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1. John Platanitis - January 15, 2008

Hello,
Thank you for posting these footage samples. I just got my HG10 today and am very happy with it. I originally bought a Sony SR-82 and the video quality was terrible - especially in low light. But the Canon is 200% better!
Could I ask you, where during the editing/importing process do you choose to save in the H.264 encoding? I am fairly new to the camcorder/computer thing so forgive my ignorance.
I’m also on a MacBook Pro, 160GB, 2GB RAM, Duo 2.4 GHz.
Again, thank you for posting!
John

I will be posting more regarding with AVCHD camcorders in general. I am currently working with Panasonic HDC-SD5 and Canon HG10.
To answer your questions, I use iMovie ‘08 to re-encode the video clip, it has a native H.264 support. If you’re using iMovie ‘08, “Share” the video then select the “sizes” of your to be exported video. In general it will automatically re-encode the video clips in H.264 format.

I was planning to use Final Cut Pro, but as of current I have been having problems importing AVCHD video directly into Final Cut Pro. I will post my reports on working in Final Cut Pro with AVCHD camcorders.

Thanks for the comments and the questions.

2. John Platanitis - January 16, 2008

Thanks much!

3. vilajs - January 25, 2008

i have an HG10 and im using FCE4 with my mac book pro but the footage i imported wouldnt play smoothly. it shows me a message about dropped frames.. i guess my mac doesnt have inough processing power to manage larger amount of footage. i have 1.83 GHz intel core duo with 1GB 667 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM. does anyone know whats the ideal configuration for editing? do i need to increase my memory to be able to edit without having dropped frames? is that the case?

I’d recommend having to upgrade the RAM to 2GB. My 15″ Macbook Core Duo 2GHz has 2GB RAM (the maximum on this model). BUT I upgraded the hard drive to a 7200 model.

4. vilajs - January 26, 2008

thanks for advice. i will try to upgrate the RAM.
would you recommend me to upgrate the hard drive as well? sorry i dont know much about technical stuff.. is it possible to upgrate from 1.83 GHz to 2GHz? i was trying to find information on mac.com but couldnt find anything..
and how is it with your mac. when using avchd format, no problems with editing, dropped frames or anything like that?

I have no problems editing the videos. Remember, iMovie ‘08 and Final Cut Pro/Express convert the AVCHD files to Apple intermediate codec on the fly during import.

I don’t think you can upgrade the processor on MacBook Pros.

Upgrading the hard-drive is not as trivial, but do-able.

If you have cash to spare, newer MacBook Pros are a lot faster.

5. John M - January 27, 2008

Is it the Mac or the camera that produced that kind of quality. Best demo I have ever seen. I was planning to get that camera but will I get the same results on a Tosheba laptop 1.8 centrino with 1 ghz.?

I’d recommend having a dual-core processor to work with AVCHD. Core 2 Duo or higher preferred. The camera produce good quality footage. It is pretty easy to edit it on the Mac compared to any programs on Windows. I use Sony Vegas on Windows that has a native support for AVCHD. search for AVCHD in my postings, you might find some more useful informations.

6. Rich - January 31, 2008

i have a macbook…Black one..
Dont know to much about computers, but i put leapord and ilife 08 on my system!
I am looking to buy a HV20 or HG10… which one would work best and easiest with my computer?
Would i need to buy an external harddrive?
PLEASE SOMEONE e mail me with advice! I am in a rush to buy!
thanks so much
Rich

What processor do you have in it? Intel Core Duo or Intel Core 2 Duo?
When did you buy it?
How much RAM do you have?

HV20 uses HD miniDV and miniDV tapes as medium.
It’s a great HD camcorder. As long as you are fine working with tapes.

HG10 is a Hard-Drive based AVCHD camcorder.
The more RAM you have, the better.
The faster the hard-drive, the better (7200RPM)
The faster the processor, the better. Core 2 Duo is recommended.

You might need an external hard-drive to store the footage from the camera on both cases.

