footage on to your hard-drive.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Barry

Much appreciated..I'll give that procedure a whirl after my weekend wedding... nice to know the correct method of doing things..luckily I haven't had any issues over maybe 100 wedding shoots and close to 300 realty shoots over the last 3 years so someone must have been watching over me..then again at the most I would say that I MIGHT have had only 2 or 3 ceremony shoots that had split files..most here are a mere 20 minutes or less.

Thanks again guys

Chris
 
Yes, Chris,

The split file (2 GB) thing comes up at about 19 mins something, so maybe you've missed it, or just been lucky.

In my first post, when I said I import all files, I should have said what Barry and others said, I copy the Private folder which takes everything!

When you have all the footage on the your HD and you import some clips, it can find that file info in the folder and you should be right.

But I've always imported all clips into the bin for my weddings anyway, and for concerts you only have 2 files, Act 1 and Act2, where this raises it's awfull head!

Funny thing is, the HMC 150 would only import the file once, whereas the AC160/130 does bring in duplicate copies of the extensions after 2GB, and I don't know why!

You always have to check the speeches, as you can leave them in repeating themselves!!!!

Cheers,

Vaughan
 
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