The Old "Editing AVCHD .mov files" Thread - Need some input here.

[Orpheus]

My Current Setup:

I have Adobe Production Premium CS4 (Premiere, After Effects, Encore etc.) and an old Core 2 Duo E6600 Processor and 2.7 gigs of RAM, running 32 bit Windows XP. I am planning on buying a DSLR in the future, but I am upgrading my computer first.

I have pretty much narrowed a new system down to 64 bit windows Professional, 16 gigs of RAM and an i7 2600k processor with a 560TI graphics card (I already have the graphics card by the way). Of course I would love to get CS 5.5 or even CS6 when it comes out, but I think I will be using an intermediate codec intitally (e.g. Cineform) with CS4 to get by for the time being.

Ideally I want to be able to edit AVCHD .mov files natively and SMOOTHLY on my new computer. (I don't want glitchly, stuttery scrubbing in the preview monitor). Granted I don't think I will be able to do that with Premiere Pro CS4, but will I be able to with CS 5.5 with the Mercury Playback Engine? Of course I will be adding some graphics once in awhile, and probably a couple layers of video from time to time. I will also be doing some work in After Effects.

What I don't want:

I don't want to buy all these new computer components and not see the performance I want.

1.) Can the components I have picked meet my needs?

2.) Is getting a more updated version of Premiere, After Effects etc. necessary?

3.) Is current hardware even ready for AVCHD yet? (Or should I just be using an intermediate codec anyways?)



Thank you everyone for your time!

 

[Bruce Foreman]

A few months ago I got an HP with 2nd gen Core i7 2600, 8GB RAM and an Nvidia GT530 graphics card with 2GB on board. With a previous first gen Core i7 based machine I still had to convert Canon DSLR .MOV files to something else to edit but for the most part was able to edit AVCHD 17Mbps files from Canon HF100's. Editing software had been Pinnacle Studio 12 then 15 (I've used this package since the unnumbered version prior to version 7.

The combination of the new machine (2nd gen Core i7 2600) and Avid Pinnacle Studio 15 allows me easy smooth editing of both Canon DSLR .MOV's and AVCHD both natively (and both on the same timeline, too). Pinnacle Studio since version 11 & 12 has been a resource hungry beast requiring a FAST quad core processor (2.6 Ghz minimum clock speed for the 17 Mbps 1920x1080 AVCHD). The present 2nd gen processor goes up to 3.4 Ghz if needed without overclocking.

So I think you are on the right track with the hardware you specified, it should handle it fine. For editing software, some vendors have recently re-written their programs to specifically address and accommodate Canon DSLR .MOV files. Premiere Elements is one, I believe recent revisions of Sony Vegas do, and I am happy with Avid Pinnacle Studio 15 although you only have 2 video tracks and 2 audio tracks in addition to the audio track recorded with the video.

I am looking at upgrading to Avid Studio (version 1) to have additional video and audio tracks.