In general, HV20 uses a much less compressed format compared to HG10.

hope this helps, or this might even confuse you more.

v

7. Rich - January 31, 2008

sorry,
my e mail is richielentz@gmail.com

8. Little Annie - February 12, 2008

so is me 2400Celeron processor no good for editing DV tapes?
I so want to get an inexpensive camcorder and had already decided on a canon as I keephearing good things about them .
How much ram do i need to have at my disposal by the way

In general, Celeron is not a great processor. But I believe that Celeron could handle DV editing, but not as pleasant. If you could tell me the specifications of your computer, I can give you a better answer.

9. Daniel - February 17, 2008

The problem I’m having right now is that iMovie 08 will not import the video from the HG10 in its full resolution, that being 1080/60i or 1080/24p.

So as it is right now, I’m archiving my AVCHD directly to BluRay with the hopes that one day soon I’ll be able to do post-production on my home videos without losing quality.

iMovie ‘08 will convert the AVCHD video to Apple Intermediate Codec Video format. It will import the video to 1080i, but it won’t understand 1080/24p. As far as I know, Final Cut Pro will preserve the quality. I do not have Final Cut Express 4 yet, so I can’t tell you if it would import AVCHD to its original settings.

10. vilajs - February 21, 2008

im using FCE4 and HG10 and it does the same, convert the AVCHD into AIC video format at the resolution of 1440×1080. is that the same as 1080i? am not sure..

That was the case with Final Cut Pro 6.0.1, but 6.0.2 fixes that. I don’t have Final Cut Express 4 yet, sin I already have Final Cut Studio 2. I’ll see if I can get Final Cut Express 4 and answer your question.

1080i means 1080 pixels on vertical resolutions and interlaced.
HD resolutions on HG10 is 1920×1080

11. vilajs - February 22, 2008

so if with FCE4 in AIC format its 1440×1080 resolution and HG10 is 1920×1080 does it mean that thats a loss of quality? sorry for asking i just want to make sure.

That means you’re losing the resolutions.

Try using “Easy Setup” when you’re creating new project, and choose the right format and resolutions.

Once again, I don’t have Final Cut Express 4 yet. If there’s anyone else with Final Cut Express, probably they can answer your answer better.

12. MK - February 24, 2008

Really helpful posts. Heres another question!

Here are the specs:

Intel Mac (2.2 Core 2) with 2GB SDRAM. Running OS X 10.5.1
iMovie 08 7.1.1
Canon HG10 Cam

I am shooting in the HXP mode (highest resolution). The camera captures at 1920 x 1080i but Ive been told it really is 1440 x 1080i when its exported.

I bring it into iMovie at the largest possible size option, which is FULL - 1920 x 1080. (However it says “this setting has no effect for MPEG2″ - which I believe this is?)

In any event, when I go to re-export the movie using Quicktime option, it lists the current size as 960 x 540. Is that basically saying thats the hghest res of iMovie?

I can get in and change the export size to 1440 x 1080i 16:9, but that seems like an added step. Shouldnt the video already be imported at 1920 or 1440 x 1080?

Am I missing a step here, or how the numbers should add up.

Also When Im viewing the raw footage from the Mac hooked via dvi/hdmi on a Sharp Aquos, seems like Ive lost a lot of resolution.

iMovie ‘08 can export to 1920×1080, but you have to use the “Export using QuickTime” option. The full resolutions should be 1920×1080 not 1440×1080 as far as I know. The minimum bit-rate for 1920×1080 is around 16Mbps. Remember that the footage recorded using this camera is interlaced.

13. Daniel - February 24, 2008

Just thought I’d follow up… Has anyone found out if FCE or FCP allow to work with AVCHD, import the movie at full resolution (1920×1080 either 60i or 24p)?? I’d rather not have to buy a PC and move to Vegas …

I use FCP 6.0.2 and it can import the AVCHD at its native settings. Whatever the camera is recording the video at. I don’t have FCE 4 yet, so I can’t give you the answer as of right now.

