I am pretty un-technical and have bought a Panasonic SD9 camcorder which takes brilliant HD footage. My problem is transferring the footage from the SD card onto the laptop. I have tried the Panasonic software, Windows media, Corel, Realplayer and am unable to play any movie clips back. I've managed to find the AVCHD files but cannot open them. I would be so grateful for any help!
Thanks!

[A n d r e w]

Download the free VLC player: VLC media player for Windows.

Plays most of what you can throw at it, including .mts video files.

[ajex]

I too tried VLC it but found GOM player shade better than VLC but still not up to the mark!!

Any other suggestions!!!

Ajex

[A n d r e w]

In what way are VLC or GOM not "up to the mark"?

[ajex]

The clips do not play smoothly ...

For VLC it starts playing and freezes and the audio continues ok

For GOM both audio and video are continuous but the clip is not played showing all the frames which were shot i.e it skips intermittent!!!

I have latest version of both !!

So any suggestions most welcome..

Ajex

[KelvinS1965]

You don't state the spec of your laptop, but playing back AVCHD clips takes quite a bit of PC power. I have to edit using 'proxy files' (low resolution copies) of the SD9 footage otherwise my PC struggles and stutters when playing back within the editting software. For reference my PC is a CoreDuo E6300 overclocked to 2.4 or 2.8GHz with multiple hard drives for the video/operating system/data.

It may help to use an external hard drive for the video files, but I'm not sure if the transfer rate would be high/consistant enough for this to work reliably, otherwise running a disc defragment on your laptop after you've imported the files may help smooth playback.

[ajex]

I have a core 2 duo laptop at 2.2 may be that's where the problem..

Ajex

[KelvinS1965]

I don't know if there are 'better' programs that are more efficient at HD playback. I know that my DVBViewer software doesn't recognise the SD9 clips otherwise it would be a possible option (it only uses 1-3% CPU power playing back BBC HD recordings for example, as it uses the graphics card to spread the load).

Another thought was that many laptops use 5400 rpm hard drives rather than 7200 rpm that desktops use, which will also make a difference to access times and transfer times, which might be partly responsible for stuttering (though I still believe that a properly defragmented 5400rpm drive should still be up to the task).

Slightly OT:Do any other users edit/playback HD on a laptop? I'd be interested in what spec is required to work reliably myself.

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by ajex

I have a core 2 duo laptop at 2.2 may be that's where the problem.

Yep.