14. vilajs - February 24, 2008

in FCE4 there is a choice for HDV to set it up in 1080i60 or 720p30. both are t

he apple intermediate codecs though.

That should work just fine. I don’t have FCE4 yet. But, FCP 6.0.2 imports the video perfectly.

15. Alexandre Lopes - March 21, 2008

hi there
I just bought aCanon hg10 and i can’t import the footage, final cut doesn’t recognize the camera, even after i installed the drivers.
The thing is I have a macbook 2.0gh, 2GB RAM, etc…the corel application disk does not have any .dmg file for me to install the importing program, so my question is, how can i import AVHCD footage without those programs?

What version of Final Cut do you have? Final Cu Express 3.5, Final Cut Express 4, or Final Cut Pro (I have to ask). To import using Final Cut Express 4/Pro 6.0.2, you need to go to:

File
Log and Transfer

iMovie ‘08 can also import directly from the camera.

Remember, you need to have the camera plugged in to the power source.

If you have anymore questions, I’ll be glad to answer them.

16. Augustus - April 1, 2008

When I export a AVCHD project, I know that final cut express 4 converts the footage to a different format for editing. What format should I use to Export the project to tranfer files back to AVCHD, or whatever is the HD format for Burning? thanks

AVCHD is a compressed format. You do not go back to AVCHD. I usually export the video to h.264 format in HD resolutions.

17. Augustus - April 2, 2008

would you say that h.264 format is the best exporting option in Final Cut Express 4 for HD quality, and finally for burning project to HD/Blueray? If you are using AVCHD source files?

I discovered that Final Cut Express supports AVCHD, but not at the full 1920 resolution or whatever, it loses some resolution. I guess Final Cut Pro supports the highest resolution. that kinda suks since I dont wanna spend $1200 for FCP but I want to get the best picture from my AVCHD camera for editing. I guess I bought the HDD camera ahead of the curve and have to wait for some catching up by the industry. If they haven’t realized the popularity of AVCHD yet, they must have by now with the great prices on Cannon, and the new Sony ones have video quality just as good as HDV demand is skyrocketing.

For certain, AVCHD is a compressed file format. Both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD format utilize h.264 codec. Even if you’re working with AVCHD files directly, the final product has to be decompressed and transcoded into a different format. What you see in the playback is the uncompressd stream of the video file.

I tested Final Cut Express 4 with AVCHD clip, and it seems that FCE4 can import the 1920×1080 video in 1080i or 1080/60 format.

What you see in he quality of the video must be the horrible interlacing of the stream. Remember that HG10 is essentially a 1080i camcorder. I have Panasonic HDC-SD9 an it is a 1080p camera. Unfortunately it is not fully supported in Mac OS X yet. But the video quality is much better compared to the 1080i camcorder.

18. Augustus - April 2, 2008

thanks for the info, big help. actually, I have the sony sr-11 but I think its supposed to be pretty much the same quality as the HG-10. Not exactly sure. Im more of a editing nut but just now making the transition from PC/adobe premiere to Mac/FCE and FCP. I just wanted to make sure I was getting the best quality out of my camera after editing. this site is helpfull, I’m glad I stumbled on it.

Glad that I can help. If you have anymore questions, leave me a message here. I did check on FCE4 and it can handle 1080i AVCHD clips.

19. seth - April 18, 2008

I just bought an HG10 and love it. I use VoltaicHD to convert the AVCHD files into .mov files so iMovie can use them (I don’t have iMovie ‘08 yet).

Could you give a little tutorial that includes both your import and export settings so that you arrive at the highest quality for HD streaming (like on Vimeo or Daily Motion that support H.264).

I’ve got the process working, but my exported files look pretty bad. I could really use the help! And I haven’t seen any step by step tutoials for the HG10 after lots of googling, so I think others would appreciate it, too. Thanks!

Thank you for another posting idea. I will post some general steps in working with AVCHD camcorder and exporting the movie.

There are many different settings for H.264 movie, but usually I’d keep the bitrate fairly high based on the movie resolutions.

Stay tuned. Once again thank you.